Mark Ayers

Mark H. Ayers (January 22, 1949 – April 8, 2012) was an American labor leader who was president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department from 2007 until his death in 2012.

[1] Ayers served as a U.S. Navy aviator for four years, including in the Vietnam War.

[3][4][5] Having settled in Peoria, Illinois, in 1973 he started his career an apprentice with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 34, working his way up to become business manager of the local.

[2] That year, he moved to Washington, D.C., to become the director of the IBEW's Construction and Maintenance Department.

[1][4] He was elected president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department, one of the most powerful positions in the American labor movement, in 2007.