Michigan AFL-CIO’s Garrison is mourned

Frank Garrison, the president of the Michigan AFL-CIO from 1986-1999, died June 17, 2009. He was 74.

“The Michigan AFL-CIO has lost one of its most passionate and active leaders,” said current state AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney. “Our thoughts and our hearts are with his family during this difficult time.”

Franklin Delano Garrison became “president emeritus” of the state AFL-CIO after his retirement in 1999. Mr. Garrison became a member of UAW Local 699 at the Saginaw Steering Gear Plant, and then served for two years in the U.S. Army. In 1955, he became active in the union, and was eventually appointed UAW International Representative for Region 1-D in 1972.

In July 1976, he became Legislative Director for the UAW in Lansing. Garrison was appointed Executive Director of the Michigan UAW-CAP in 1982, a position he held for four years until he was elected president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO in 1986.

The diminutive labor leader “was just a terrific advocate for working men and women in this state,” said Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council CEO Patrick Devlin. “He was very involved in so many facets of the labor movement, from politics to health care. Frank was a tremendous person and labor leader, and he will be missed.”

Mr. Garrison is survived by his wife, Dora, and three daughters.


Lower hike for ’09 construction wages

Construction industry contract settlements in 2009 through June 1 showed that the average first-year wage hike was 2.8 percent, compared to 3.5 during the same period in 2008.

In the manufacturing sector, the average increase in 2009 during that five month period was the same as in 2008: a flat 2.1 percent average.

The information comes via the Construction Labor Report.

The historically modest wage hikes helped workers keep ahead of the inflation rate, which actually fell 1.3 percent through the year ending May 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.