Marshall M. Hicks started his career in the utility industry on July 1, 1952, at the J.R. Whiting Electric Generating Plant at Consumers Power Company in Erie, Michigan. It did not take long for him to become active in the union. He was elected Shift Steward of UWUA Local 258 in 1953, rose through the ranks of the Local, and served as its President from 1957 to 1967. During this time he became active in the Michigan State Utility Workers Council, serving first as Vice President, then as Secretary-Treasurer, and finally as President from 1967 to 1970. While still in Michigan, Marshall participated in local politics, serving as Chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Committee from 1968 to 1970. Marshall was a great unionist who always put the members first.
While President of the Michigan State Utility Workers Council, Marshall was elected to the Executive Board of the Utility Workers Union of America. In 1970, Marshall was appointed Regional Director of UWUA Region IV and served in that capacity until his election in 1971 to the office of National Secretary-Treasurer.
Marshall was rewarded for his hard work and never ending struggle to improve the working lives of his members by being elected to the office of National President at the 1991 Convention in Florida. He was unanimously re-elected to the position at the 1995 Convention and served until January of 1996, when his illness forced him to retire.
In 1997, the Michigan State Utility Workers Council established a scholarship program in his honor and awarded the first two recipients in 1998. Since then, there have been twenty-two Scholarship Awards presented in his honor from the Council.