Earlier this week, myself and union leaders who sit on the Executive Board of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council received phone calls from a representative of the AFL-CIO’s President’s Office informing us that the Labor Council had been placed under receivership, and that officers of the Labor Council were being removed effective immediately, including President Mickey Kasparian and Secretary-Treasurer Dale Kelly-Bankhead.
We have long known that our house of Labor needed reform and accountability, and I am hopeful and confident that the Labor Council will be strengthened and will rebuild itself under the thoughtful stewardship of former Secretary-Treasurer Jerry Butkiewicz. His style of leadership relies on the positive collective input of working families aligned with transparency and collaboration. We are looking forward to working together with the 130 other affiliated unions of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council to build a stronger Labor Movement under the guidance of the AFL-CIO and leadership of Jerry Butkiewicz. Together we will continue to effectively advocate for working families and a better quality of life for all our Union members and communities.
This is a time where if we truly believe we are fighting for what is best for the working people of San Diego, we need to stay together, be honorable and take the high road. Those that remain with the Labor Council will be looking to us to see how we handle this situation. We need to continue to be positive leaders.
— Nick Segura, IBEW 569 Business Manager
(For more details on this news, see this Voice of San Diego article.)
