Terence M. O'Sullivan
Encyclopedia
Terence M. O'Sullivan is a labor union
activist and, since 1999, president of the Laborers' International Union of North America
(LIUNA).
, in 1955. His father, Terence J. O'Sullivan was an official in the Laborers' Union, and the family moved to Virginia
in 1968 after his father was elected the international union's secretary-treasurer. (His father was indicted in 1981 in a kickback
scheme but acquitted.)
O'Sullivan attended American University
in Washington, D.C.
He majored in business administration, and graduated with a bachelor's degree
in 1974. While still in college, he earned money working as a laborer
for a company building the city's subway system, Metro
. It was during this time that he first joined the Laborers' Union (Local 456).
After matriculating, O'Sullivan was a high school teacher and baseball coach in West Virginia
for three years. In 1978, O'Sullivan started computer services company. He married and then later separated from his wife, and has a son, Brendan, and a daughter, Caitlin.
. In 1989, he became the fund's administrator.
In 1993, LIUNA president Arthur Coia appointed O'Sullivan assistant director of the international union's construction, maintenance and service trades department. O'Sullivan moved his family to Clifton, Virginia
. During his tenure as assistant director of the department, O'Sullivan convinced the union to build a number of new training centers around the country.
In February 1999, O'Sullivan was elected an international vice president. O'Sullivan was appointed mid-Atlantic regional manager of the union and assistant to the president, and the union's chief of staff shortly thereafter.
The United States Department of Labor
(DOL) and United States Department of Justice
(DOJ) had prosecuted the Laborers' Union in 1995 for racketeering, corruption and ties to organized crime
. A consent decree permitted Coia (elected in 1992) to remain president so long as he made significant progress toward internal reforms. DOJ retained the authority to take over the union (appointing its own officers, setting its own budget, and making its own reforms) if Coia did not make what DOJ considered to be adequate progress toward reform. The agreement was modified and extended for one year in January 1998, and again in January 1999. By 1999, 226 individuals were expelled from the union, and 40 trusteeships of local unions established. A major reform was the first secret-ballot election for president and secretary-treasurer at the union's 1996 convention, which was also the first contested election for a LIUNA presidency.
Coia, had been cleared by federal and union officials of a number of serious crimes and violation of union rules in 1998, but new evidence pointed to more fraud. According to the government, Coia obtained three Ferrari
s from a luxury car dealer at a cost far below fair-market value. In return, he used his influence to steer union business to the dealer. Coia later pled guilty to federal tax evasion and fraud. He avoided a jail term, and was permitted to retire while still receiving a portion of his salary.
After being vetted by federal officials, the union's executive council elected O'Sullivan president to replace Coia.
However, O'Sullivan's presidency has not been without controversy in other ways.
In 2001, O'Sullivan broke with the AFL-CIO
and supported the drilling for oil in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
. He even co-authored an op-ed piece with United States Secretary of the Interior
Gale Norton
advocating increased oil production.
scandal. In 1999, ULLICO chairman, president and chief executive officer Robert Georgine
proposed a stock trading scheme: ULLICO directors could sell falling shares of stock and buy ULLICO shares at a low price. Because ULLICO is a privately held company
, the board of directors re-sets the stock price once a year. The directors could re-establish the stock price at a higher level, then vote to have the company repurchase their shares. They could then set the share price at its lower level, and net millions of dollars in profits. Although present at the November 2000 board meeting at which the repurchase plan was approved, O'Sullivan did not vote in favor of the plan and did not participate in the stock-trading scheme.
The scandal was reported by the press in March 2002. AFL-CIO president John Sweeney
pushed the board to appoint an internal investigator. When the investigator's report was complete in November 2002, Sweeney pushed the board to make the report public. A majority of the board voted to keep the report secret. Sweeney resigned from the board, then threatened to bring the matter up before a public meeting of the executive council of the AFL-CIO. The board established an eight-member special advisory committee, headed by O'Sullivan, to decide whether to release the report. The committee unanimously agreed to release the report, but O'Sullivan was out-voted 6 to 2 to accept the report's recommendation that directors return their profits to ULLICO.
