Corporate turnaround specialists have a reputation for cutting jobs, but two CEOs who have performed that task are among 26 people who submitted applications to run the Colorado AFL-CIO.
A screening committee of the state chapter is in the process of selecting an executive director to head the organization, which is now under control of the national AFL-CIO.
“In both cases, (the CEOs) were making the pitch that they really wanted to do something to benefit the working people,” Keith Maddox, a national AFL- CIO official who is handling operations of the state chapter, said Tuesday.
But business executives hoping to win over the AFL-CIO screening-committee executive director face an uphill battle. Among the qualifications the committee is seeking is at least 10 years of union experience.
“The committee is much more interested in trying to find the right person inside the labor movement. I don’t think they are interested in the CEOs,” Maddox said.
Maddox and other labor leaders wouldn’t name any of the applicants.
In January, the national AFL- CIO took over the chapter, saying that friction between top officials threatened political gains labor has made in the state.
An advisory committee then recommended that chapter president Steve Adams and his second-in-command, Paul Mendrick, be replaced with an executive director.
The 18-member committee charged with selecting a new leader is made up of representatives of state chapter affiliates. The group is expected to choose an executive director by mid-July. A smaller search committee could recommend a shortlist to the committee as early as today.
The applicant pool is split pretty evenly between state residents and those from outside Colorado. With the exception of the business executives, they are union people. Some have political organizing and lobbying experience; others have handled administrative functions for unions.
The national AFL-CIO won’t override the committee’s decision, said Rick Bender, president of the Washington State Labor Council.
“They know how important it is to get someone who can bring this labor movement together. They know what kind of candidate they need,” said Bender, who came to Colorado with Maddox to oversee the chapter.
Local labor leaders expect to hold elections and take back control of the chapter after the 2008 presidential election, said David Sanger, president of the AFT Colorado, a teachers union.
Whether the executive director is from Colorado or elsewhere won’t matter, Sanger said.
“We all know it is for a limited time,” he said.
Adams received a confidential settlement from the union and resigned. He now works as a consultant on labor issues.
“My cholesterol is down, and my blood pressure is down, so I guess it suits me,” he said.
Mendrick still has his secretary-treasurer title, though he no longer works for the union and is not on the payroll, Maddox said.
Mendrick said he is trying to reach a settlement with the AFL-CIO.
“I feel that I have been harmed and they have an obligation to make that right in order for me to accept the terms of any settlement,” he said.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
