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In an era when unions don't strike much anymore, the Transport Workers Union is still willing to hit the bricks. And if you want to lead Local 234, you'd better be tough. Willie Brown is.
Brown, 46, grew up in West Philadelphia, dodging street gangs with Jeff Brooks, his predecessor as president of Local 234.
Brown is not tall, but solidly built. He's said to be intelligent, direct and plainspoken. He's calm and reasonable in conversation, friends say, but at times displays a volatile temper.
When he visited City Council members in City Hall yesterday, he told them his decision to take his members out on strike in the middle of the night had been made in anger, and not a smart thing to do.
"I regret calling [the strike] the time I did," Brown told reporters after the meeting. "But I don't regret the strike."
Councilman Frank Rizzo said he was impressed that Brown would admit a mistake and impressed with his demeanor.
"He was congenial, as calm, cool and professional as you'd want a union leader to be," Rizzo said.
Brown graduated from University City High School and became a trolley driver for SEPTA in 1987.
Brooks said last night that Brown was an effective labor leader because of his "humble beginnings."
"Just like myself," Brooks said. "That taught us that working-class people are entitled to more than just scraps off the table."
Brown and Brooks grew up in West Philadelphia around the Sherwood Recreation Center at 56th and Christian streets.
Brown told the Daily News in 2005 that they had run from or fought members of several gangs, and that a cardinal rule was that you never ran out on your partner.
"You'd get home, and everyone would say, 'He got a black eye. How come you didn't?'" Brown said.
Brown is married, has a daughter and granddaughter, and lives in Southwest Philadelphia, not far from the Elmwood trolley depot, at Island and Elmwood avenues.
He knows he's reviled by much of the city now, but Brooks said last night that people should know that "he's a compassionate person" who's spent a lot of time on union-sponsored charity work.
"They should understand that his purpose is not to strike," Brooks said. "His purpose is to get a contract." *
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