4792777337.jpg &&& HOWARD DECK might not have fit the usual image of the tough, hard-nosed labor leader, but his skill at negotiating contracts for his members was the stuff of legend. Howard had a lifetime of labor-union leadership during which, as one union executive put it, he negotiated "some of the best contracts in the country." And his idea of a great time was sitting in a theater watching classic plays, listening to an orchestra or attending opera performances in some of the legendary venues of New York and London. In fact, his resume includes conducting an orchestra and managing a theater. Howard S. Deck, 43-year president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 590 and former treasurer of AFSCME District Council 47, died of a heart attack Feb. 15 at his University City home. He was 70. "Howard was a much-cherished member of the AFSCME family and he will be greatly missed," said DC 47 President Cathy Scott. "Howard had been involved in all phases of the union movement since the 1960s, including being a founding member and the only president of Local 590. "He was a true trade unionist." AFSCME international president, Gerald W. McEntee, said that the contract that Howard negotiated for the employees of the University of Pennsylvania Library in the mid-'60s was the "best ever" first contract he had ever seen. "When Howard began, unions were struggling to grow and expand," McEntee said. "Howard built a small but effective union at Penn that cemented his record as one of the true pioneers of the labor movement in Philadelphia. "He set patterns that were followed across the country in successive organizing campaigns. His good works on behalf of working people will be long remembered and appreciated." State Sen. Vincent Hughes benefitted from Howard's work when he was employed at the Penn library in the late '70s, and again when Howard helped Hughes in his political campaigns. "He was an incredible labor leader," Hughes said, "and a great, decent and kind human being. When I was at Penn, we were the highest-paid university-library employees in the country, thanks to Howard." Hughes, who was a member of the board of Local 590, said that Howard was respected by management and by union members. And whenever Hughes needed advice on union issues, pensions and contracts, "I knew I could always turn to Howard to give me insight." Howard was born in Reading and graduated from high school there. He went to Albright College, where he received a degree in English. It was at Albright that he conducted the college Youth Orchestra, and performed on stage. After moving to Philadelphia, he became a stage manager of the Theatre of the Living Arts, which at the time was a well-known repertory theater on South Street. In 1965, he went to work for the Penn library, where he organized fellow workers into a new union, AFSCME Local 590, and negotiated their first and very generous contract. The contract included an unusual provision. It specified that if a member were imprisoned for refusing to be inducted into the Armed Forces for the Vietnam War, he would be given a leave of absence, protecting his employment rights. Howard had an encyclopedic knowledge of opera and classical music. Once, he was with a group that spent 35 days in London, seeing a different play each night. He also took in operas at the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center, in New York, and the Royal Opera House, in London. He frequently dined at the famed Ivy restaurant in London's West End, where stars of opera and stage often stopped. Howard worked for a number of political candidates and was a delegate to the Democratic Party Nominating Convention in Los Angeles in 2002. He is survived by his longtime companion, Marvin Brown. Services: Memorial service 10 a.m. Thursday, March 11, at the American Friends Service Committee hall, 1515 Cherry St.