CA: County labor chief dies - Miguel Contreras, 53, suffers apparent heart attack

Los Angeles Daily News ^ | May 06, 2005 | Rick Orlov

[calcowgirl]

Miguel Contreras, the Los Angeles labor chief who rose from the ranks of Cesar Chavez's farm labor movement to head one of the most powerful unions in the nation, died Friday of an apparent heart attack, officials said. He was 53.

Contreras, as executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, took control of the umbrella organization of unions and built it into a potent political force that today includes more than 300 affiliates and 800,000 members and wields enormous influence across Southern California.

Details were sketchy about what occurred Friday, but officials said Contreras appeared to have had a normal workday and reportedly had been talking with several associates and others regarding the upcoming mayor's race in which he had sided with incumbent Mayor James Hahn despite his long-term personal friendship with challenger Antonio Villaraigosa.

As an Airport Commission member and insider, Contreras has been able to win major advantages from the Hahn administration, including an $11 billion airport expansion plan that benefits construction trades.

Contreras - whose wife, Maria Elena Durazo, heads the union that has aggressively organized hotel and restaurant workers throughout the state - suffered from type 2 diabetes in recent years and talked frequently of the need to control his diet and get more exercise.

"The workingmen and -women of Los Angeles have had no greater champion than Miguel Contreras," Hahn said in a statement. "Today, I lost a friend and our nation lost a remarkable leader."

Contreras and his wife devoted their lives to the labor movement, she as head of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 11. They have two sons, Michael and Mario.

Contreras, who had led the labor organization since 1996 and had more than three decades of labor experience, was the first Latino elected leader of the more than 100-year-old group and had emerged as one of a new breed of labor leaders - as comfortable in the boardroom as on the picket line.

He pushed for the massive remodeling of Los Angeles International Airport while also fighting to make sure there was a living wage with health benefits for workers and that new concessionaires would be required to hire displaced workers.

Under Contreras, the county federation had some of the greatest growth of unions across the country as he won efforts to organize home health care workers and extended the reach of the unions into all levels of government.

Contreras' long background in labor began at age 17 when he and his family became activists with the United Farm Workers. He and his father were later elected union leaders at a grape and tree-fruit ranch, and Contreras would note that he worked with labor leader Chavez for nearly a decade.

Contreras would serve as a picket captain during the bitter 1973 strike with grape growers across California who refused to renew their UFW contracts.

In 1977, he became an organizer and eventually staff director for the 14,000-member Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 2 in San Francisco, helping coordinate a citywide 27-day strike that would be the first major hotel walkout in more than 40 years, according to a Contreras bio.

For 14 years, Contreras organized and helped rebuild HERE locals in Nevada, New York and Los Angeles, and in 1987 the international Union asked him to place its 11,000-member L.A. Local 11 under trusteeship.

Contreras moved up to the top spot in the county federation following the death of another young charismatic union leader, James Wood. The two had worked to try to reform the union to reclaim some of the political power it had lost over the years.

Contreras took a political bent with the organization, working to position the union so that it could take credit for electing a majority of the Los Angeles City Council as well as playing a major role in the election of state and federal legislators.

He wielded power in a way that brought a new generation of Latinos to the forefront politically, both locally and across the state.

In recent years, Contreras had focused on revitalizing the labor movement and the federation said recently that its affiliates organized more than 100,000 new members in the county, putting Los Angeles in the top spot in the country in terms of organizing.

Four years ago, the union suffered a setback when its support of Villaraigosa for mayor fell short. This year, the union had been backing the re-election of Hahn over Villaraigosa, although Contreras acknowledged it had presented a problem for the union because of its long support of Villaraigosa over the years.

Contreras also had been attempting in recent years to move the union in new directions dealing with improving the education of workers to allow them to move into the new high-tech industries.

[BenLurkin]

53 is way too young -- no matter where he was on the political spectrum.

