Full slate of officers re-elected by acclamation to lead St. Louis Labor Council

Executive board members of the Greater St. Louis Labor Council were re-elected by acclamation last month to another four years leading the St. Louis area Labor Movement.

Council President Pat White thanked members for their support at the Dec. 17 meeting of Labor Council delegates at IBEW Local 1’s newly refurbished union hall.

“I want to thank you for entrusting in us and your board for another four years,” White said. “I can tell you, if you could be a bug on the wall in some of these executive board meetings, it’s not just a lot of fluff. We really hash a lot of things out. Not everybody on that board thinks the same. When you’re sitting at the table with someone who represents janitors and someone who represents firemen and someone who represents phone clerks, grocery clerks, iron workers, pipefitters, whatever, there’s going to be a lot of disagreements, and there are, and we work it out, just like how it should be.

STRENGTH THROUGH DIFFERENCES
“At the end of the day, I’m proud to, first of all, be up in front of you, but also to have a board that – they’re not afraid. No one is in lockstep with anyone there. It’s nice knowing they’re certainly not afraid to call me and tell me what they think. They work hard. I can’t remember an executive board meeting that didn’t last more than an hour and a half, and that’s because we’re usually sitting there hashing things out.”

That includes everything from the Labor Council’s involvement with the United Way, to working to ensure quality union construction projects in the St. Louis area to fighting for union contracts and fair treatment for the workers who keep the buildings and businesses operating once construction is done.

For example SEIU Local 1 janitors who clean notable buildings like Wells Fargo, Peabody Plaza and Metropolitan Square, are fighting for a fair contract.

“We can’t forget, once the buildings are finished, that we have folks who take care of those buildings or that we can organize who are in those buildings. I think that’s something that our board is reminded of on a monthly basis because of (a) the diversity of the people on our board and (b) the difference in our groups.”

OFFICERS
The St. Louis Labor Council Executive Board officers re-elected include:

• President – Pat White (Gas Workers 11-6).
• 1st Vice President – Earline Jones (CWA 6300).
• 2nd Vice President – Open.

VICE PRESIDENTS

• Nancy Cross (vice president, SEIU Local 1).
• Jerry Donovan (business manager, Insulators Local 1).
• Jose Gomez (business agent, Laborers Local 110 and executive vice president, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO).
• Rod Herrmann (president, Gas Workers 11-6).
• John Hopkin (secretary-treasurer, Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Administrative District Council (ADC) of Eastern Missouri).
• Frank Jacobs (business manager, IBEW Local 1).
• Mark Johnson (president, CWA 6300)
• Tom McNeil, Jr. (business manager, Iron Workers Local 396).
• John O’Mara (business manager, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 562).
• Gary Otten (political director, Painters District Council 58).
• Ray Reasons (president-business manager of Sheet Metal Workers (SMART) Local 36).
• Keith Robinson (president, A. Phillip Randolph Institute St. Louis Chapter).
• Joseph Rudd (business agent, Stagehands Local 6).
• Tim Sappington (business manager, Operating Engineers Local 513).
• Earl Schuessler (president/directing business representative, Machinists District 837).
• Gary Smith (vice president, Musicians Association of St. Louis).
• Keena Smith (president, AFGE Local 2192).
• Chris Tongay (vice president, Teamsters Local 688).
• Sally Topping (president, Teachers Local 420).
• Don Willey (business manager, Laborers Local 110).
• Mark Woolbright (2nd District vice president, International Association of Fire Fighters).

TRUSTEES

• David Cook (president UFCW Local 655).
• Keith Linderer (business manager, Operating Engineers Local 148).
• Kevin McNatt (president, UNITE HERE Local 74).
• Dave Weaver (directing business representative, Machinists District 9).
• John Stiffler (executive secretary-treasurer, St. Louis Building & Construction Trades).

SERGEANTS-AT-ARMS

• David Meinell (president, president of the Missouri Alliance for Retired Americans).
• Marcia Cline (United Way Labor Liaison-retired, treasurer, Coalition of Labor Union Women).