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Union leader to fight ouster

National AFL-CIO office removes two local officials

Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 21, 2007 at midnight

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Colorado AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Paul Mendrick vowed to fight a decision by national labor leaders at "the mother of all unions" to force him out, a move he says "flies in the face of everything" unions stand for.

In a letter e-mailed Friday to AFL-CIO officials overseeing the Colorado federation, Mendrick questioned his removal from office, saying he has yet to receive anything in writing about the matter.

"To terminate employees at will, without due process and a fair hearing, is what we, true unionists fight (against) every day of our lives," Mendrick wrote in his letter. "To relieve the two elected officers in this manner is gutless and shameful."

The national AFL-CIO seized control of the state AFL-CIO in late January in a move aimed largely at resolving conflicts between its top leaders. The trustees who took over concluded recently that both of the elected leaders had to go.

Colorado AFL-CIO President Steve Adams, whose post has also been eliminated, had sought help from the national office in resolving internal disputes.

But that decision ultimately "backfired," Mendrick said. In an interview Friday, Mendrick said he and Adams had already started to work through their differences of opinion about running the organization.

In the end, the national intervention has ultimately caused more problems than it has solved, Mendrick said.

Others agreed.

"It's backfired on the entire labor movement - we're all hurting from it," said Neal Hall of the Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council. "This is more of a detriment to the labor movement than a help. I'm just sorry this whole thing ever took place."

Hall served on the executive council of the state federation, but the national trustees formed a new, smaller advisory committee to take its place.

Jo Romero, president of the Colorado Federation of Public Employees and a member of the new state AFL-CIO advisory body, lamented the outcome but contended the trustees had little choice but to remove the top officers.

"It is with great regret we're going to see two good leaders leave the AFL-CIO," Romero said. "By and large, there's a lot of people who supported both of them. The decision has been made. We have to be able to move on."

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