Sadlowski left school in the eleventh grade and joined the United States Army during the Korean War.
[3] In 1956, Sadlowski started work as a machinist's apprentice at U.S. Steel in Chicago, which was represented by Local 65 of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA).
The following year Local 65 members elected him president, and in 1964 at age 25 Sadlowski became the youngest person to hold that union office, overseeing about 23,000 workers.
Sadlowski announced he candidacy for the director position: I consider democracy within the union to be he most important single issue.
The U.S. Department of Labor investigated and found massive fraud, including that the official union leadership at the Gary Works U.S. Steel local (one of the district's biggest) had faked ballots.
[4] After Sadlowski won the district director election, he traveled around the country talking to steelworker groups about whether to run for international president.
"[7] During the 1977 election, Sadlowski ran against Lloyd McBride, who received substantial support from union officers and staff.
Canada also did not have the labor law fraud protections that exist in the U.S. Sadlowski had raised donations from both inside and outside the union.
His enemies had charged that if he was elected outsiders would run the union, and Sadlowski's failure to respond forcibly may have cost him many votes.
When the USWA at their 1978 convention outlawed such donations, Sadlowski sued to overturn the union rule on First Amendment grounds.
[10] After the 1977 election, Sadlowski became a subdistrict director in the South Chicago area, but "Steelworkers Fightback" disintegrated.
[3] In 2015, his daughter, Susan Sadlowski Garza was elected to the Chicago City Council representing the 10th ward.
[3] Sadlowski was featured in the first chapter of the novel Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago, as well as the history Homestead, and memoir Which Side Are You On?