Richard Liebes; union man, nature lover
Hyfler/Rosner
BYLINE: Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
A memorial hike will be held March 12 for Richard Liebes, an
economist, labor union negotiator, nature lover and
outdoorsman who led hikes on Mount Tamalpais into his 80s.
Mr. Liebes died Jan. 29 of respiratory failure at a
convalescent hospital in Tiburon. He was 91.
A third-generation San Franciscan, his fur-trapper ancestors
purportedly founded what became a local women's apparel
giant, H. Liebes & Co., in 1864.
Mr. Liebes graduated from Lowell High School and got a
bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley. He obtained a master's
degree from the University of Hawaii, where he also fell in
love and married Brunhilde in 1939. He later received a
doctorate in economics from Cal.
From 1939 through 1941, he was a professor of economics at
Willamette University in Salem, Ore. He was an economics
instructor at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond during World
War II.
Moved by the plight of working people, Mr. Liebes
volunteered with the Building Service Employees
International Union after the war. His expertise in
economics was soon sought by unions representing janitors,
social-service workers, hospital workers and public
employees throughout Northern California. These unions
eventually formed the Service Employees International Union.
He provided economic research, negotiation, mediation and
arbitration for the unions and also found time to teach at
San Francisco's Golden Gate University business school.
In the 1950s, he represented the morticians union during a
strike. His dedication was noted in a column by Herb Caen
when his mother died and her body had to be placed on ice
until the strike was resolved, according to Mr. Liebes' son,
Fred Liebes.
Mr. Liebes, who moved to Mill Valley from Berkeley in 1954,
assisted Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union in
their early days. He wrote the first contract for migrant
farmworkers, said his son.
He eventually became the research director for the Bay
District Joint Council of the SEIU, where he started a
research trainee program. Many of his former trainees are
now national union leaders.
Mr. Liebes traveled to Sri Lanka and Indonesia after his
retirement to teach collective bargaining to tea pickers,
postal workers and public employees. He also helped them set
up research departments so they could start their own
unions.
An avid outdoorsman, he led hikes for the Sierra Club, was a
founding member of the Trails Preservation Council, an
active member of the Alpine Club and the Tamalpais
Conservation Club.
He sometimes led hikes of 15 miles or more on Mount
Tamalpais and continued doing it into his 80s, according to
his son. He was involved in the long-running battle between
hikers and bikers over access to narrow trails on the
mountain, and was quoted calling cyclists "rather childish."
In addition to Brunhilde, his wife of 65 years, and son Fred
of Fairfax, he is survived by son Peter Liebes of Grants
Pass, Ore.; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
The memorial hike will begin at 10 a.m. March 12 at the
Alpine Club lodge, at 730 Panoramic Highway in Mill Valley,
followed by a memorial gathering at 3:30 p.m. and a potluck
dinner at the Alpine Club.
Donations can be made to the Labor Archives and Research
Center at San Francisco State University, 480 Winston Drive,
San Francisco, CA 94132.