Three-State Local Loses President to Promotion
Posted on: Friday, 9 May 2008, 06:00 CDT
By Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
May 9--Dave Regan, whose aggressive leadership pushed the buttons of state officials for more than a decade, has stepped down as president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1199.
One of the rare union leaders with an Ivy League degree, Regan, a Cornell University grad, will move up to the international union as an executive vice president.
Becky Williams, a union staff member since 1992, will be interim president and will run for election to the office in July. She has served as executive vice president and director of the Long Term Care Division.
District 1199 represents 34,000 health-care, social-service and public-sector workers, including many in Ohio state government, as well as in West Virginia and northern Kentucky. The international union has 1.9 million members.
Regan said of his new position: "This is an opportunity to continue fighting for the things that matter to working families ... health-care reform, living wages, and the right to form a union without intimidation and harassment."
Williams said her background as a rank-and-file member and union officer make her "thoroughly committed to the issues that matter most to working people in Ohio."
Regan is backing Williams as his permanent replacement.
"She has bargained hundreds of contracts, resolved countless arbitrations and otherwise served as a strong advocate for workers," Regan said in a statement.
ajohnson@dispatch.com
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Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
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