In a hastily-organized board meeting late on April 23, 2003, Sweeney, O'Sullivan and Edwin D. Hill
(president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
) nominated a reform slate of 13 new board members. Georgine withdrew his name as a candidate for the board. O'Sullivan was only one of two incumbents to return to the board. O'Sullivan was elected ULLICO's new chairman, replacing Georgine.
O'Sullivan then led an investigation which revealed even more corruption and greater profits from the stock trading scheme then previously revealed. O'Sullivan demanded the return of these additional profits, and slowly brought ULLICO back to financial health. He remains the company's chairman and CEO as of January 2007.
, president of SEIU, O'Sullivan eventually became part of the New Unity Partnership (which transformed into the Change to Win Federation
). O'Sullivan was particular vocal in demanding that the AFL-CIO rebate up to 50 percent of all dues to international unions for use in new member organizing.
O'Sullivan threatened to disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO at its quadrennial convention in late July 2005, but did not do so. Nevertheless, he said his union would leave the federation in time.
In February 2006, O'Sullivan took the first step toward disaffiliation by withdrawing his union from the Building and Construction Trades Department
(BCTD) of the AFL-CIO. The Laborers and the International Union of Operating Engineers
(an AFL-CIO affiliate) quit the BCTD and formed a rival group, the National Construction Alliance. Joining the Alliance were the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
(not an AFL-CIO affiliate), the Teamsters
(not an AFL-CIO affiliate), the Iron Workers
(an AFL-CIO affiliate which remained part of BCTD) and the Bricklayers
(an AFL-CIO affiliate which remained part of BCTD). O'Sullivan said BCTD had been ineffective in organizing new members and stopping the proliferation of nonunion contractors. O'Sullivan made four demands on BCTD: Its leaders must resign and new elections must be held; its budget must be trimmed to permit more money to be spent on organizing; it must alter its proportional representation rules, which give more delegates to smaller unions; and it must revise its rules for determining which unions have jurisdiction over various kinds of work. AFL-CIO officials say they agreed to all of O'Sullivan's demands except for the first, arguing that the constitutionally scheduled BCTD elections should occur on schedule.
Finally, on June 1, 2006, the Laborers' Union disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO and joined the Change to Win Federation.
The union announced that it would leave Change to Win on August 13, 2010, and the AFL-CIO said that the reaffiliation would be formalized in October 2010.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activist and, since 1999, president of the Laborers' International Union of North America
Laborers' International Union of North America
The Laborers' International Union of North America is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of March 31, 2010, they have about 632,000 members, members, about 80,000 of which are in Canada.The current general president is Terence M...
(LIUNA).
Early life and career
O'Sullivan was born in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, in 1955. His father, Terence J. O'Sullivan was an official in the Laborers' Union, and the family moved to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in 1968 after his father was elected the international union's secretary-treasurer. (His father was indicted in 1981 in a kickback
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
scheme but acquitted.)
O'Sullivan attended American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He majored in business administration, and graduated with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in 1974. While still in college, he earned money working as a laborer
Laborer
A Laborer or labourer - see variation in english spelling - is one of the construction trades, traditionally considered unskilled manual labor, as opposed to skilled labor. In the division of labor, laborers have all blasting, hand tools, power tools, air tools, and small heavy equipment, and act...
for a company building the city's subway system, Metro
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
. It was during this time that he first joined the Laborers' Union (Local 456).
After matriculating, O'Sullivan was a high school teacher and baseball coach in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
for three years. In 1978, O'Sullivan started computer services company. He married and then later separated from his wife, and has a son, Brendan, and a daughter, Caitlin.
LIUNA career
In 1987, O'Sullivan's teaching and computer interests converged when he was appointed an instructor at the West Virginia Laborers' Training Fund. In that position, he taught training seminars and helped blue-collar laborers' learn how to program and operate new, computerized heavy machinery. As head of the training fund, O'Sullivan joined LIUNA Local 1353 in Charleston, West VirginiaCharleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
. In 1989, he became the fund's administrator.
In 1993, LIUNA president Arthur Coia appointed O'Sullivan assistant director of the international union's construction, maintenance and service trades department. O'Sullivan moved his family to Clifton, Virginia
Clifton, Virginia
Clifton is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States located away from Washington, D.C. In 2010, the population was 282.-Pre-Colonial era:...
. During his tenure as assistant director of the department, O'Sullivan convinced the union to build a number of new training centers around the country.
