AFL-CIO names veteran labor leader Patrick Crowley as its new president

On By Karl

play

PROVIDENCE – After two decades on the front lines of organized labor in Rhode Island, patrick crowley He won the election Monday night as the new president of the 80,000-member strong state AFL-CIO for the remainder of his predecessor George Nee’s term.

The board of directors of the massive and influential labor organization voted at the offices of the National Education Association in Cranston; Here Crowley, 51, spent decades as a labor organizer and eventually became political director and then treasurer. AFL-CIO in 2020.

The organization also selected Karen Hazard, current president of the Rhode Island Labor District Council and business manager of LiUNA Local 808, as Secretary-Treasurer.

Who is Pat Crowley?

As The Journal reported late last year, Crowley first made headlines in Rhode Island chasing then-Republican U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee around. George W. Bush mask and flight suit.

He later revealed that then-Governor Don Carcieri had failed to pay $12,000 in property taxes on his luxury Florida condo.

Crowley, who once described himself as a “punk kid with a good imagination,” took many quotable roles in unionization efforts, teachers’ contracts, high-stakes testing and education funding debates, strikes and other public actions, and became a top leader along the way. progressed. No. 2 in the AFL-CIO.

What happened at the meeting?

Heading into Monday night’s vote, Crowley faced no declared opposition, although there was always the possibility of an eleventh-hour nomination.

In addition to the board’s votes for Crowley Karen Hazard was appointed secretary-treasurer No. 2, replacing Crowley.

Hazard is the former business manager, president and board member of Laborers Local 1134 at Zambarano Hospital and also served as a field representative for Laborers Local 808, representing DOT, DMV, EMA, city hall employees, school department employees and police officers. he did. , including 911 operators and Zambarano employees. His most recent roles included president of the Rhode Island Labor Regional Council.

Digging deeper: The background of leadership change

In an email to union members ahead of Nee’s scheduled retirement on Oct. 11, Crowley said of Nee: “Our labor movement is effective and strong in Rhode Island, in large part because of George’s leadership… He has inspired generations. union organizers and activists, and a personal mentor and hero of mine.”

When Nee retired, Crowley, as secretary-treasurer, automatically assumed the duties of president on an interim basis until the board of directors called a special meeting to elect a new president by the next scheduled meeting of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. Autumn 2025.

In an email to union members in September, Crowley wrote: “Since being elected secretary-treasurer in February 2020, I believe the Rhode Island AFL-CIO has demonstrated the value of organized labor to our affiliates, our members, and all of our employees and people in the Ocean State “We have seen historic victories at the ballot box, in the General Assembly, in picketing and in organizing campaigns.”

Citing “our work with Climate Jobs Rhode Island” as an example, he said: “Not only are we protecting the environment, but we’re leading the way in making sure that these jobs that come up in this industry are union jobs. We’ve also played an important role in protecting voting rights, gun safety and in passing laws that benefit all Rhode Islanders, including protecting paid leave.”

“As George likes to say, we are truly the ‘People’s Lobby,’ and as I said when you elected me in 2020, ‘if we fight, we win,'” he continued.

In November 2023, The Journal described Crowley as: “Political trash talker, megaphone-wielding rabble-rouser, writer (“The Battle of the Tombstones and the 1934 Saylesville Massacre”), former owner (2008-09) of a progressive blog – now defunct RIFuture – and online yoga teacher during COVID.”

Crowley becomes only the 5th person to lead the state’s largest labor federation since its founding in 1958.

Hazard became the second woman and the first person of color to hold the administrative post in the history of the state federation. Their terms of office will continue until autumn 2025.

Crowley released the following statement: “I thank all members of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO for electing me to the office of President. It is the honor of a lifetime to serve the working class of Rhode Island in this capacity. I know that with your support, Sister Hazard and I can work with all of you to keep the Rhode Island labor movement strong and vibrant.