Skip to main content

Changing of the guard…Gleason retires as MBCTC president…

Date Posted: August 6 2010

LANSING – Patrick “Shorty” Gleason started his retirement from the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council on Aug. 1, ending a long career of working with the tools as an iron worker, working with union members and then working with state and local lawmakers.

The council’s President since 2005, Gleason’s main focus in the last five years has been as an advocate on behalf of the state’s unionized construction workforce in front of Michigan’s lawmakers. A past President/Business Agent of Iron Workers Local 25, Gleason will continue serving his terms as a Genesee County Commissioner and on the Mackinac Bridge Authority.

“I’ve been active in politics for most of my life, and working as President of the Michigan Building Trades has allowed me to have a lot of contact with state lawmakers, advocating for the men and women in the construction industry,” Gleason said. “It’s been a very gratifying experience.”

Gleason, 55, started his career as an iron worker in 1972, and worked in the field until he became President/BA of Local 25 in 1994. “There’s no way you could replace the time I spent as an iron worker,” he said. “I had a tremendous amount of fun and enjoyed the camaraderie. I was able to work with some wonderful people and some great contractors. In the working environment that the building trades are in, you learn to trust and depend on each other.”

Michigan has had more downs than ups in recent years in the construction industry. While the Kennecott Mine work near Marquette is getting started, several big-ticket projects have been stalled, including new power plants near Bay City and Rogers City and the Detroit River International Crossing.

“The inability to get these jobs off the ground has been a major disappointment,” Gleason said. “The environmental lobby in this state is just having a devastating effect on building trades jobs.”

Married to Rise and the father of three, Gleason is an avid outdoorsman who said he looks forward to spending more time behind a fishing rod and rifle. But he still plans on maintaining a fairly active role in politics and helping out the building trades where he can.

His replacement as council President is Zane Walker, also an iron worker. “The building trades are going to be in good shape with Zane, he’s got a lot of energy and he already has a lot of experience dealing with politicians,” Gleason said. “And I know he’s get help from (Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council Secretary-Treasurer) Pat Devlin, who’s on top of the heap among labor leaders and who has been a real pleasure to work with. I’ll miss the people in the industry, but it’s been a great run. I’ve been able to see every aspect of the construction industry, and it’s been a great experience.”

Devlin said Gleason “has built up a tremendous amount of respect from lawmakers, owners, contractors and all the building trades workers he has worked with. We’re going to miss his knowledge and sense of humor, and everyone who knows him knows that there has been no greater advocate for workers on the job than Shorty.

“At the same time Zane Walker brings a lot of experience and enthusiasm to the job, and I’m sure he’s going to step in and do a great job for the building trades.”

…Walker steps in as new political liaison in Lansing

“People have told me that I’m going to hate all the politics, but to me, that’s probably what I’m going to enjoy the most about this job.”

That’s Zane Walker’s outlook on his new position of President of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. Walker took over the job – which primarily involves advocating politically for the building trades in Lansing – from Patrick “Shorty” Gleason, who retired effective Aug. 1.

Walker, 44, was appointed by the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council to serve out the remaining three years of Gleason’s four-year term

A Flint-area business agent for Iron Workers Local 25 and their political director for the last five years, Walker said “I’m looking forward to working in Lansing on behalf of all the trades. I’ve been working on iron workers issues, now I’ll be working on everybody’s issues, looking out for everybody in Lansing.”

He said a top priority currently is getting legislative approval that would allow construction of the  Detroit River International Crossing, and down the road, turning around the state’s negative attitude on construction of clean-coal plants.

“I’ve built my own relationships with lawmakers over the years, and now one of my challenges is to expand those contacts to work for all the trades,” Walker said. “Shorty has been great during the transition in bringing me to meetings and introducing me to people I’m going to need to know. The labor movement is going to miss Shorty, he’s been a great labor leader, and I have some big shoes to fill.”