Mark H. Ayers (January 22, 1949 – April 8, 2012) was an American labor leader who was president of the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

Building and Construction Trades Department A building or edifice is an enclosed structure with a roof, walls and windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout ...

from 2007 until his death in 2012. He was described as "the second most powerful man in the labor movement" in this period.

Biography

Mark Ayers was born in

Canton, Illinois Canton is the largest city in Fulton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,242 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 14,704 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The Canton Micropolitan Statistical Ar ...

, in 1949. His father was a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

. Ayers served as a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

for four years, including in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Having settled in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

, in 1973 he started his career an apprentice with the

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is a trade union, labor union that represents approximately 820,000 workers and retirees in the electricity, electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico, an ...

Local 34, working his way up to become business manager of the local. In 1998, he married Deborah Lynn Selburg. That year, he moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to become the director of the IBEW's Construction and Maintenance Department. He was elected president of the

, one of the most powerful positions in the American labor movement, in 2007. Ayers died on April 8, 2012. Shortly after his death, he was inducted into the

U.S. Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unem ...

Labor Hall of Honor The United States Department of Labor Hall of Honor is in the Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. It is a monument to honor Americans who have made a major contribution toward their country's workers; for example, ...

. A street in Peoria was named in his honor in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayers, Mark 1949 births 2012 deaths People from Canton, Illinois Trade unionists from Illinois