John Green was the “backbone of Local 212”

NABET-CWA Local 212 President John Green died suddenly of a heart attack on August 11, just days after attending the union’s Regional Advisory Board meeting and CWA Convention in Pittsburgh.

            Green was an Engineer at WTRF-TV in Wheeling, WV, for nearly 30 years and served as Local 212’s president since 2009. Tom Allietta, Local 212’s president prior to Green, said Green was a Shop Steward and held many other positions throughout the years. Green became president when Allietta took over as Secretary-Treasurer.

            “He ended up being the backbone of the Union there,” said Allietta, who left the station eight years ago.

            Allietta, a frequent golf partner, said Green celebrated his 66th birthday in July and would have collected his first Social Security check four days after he died, on August 15.

            Though he hadn’t seen him for a while, Allietta was working outside his house when Green drove by on his motorcycle the week before he died. They ended up chatting for nearly an hour. “He was a ‘gentle giant,’ always kind to anybody and would help any way he could.”

            Several of Green’s fellow unionists left their remembrances of him on the funeral home’s website, thanking him for his years of dedication to NABET-CWA.

            “John was dedicated to helping his fellow co-workers and his Union brothers and sisters,” said Assistant to Sector President Jodi Fabrizio-Clontz. “He is going to be missed dearly.”

            Former RVP2 Fred Saburro knew Green for years and fondly remembers the special shirt Green presented to Saburro on his 90th birthday, which read, “Local 212 Loves Freddie.”

            “He was the nicest guy you’d ever meet – a real gentleman – and very dedicated to NABET-CWA. He put in as much as necessary to keep the Local going.” Saburro says it was this dedication that kept him from retiring.

            Green was born in 1951 in Bellaire, Ohio. After his family moved to Wheeling, WV, he served as an acolyte in his church and graduated from Wheeling High School. He was an amateur radio enthusiast, an avid golfer, motorcycle rider and highly skilled musician (bass guitar) and singer.

            He is survived by his daughter Chianti, son Richard and grandchildren.

As published in the Fall 2017 NABET News