After working as a Carpenter and Superintendent for a number of years, Paschal was appointed Business Agent by Local 608 President, John O'Connor in the 1970s.
Eventually, when the District Council of Carpenters was coming out of trusteeship, Paschal ran against Big John O'Connor and won in 1984, a position he held until 1991.
The Consent Decree is still in effect with a Federal Judge and an Independent Investigator overseeing the operations of the NYC District Council, and its affiliated Local Unions.
[4] McGuiness was then elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO in 1995, a position he would have to give up due to federal investigations.
The Consent Decree forced McGuinness out of Union office in the State of New York, and also left the District Council under the control of an Independent Investigator from circa 1994.