In February 1999, O'Sullivan was elected an international vice president. O'Sullivan was appointed mid-Atlantic regional manager of the union and assistant to the president, and the union's chief of staff shortly thereafter.
Election as president
On December 6, 1999, LIUNA president Arthur Coia announced he would be retiring at the end of the year.The United States Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
(DOL) and United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
(DOJ) had prosecuted the Laborers' Union in 1995 for racketeering, corruption and ties to organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
. A consent decree permitted Coia (elected in 1992) to remain president so long as he made significant progress toward internal reforms. DOJ retained the authority to take over the union (appointing its own officers, setting its own budget, and making its own reforms) if Coia did not make what DOJ considered to be adequate progress toward reform. The agreement was modified and extended for one year in January 1998, and again in January 1999. By 1999, 226 individuals were expelled from the union, and 40 trusteeships of local unions established. A major reform was the first secret-ballot election for president and secretary-treasurer at the union's 1996 convention, which was also the first contested election for a LIUNA presidency.
Coia, had been cleared by federal and union officials of a number of serious crimes and violation of union rules in 1998, but new evidence pointed to more fraud. According to the government, Coia obtained three Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
s from a luxury car dealer at a cost far below fair-market value. In return, he used his influence to steer union business to the dealer. Coia later pled guilty to federal tax evasion and fraud. He avoided a jail term, and was permitted to retire while still receiving a portion of his salary.
After being vetted by federal officials, the union's executive council elected O'Sullivan president to replace Coia.
Tenure as president
O'Sullivan is generally considered a dynamic, effective president. Federal oversight of the union continues, and O'Sullivan is acknowledged to be honest and free from corruption. On January 20, 2000, just weeks after his election, O'Sullivan, DOJ and DOL agreed to extend the government's oversight of the union another six years, until January 2006.However, O'Sullivan's presidency has not been without controversy in other ways.
In 2001, O'Sullivan broke with the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
and supported the drilling for oil in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
. He even co-authored an op-ed piece with United States Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
Gale Norton
Gale Norton
Gale Ann Norton served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush...
advocating increased oil production.
ULLICO scandal
In 2002, while O'Sullivan was a member of the board of directors of the Union Labor Life Insurance Company (ULLICO), the company was caught up in a share repurchaseShare repurchase
Stock repurchase is the reacquisition by a company of its own stock. In some countries, including the U.S. and the UK, a corporation can repurchase its own stock by distributing cash to existing shareholders in exchange for a fraction of the company's outstanding equity; that is, cash is exchanged...
scandal. In 1999, ULLICO chairman, president and chief executive officer Robert Georgine
Robert Georgine
Robert Georgine is a retired labor union activist and leader in the United States, and the former president, chairman and chief executive officer of the Union Labor Life Insurance Company....
proposed a stock trading scheme: ULLICO directors could sell falling shares of stock and buy ULLICO shares at a low price. Because ULLICO is a privately held company
Privately held company
A privately held company or close corporation is a business company owned either by non-governmental organizations or by a relatively small number of shareholders or company members which does not offer or trade its company stock to the general public on the stock market exchanges, but rather the...
, the board of directors re-sets the stock price once a year. The directors could re-establish the stock price at a higher level, then vote to have the company repurchase their shares. They could then set the share price at its lower level, and net millions of dollars in profits. Although present at the November 2000 board meeting at which the repurchase plan was approved, O'Sullivan did not vote in favor of the plan and did not participate in the stock-trading scheme.
The scandal was reported by the press in March 2002. AFL-CIO president John Sweeney
John Sweeney (labor leader)
John Joseph Sweeney was the president of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009.-Early years:Born in The Bronx, New York, Sweeney is the son of Joseph and Agnes , both Irish immigrants. The family moved to Yonkers in 1944, where Sweeney attended St. Barnabas Elementary School and graduated from Cardinal...
pushed the board to appoint an internal investigator. When the investigator's report was complete in November 2002, Sweeney pushed the board to make the report public. A majority of the board voted to keep the report secret. Sweeney resigned from the board, then threatened to bring the matter up before a public meeting of the executive council of the AFL-CIO. The board established an eight-member special advisory committee, headed by O'Sullivan, to decide whether to release the report. The committee unanimously agreed to release the report, but O'Sullivan was out-voted 6 to 2 to accept the report's recommendation that directors return their profits to ULLICO.
