AFL-CIO APPROVES FOUR NEW MEMBERS TO EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
03/04/2008

The AFL-CIO Executive Council approved the election of four new council members today at its winter meeting in San Diego, Calif. The Executive Council -- composed of 47 union leaders -- is a key decision-making body of the 10.5 million member AFL-CIO.

The new members of the Council are: Mark Ayers, President, AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD); Ann Converso, President, United American Nurses (UAN); Fred Redmond, Vice President, United Steelworkers (USW) and Richard Hughes, President, International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA).

“The AFL-CIO proudly welcomes four dedicated, committed leaders of the American labor movement to our Executive Council,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “Their years of collective experience fighting on behalf of working families will prove invaluable as the AFL-CIO continues to confront the many challenges facing America’s workers.”

Ayers, who replaces retired BCTD President Ed Sullivan on the Council, is a longtime leader of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) who headed the union’s construction and maintenance department. Ayers replaced Sullivan as BCTD President last October. Ayers, originally from Peoria, Illinois, previously served as Business Manager and Secretary-Treasurer for IBEW Local 34.

Converso, a registered nurse who lives in Buffalo, New York, replaces former UAN President Cheryl Johnson, who died last October. Converso has spent 30 years as an acute medical/surgical nurse and I.V. therapy nurse for the Veterans Administration's Western New York Health Systems. She was elected UAN vice president in 1999. She continues to serve as the chairwoman of her local bargaining unit in Buffalo where she helped lead the way for state legislation banning mandatory overtime and developing new rules to prevent accidental needlesticks.

Redmond replaces former USW Vice President Leon Lynch, who has retired. Redmond joined the USW in 1973 when he went to work at an Illinois steel mill. He served in several local union offices and in 1996, joined the union's national staff. Redmond has assisted in developing training programs for USW and was assistant director of USW District 7 before being elected a USW vice president in 2005. Redmond chairs the union’s Container Industry Conference and coordinates bargaining for the USW health care and public employees sector. He also serves as Chair of the A. Philip Randolph Institute and is a leader within the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

Hughes replaces former ILA President John Bowers, who stepped down last year at the union’s convention. Prior to his election as president of ILA, Hughes served as the ILA Executive Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer of the ILA’s Atlantic Coast District. He is a third-generation longshoreman who worked in the Port of Baltimore, where he was a leader in Local 953. Hughes is a Navy veteran who went to work on the Baltimore docks shortly after he completed his service.

Contact: Steve Smith 202-412-4440