John (Jack) T. Ahern
President
John (Jack) T. Ahern is President of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest regional labor council representing over 1.4 million workers, and the Business Manager and Financial Secretary of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 30, a chief executive leadership position he has held since 1996. From 2006-2008, Jack served as the Executive Vice President of the Central Labor Council (CLC) and was responsible for the fiduciary and organizational duties of the New York City umbrella labor organization.
A union leader for over 35 years, Jack represents the interests of public and private sectors workers, and leads the fight for economic justice and job safety on behalf of New York City’s workforce.
Raised in Brooklyn, the son and grandson of union carpenters, Jack became involved in the trade union movement at an early age when he landed his first job as a floor cleaner in the New York City public school joining Local 74 of the Service Employees International Union.
In 1974, Jack began his service with IUOE Local 30 as an apprentice, and rose steadily within the New York-based mechanical and engineering workers’ union. As the leader of the IUOE Local 30, Jack has successfully negotiated hundreds of strong wage and benefit contracts on behalf of the 4,000 members of the union.
Recently, Jack served a key role in negotiating unprecedented labor protections and prevailing wage agreements with the Bloomberg Administration for building, service and retail workers in relation to New York City’s large-scale economic development projects.
In September 2008, Jack was instrumental in organizing a large rally of trade unionists on Wall Street urging Congress to approve only a bailout plan that includes a payback and equity investment return strategy for working people who are footing the bill and addresses the concerns of our nation’s health care, education, energy, infrastructure and jobs crisis.
As CLC President, Jack has also been at the forefront of labor’s campaign to urge Congress to pass an affordable, quality health care reform plan for all Americans and the Employee Free Choice Act to give workers the freedom to join unions without employer interference or harassment. Jack has also been a frequent speaker and strong advocate in support of Congress passing a 9/11 health monitoring and compensation plan to provide medical monitoring and treatment benefits to eligible emergency responders and recovery and cleanup workers who responded to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
In 2005, Jack led the successful negotiations to end a tense two-year strike of the engineering workers at the renowned Plum Island federal laboratory facilities on Long Island's North Fork.
Jack is an elected Trustee of the International Union of Operating Engineers, and a trustee of the IUOE Northeastern Conference and is a member of the Stationary Advisory Committee.
In addition to these leadership posts, Jack also serves as Vice-Chairperson to the NYC Municipal Labor Committee, a member of the U.S. Department of Labor Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship, a trustee for the National Association of Power Engineers Chapter 11 and is active within the Irish American Labor Coalition.
Jack was recently named as Chair of the Board of Advisors for the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. (updated October 2009)
George Miranda
Executive Vice President
George Miranda is a native New Yorker born and raised in the Bronx. He earned a BA in Liberal Arts from the City College on New York. His career in Labor began over 40 years ago as a shop steward. Currently, he is an International Vice President also the Secretary-Treasurer and CEO of Local 210 representing employees in the Airline , Warehouse, Pharmaceutical manufacturing and Cosmetic manufacturing industries and the President of the 120,000 member Teamster Joint Council # 16; one of the largest in the United States. He serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Teamsters Airline Division. He also is the Executive Vice-President of the NYC Central Labor Council and Executive Director of the Teamster National Hispanic Caucus.
George has held numerous positions at the International Brotherhood of Teamster including: Assistant to the Airline Division Director; International Representative for the Airline Division; Personal Representative for the General President; member of the Teamsters Human Rights Committee; International Appointed Temporary Trustee ; Chairman on National Grievance Panels under the Railways Labor Act; Member of Creditors Committee, representing thousands of Teamsters Members.
George Miranda has been active on the Board of the New York City Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and the Italian Hospital Society. He is recipient of the Teamster Black Caucus “Man of the Year” Award, Teamster Hispanic Caucus “Man of the Year” Award, the “Samaritan Foundations Distinguished Humanitarian” Award, and the Instituto Laboral de la Raza “Brother of the Year” Award.
He and his wife Gayle have been married for over 25 years.
Michael Mulgrew
Secretary
Michael Mulgrew became the fifth president of the UFT in August 2009 and was elected in a landslide victory by the UFT membership in April 2010, winning 91 percent of the vote. A Staten Island native, Michael attended CUNY’s College of Staten Island where he graduated with a B.A. in English literature and a master’s degree in special education.Michael began his teaching career as a substitute at South Richmond High School IS/PS 25, instructing students with special needs, while volunteering weekends at CUNY, teaching at-risk high school students creative writing.
He became a full-time teacher at Brooklyn’s William E. Grady HS in 1993 and served as the school’s chapter leader from 1999 to 2004. Under his stewardship, Grady High School emerged as one of the UFT’s strongest and most unified chapters, winning the UFT’s Eli Trachtenberg Award in 2002.
From his election as vice president for career and technical education high schools in 2005 and subsequent appointment as chief operating officer in 2008, Michael has spearheaded the UFT’s engagement in a wide range of successful advocacy campaigns on behalf of students and members.
A firm believer in building alliances and creating opportunities for collaboration, Michael prides himself on his work with parent, civic and community groups. He was instrumental in organizing the Keep the Promises, One New York: Fighting for Fairness, and For Our Kids coalitions between 2008 and 2010 that led to the restoration of hundreds of millions of classroom dollars and city services as well as preventing layoffs.
As UFT president, Michael has advanced the union position as a proactive change agent committed to transforming education in New York City.
In 2010, Michael reached a landmark agreement with the Department of Education to close the Teacher Reassignment Centers (rubber rooms) and led lawsuits with parents and community education advocates against the DOE for failing to reduce class size and for wrongfully closing 19 schools.
Affirming that educators need to find new ways to validate what they know to be true about the complexities of teaching and learning and to bring their voice to the reform debate, Michael negotiated a new teacher evaluation agreement with the New York State Education Department and the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) that includes multiple evaluation measures and provides teachers with opportunities and supports to improve their skills.
A staunch advocate for equality in education, Michael led the charge for needed charter school reforms to improve access for all students, as well as transparency and oversight. In addition to his UFT responsibilities, Michael is a vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and an executive board member of NYSUT, chairing its statewide committee on CTE programs. Michael also sits on the boards of the Council for Unity, CUNY’s Joseph S. Murphy Center for Labor, Community, & Policy Studies, and New Visions for Public Schools.
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