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The Colorado AFL-CIO is not the smoothest operation right now, even after the national federation decided to change local leadership by cutting the jobs of President Steve Adams and Secretary-Treasurer Paul Mendrick.
Now reports show Mendrick is going to appeal the decision, and later today news came out that Adams has chosen to resign. From the Rocky Mountain News:
“Steve believes it is in the interest of the Colorado Labor movement that both officers step aside to allow the healing and re-building process to move forward,” Keith Maddox, deputy trustee of the Colorado federation, wrote in an email obtained by the Rocky Mountain News.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney is expected to release a statement shortly.
Adams could not immediately be reached for comment.
The national office appointed trustees to oversee the Colorado AFL-CIO because of conflicts between its two principal officers.
Ousted Colorado AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Paul Mendrick has launched a formal appeal of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney’s decision to put the state labor federation into trusteeship.
In a letter mailed to Sweeney’s office this week, Mendrick said he plans to file a brief arguing the state AFL-CIO did not meet any of the criteria giving Sweeney the right to seize control of the office.
Mendrick said several local unions and Colorado AFL-CIO board members also want to appeal the national office’s recent takeover of the state office.