Brent Booker, former director of the Construction Department at the Laborers' (LIUNA) is the new secretary treasurer of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD). He was elected today by the BCTD’s Governing Board of Presidents. Booker succeeds Sean McGarvey, who was elected BCTD president following the April death of Mark Ayers.

James Gilbert is director of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council.

As I sat down to write a blog post for Memorial Day for the Union Veterans Council, I could not help but remember our chairman and friend Mark Ayers who passed away last month. It seems only fitting that on this weekend that we remember those service members that gave the ultimate sacrifice that we remember him and his words. His statement from 2010 is one of the most poignant expressions of what Memorial Day means to the families of the fallen, fellow veterans and what it should mean to our country. I feel that this Memorial Day it is more than appropriate to share the words of former Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) President Ayers again.

Sean McGarvey, who has served as secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) since 2005, was elected president today by the BCTD’s Governing Board of Presidents. He succeeds Mark H. Ayers who died April 8.

Tributes continue to come in for Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), who died unexpectedly April 8 at age 63. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka calls Ayers an “extraordinary leader and friend.”

Mark Ayers, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) and an AFL-CIO vice president, passed away yesterday morning. Prior to his election in 2007, Ayers served as the director of the Construction and Maintenance Department of the Electrical Workers (IBEW). A U.S. Navy veteran, Ayers also chaired the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council.

Project labor agreements offer a pathway to the middle class by providing job opportunities to low-income communities, minorities, veterans and others, according to a new study by Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School (ILR).

Lara Manzione of the National Labor College reports on last night’s “Time to Build” fundraising gala at the college.

Following the first day of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting held at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., the college hosted a “A Time to Build”  gala last night. The gala honored Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), and the presidents of five entertainment  unions:  Ray Hair, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM); Ken Howard, Screen Actors (SAG); Matthew  Loeb, Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); Roberta Reardon, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); and Nick Wyman, Actors’ Equity (AEA).

The AFL-CIO today is announcing a major “commitment to action” to bring public and private partners together to encourage both workers’ capital and skilled labor to promote large-scale investments in America’s infrastructure.

Working people have been pulled into a brutal struggle for the very soul of our nation and our democracy, but we can win that struggle if we stand together and tell our story, AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) President Mark Ayers said.