Names in the News
Dorothy Crook was appointed Director of AFSCME Local 1733 at a December 18th meeting of their executive board. Formerly assistant director of the Memphis local, Crook also serves on AFSCME's Judicial Panel. She has been with Local 1733 since 1969, and is the first woman to hold the position of director since the local was founded in the late 1960's....
AFSCME's Public Affairs Director Bob Harman announced his retirement, effective March 1. Under Harman's almost eight-year directorship, the department coordinated the public message for such important campaigns as the organizing drive for Indiana state employees, the union's early support for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, AFSCME's"Redesigning Government" initiative, the recent Sweeney/ Trumka/Chavez-Thompson triumph at the AFL-CIO, and our successful paid media campaign for the AFSCME-led Save America's Families Coalition. He also oversaw the department's Public Employee magazine as it received numerous International Labor Communi-cations Association awards. Harman came to AFSCME from the National Education Association, where he served for over 25 years in several capacities, including communications director....
Kerry Korpi has been named Director of AFSCME's Dept. of Research and Collective Bargaining. Korpi has worked for AFSCME since 1982. She began as a labor economist, and worked as a policy analyst in Wisconsin before becoming deputy director of the department. She is a graduate of Central Michigan University and holds a Masters of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She succeeds Don Wasserman....
St. Paul AFSCME Local 151 Steward Neal Thao was elected to the St. Paul, Minn., School Board with the highest number of votes in the November election. Coordinator of the Hmong Parent Teacher Organization for the district, Thao is the first person of Hmong ancestry to serve in this position....
Frank King, Staff Representative of Florida AFSCME Council 79, died February 9 after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 62 years old. An Irish American born on St. Patrick's Day, Frank made his mark through his daily work with members. He spent 11 years as a Council Rep, and saw the locals with which he worked grow in size, and renew their commitment to serving their members. Before coming to AFSCME, Frank worked for the Florida Dept. of Regulations and in his hometown of Philadelphia for the State Attorneys Office and the Police Department.
