Posted on 08/30/2006 9:50:32 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
Queens assemblyman Brian McLaughlin, the powerful city labor leader who became the target in March of a federal bid-rigging probe, stepped down yesterday as president of the 1 million-member Central Labor Council.
McLaughlin was granted a six-month paid leave of absence yesterday from his post at the labor council, the main umbrella group for organized labor.
The council's executive board approved the leave during a special meeting yesterday where it also named Ed Ott, the group's current director of public policy, to replace McLaughlin with the title of interim executive director.
The move, which many had long expected, comes only two weeks before the annual Labor Day Parade on Sept. 9, when top city union leaders are expected to hold a breakfast attended by major politicians such as Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Eliot Spitzer, before kicking off the march along Fifth Ave.
McLaughlin, a Democrat, has not been charged with any crime, but several labor leaders said yesterday that his removal avoids embarrassing publicity for organized labor at the parade as well as during the upcoming Democratic primary.
"It was Brian's decision to step down and I think it was the right thing to do," said Denis Hughes, president of the state AFL-CIO. Hughes in effect assumed the reins of the city labor body in March, a few days after FBI agents and the U.S. Labor Department launched simultaneous raids at six spots, including the labor council headquarters in Manhattan and McLaughlin's Assembly office.
Investigators are looking into allegations that McLaughlin, who is also head of Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, was involved with several electrical firms in a bid-rigging scheme that involved city street-lighting contracts.
His lawyer Paul Driscoll has denied all the allegations.
Correction:
The move, which many had long expected, comes only two weeks before the annual Labor Day Parade on Sept. 9, when top city union leaders are expected to hold a breakfast attended by major politicians such as Sen. Hillary Clinton and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Eliot Spitzer, before kicking off the march along Fifth Ave.
(somehow Hillary disappeared from the labor story posted above)
Eliot Spitzer, Patrick Fitzgerald, Hillary Clinton -
One more horseman as yet to be named
True Grit(s)
I had them with 2 sunnysides earlier this week
Is the panther thinking of sleeping in that clover?
Looks like a lot of thinking going on to me. I didn't make his eyes do anything. True Grit!!
That's a great .gif
LOL, it's YOUR gif. You gotta like it!!
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That is tooo beautiful!! And I'm off to bed!
RE: Four Horsemen. Great post! Hmmm. Who could the fourth be? I nominate Andrew Cuomo. If it isn't him, I nominate George Soros.
Obama Yomama Osama?
What a gift his name is, particularly as pronounced by The Swimmer. Yep, good nominee.
Lol, that's for sure!
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