[calcowgirl]

http://www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205~24512~2858173,00.html

Saturday, May 07, 2005
Labor leader lauded as hard worker

Labor leader Miguel Contreras was remembered on Saturday for his wit, his compassion, his political acumen and his commitment to labor as his family and friends mourned his death. Contreras, the influential executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, died Friday afternoon of an apparent heart attack after working all day in his offices near the downtown area. He was 52.

"I had talked to him three times during the day and he hadn't complained about feeling bad,' said Councilman Martin Ludlow, who once worked for Contreras as political director of the federation. "But, it wasn't his way to complain. We were talking politics and laughing and making plans for after the (May 17) election.'

After he suffered the heart attack, Contreras was taken to Daniel Freeman Hospital in Inglewood. His wife, Maria Elena Durazo, was at the hospital with him.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

The federation's political director, Charles Lester, will take over as interim director of the association of 345 local unions.

The federation's board will decide in the near future on the procedures to be followed in selecting a new executive secretary-treasurer.

Union officials and others said the death of Contreras would not affect the group's political plans, which had been put in place over the past several weeks. The labor group has endorsed Mayor James Hahn's re- election, even though many union members have close ties with the challenger, Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa.

Villaraigosa said that he felt he has lost a member of his family.

"My relationship with Miguel went beyond politics and beyond organizing,' Villaraigosa said. "I have lost a brother. Los Angeles has lost one of its brightest and most passionate leaders.'

Villaraigosa and Ludlow spent much of the night with Durazo and her sons, Michael and Mario, consoling them. Hahn also went to the hospital to offer his condolences.

"He was a man who dedicated his life to working people from the fields of Central California to the streets of Los Angeles,' Hahn said. "I will miss him. The people of the city will miss him.'

Accolades for Contreras came in from across the country, saluting the man who rose from the agricultural fields of Central California to become one of the top labor leaders in the country, overseeing the 800,000 union members in Los Angeles County.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised Contreras for his "devotion to improving the lives of others.'

Cardinal Roger Mahony, who first met Contreras 20 years ago in Central California, called the labor leader "a great champion and leader.

"He was one of the first leaders in our community to voice concern that so many minimum- wage earners in Southern California were falling behind in their ability to support their families,' Mahony said in a statement. "Miguel Contreras' voice was one of the few that warned of the ever-widening income gap. He sought to bring social justice principles to bear on this inequity and became the leading champion for the working poor.'

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, who had worked as political director for Contreras before being elected to the legislature, called the union leader a friend.

"Mere words cannot do justice for this man of great accomplishment and vision,' Nunez said. "I have lost a great friend and brother and working families have lost a great champion.'

Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, said the Staples Center complex and the plans for the new downtown sports-entertainment center could not have been completed without Contreras' assistance.

"He was a man of integrity and someone who represented his constituency well,' Leiweke said. "I don't think we could have done what we did without his help.'

Ludlow said he remained impressed by Contreras' ability to motivate people and mix with all groups.

"I would see him in a board room talking to billionaires and give a speech on the details of the local economy without a note and then go out an hour later and talk to and motivate a group of the working poor, giving them hope that things would get better,' he said. "There aren't many people who can do that.'

Contreras also served on the city Airport Commission under Hahn and former Mayor Richard Riordan.

Board president Cheryl Peterson said she was stunned by his death.

"He played a pivotal role in advancing the airport's modernization,' Peterson said. "He was respected for his integrity and admired for his dedication to improving the lives of working men and women.'

United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez, who worked with Contreras, praised him for his skills and for serving as an inspiration to workers.

"Miguel set a new proactive course of the labor movement,' Rodriguez said. "He demonstrated how working families can achieve tremendous gains for themselves and their communities.'

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she was "deeply saddened' by Contreras' passing.

"Like Cesar Chavez, Miguel Contreras believed deeply in a cause - that workers deserve a fair wage, health care, job security and the other important benefits that should accrue from putting in a hard day's work,' Feinstein said.