The NCCFT Executive Committee Notes Two Important Firsts

The NCCFT Executive Committee would like to take note of two significant firsts that took place within the last couple of days:

• Kathleen Hochul’s swearing in today as the first woman to serve as governor of New York State
• Liz Shuler’s election by the AFL-CIO Executive Council as the first woman president of the AFL-CIO. She will serve in that position until the federation holds elections next year.

Since the NCCFT is an affiliate member of the AFL-CIO, we also want to note that the federation’s current leadership team is the most diverse in the organization’s history. The Executive Council also elected United Steelworkers (USW) International Vice President Fred Redmond to succeed Shuler as Secretary-Treasurer. Redmond is the first African American to hold the organization’s number two office. Rounding out this diverse leadership team is Tefere Gebre. Gebre, who is Black, an immigrant, and a political refugee will continue in his current role as executive vice president. We hope that, in the elections that will be held next year, the AFL-CIO’s membership will vote to continue this trend of diversity in leadership.

The NCCFT Executive Committee congratulates both Governor Hochul and President Shuler on their new positions and we wish them all success.