In a hastily-organized board meeting late on April 23, 2003, Sweeney, O'Sullivan and Edwin D. Hill
Edwin D. Hill
Edwin D. Hill is an electrical worker, labor union activist and labor leader in the United States. Since January 2001, he has been president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , AFL-CIO....
(president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor union which represents workers in the electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Panama and several Caribbean island nations; particularly electricians, or Inside Wiremen, in the construction industry and linemen and other...
) nominated a reform slate of 13 new board members. Georgine withdrew his name as a candidate for the board. O'Sullivan was only one of two incumbents to return to the board. O'Sullivan was elected ULLICO's new chairman, replacing Georgine.
O'Sullivan then led an investigation which revealed even more corruption and greater profits from the stock trading scheme then previously revealed. O'Sullivan demanded the return of these additional profits, and slowly brought ULLICO back to financial health. He remains the company's chairman and CEO as of January 2007.
AFL-CIO disaffiliation and reaffiliation
O'Sullivan broke with Sweeney over the need for and nature of reform of the AFL-CIO. Although not initially part of the coalition led by Andy SternAndy Stern
Andrew L. "Andy" Stern , is the former president of the 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union , the fastest-growing union in the Americas. SEIU is the second largest union in the United States and Canada after the National Education Association.Stern was elected in 1996 to...
, president of SEIU, O'Sullivan eventually became part of the New Unity Partnership (which transformed into the Change to Win Federation
Change to Win Federation
The Change to Win Federation is a coalition of American labor unions originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the AFL-CIO. The coalition is associated with strong advocacy of the organizing model...
). O'Sullivan was particular vocal in demanding that the AFL-CIO rebate up to 50 percent of all dues to international unions for use in new member organizing.
O'Sullivan threatened to disaffiliate from the AFL-CIO at its quadrennial convention in late July 2005, but did not do so. Nevertheless, he said his union would leave the federation in time.
In February 2006, O'Sullivan took the first step toward disaffiliation by withdrawing his union from the Building and Construction Trades Department
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
The Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO is a constitutionally mandated department of the AFL-CIO. It was founded on February 10, 1908, as a way to overcome the jurisdictional conflicts occurring in the building and construction trade unions...
(BCTD) of the AFL-CIO. The Laborers and the International Union of Operating Engineers
International Union of Operating Engineers
The International Union of Operating Engineers is a trade union within the AFL-CIO representing primarily construction workers who work as heavy equipment operators, mechanics, surveyors, and stationary engineers who maintain heating and other systems in buildings and industrial complexes, in the...
(an AFL-CIO affiliate) quit the BCTD and formed a rival group, the National Construction Alliance. Joining the Alliance were the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America is one of the largest building trades union in the United States. One of the unions that formed the American Federation of Labor in 1886, it left the AFL-CIO in 2001.-Early years:...
(not an AFL-CIO affiliate), the Teamsters
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
(not an AFL-CIO affiliate), the Iron Workers
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers
The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers is a union in the United States and Canada, which represents primarily construction workers, as well as shipbuilding and metal fabrication employees.-Origins:...
(an AFL-CIO affiliate which remained part of BCTD) and the Bricklayers
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers is a labor union in the United States and Canada which represents bricklayers, pointers/cleaners/caulkers, stone and marble masons, cement masons, plasterers, tilesetters, terrazzo and mosaic workers...
(an AFL-CIO affiliate which remained part of BCTD). O'Sullivan said BCTD had been ineffective in organizing new members and stopping the proliferation of nonunion contractors. O'Sullivan made four demands on BCTD: Its leaders must resign and new elections must be held; its budget must be trimmed to permit more money to be spent on organizing; it must alter its proportional representation rules, which give more delegates to smaller unions; and it must revise its rules for determining which unions have jurisdiction over various kinds of work. AFL-CIO officials say they agreed to all of O'Sullivan's demands except for the first, arguing that the constitutionally scheduled BCTD elections should occur on schedule.
Finally, on June 1, 2006, the Laborers' Union disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO and joined the Change to Win Federation.
The union announced that it would leave Change to Win on August 13, 2010, and the AFL-CIO said that the reaffiliation would be formalized in October 2010.