Retired Bricklayers Director Don Brown named ‘Outstanding Local/ADC Officer’ by International Union

By MARY ANN O’TOOLE HOLLEY 
Correspondent

Don Brown, retired director of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Administrative District Council of Eastern Missouri (BAC/ADC) and member of Bricklayers Local 1 recently received the 2017 BAC Craft Award for Outstanding Local Administrative District Council Officer.

Throughout his 42-year tenure with the Bricklayers, Brown rose from Local 1 sergeant-at-arms to trustee to businessmanager. After Local 1 merged with Local 23, the International formed an Administrative District Council for Eastern Missouri and International Union President Jim Boland appointed Brown as director, a position he held until his retirement in March 2017.

Brown’s impressive achievements included guiding Local 1 through strikes in 2006, 2011 and 2015 without sacrificing member benefits, and leading the negotiating team that stopped an attack by the Mason Contractors Association on the union’s pension plan.

Brown was indentured as an apprentice to Masonry Systems in September 1974. As a journeyman bricklayer, he worked most of his career for John J. Smith Masonry Company.

In addition to his leadership with the ADC, Brown also served on the executive board of the Missouri AFL-CIO and was vice president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of St. Louis.

A former boxer, Brown mentored and gave back to the boxing community. In the 1980s, Brown won a series of Golden Glove titles and was ranked No. 7 in the nation. In 2004, he was inducted into the Gateway Classic Boxing Hall of Fame in St. Louis.