McLaughlin Takes Leave of Absence From Union Post
BY JOHN TOSCANO
As of Friday, Assemblymember Brian McLaughlin will start a sixmonth

paid leave of absence

from his post as president of the 1.1-million-member New York City Central Labor Council.

The leave of absence will be over at the end of next February, but the Flushing lawmaker will have retired from the Assembly as of December 31.

The powerful 53-year-old labor leader and lawmaker had announced his retirement last January. Two months later, in a startling development, it was revealed that McLaughlin was at the center of an FBI investigation into alleged bid rigging on streetlight contracts involving two Queens streetlight repair and maintenance firms.

McLaughlin's possible involvement came to light as FBI agents staged simultaneous raids on Central Labor Council headquarters in Manhattan and his Assembly office in Queens, removing numerous file cabinets and other records.

At the time, McLaughlin denied any implications of wrongdoing. There has been no further action in the case.

According to a news release issued last Tuesday by the Central Labor Council, McLaughlin had requested the leave of absence in a letter to Denis Hughes, president of the giant New York State AFL-CIO labor organization.

The letter stated, according to the news release:

"I make this request reluctantly. However, after much consideration, I believe it is vital and right to put my personal interests behind those of the [Central Labor] Council, the affiliates, and the labor movement in these difficult times. Most importantly, it gives the Council the opportunity to enter the upcoming political season unaffected by the issues facing me."

Last Tuesday, the Central Labor Council's executive board voted to grant McLaughlin's request, effective September 1. The board also voted to appoint Ed Ott, currently Labor Council political director, to the newly created position of executive director on an interim basis.

Hughes announced the board's vote on McLaughlin's request and said afterward: "Today's action ensures that the Central Labor Council will continue to operate with the same intensity, focus and singular sense of purpose our members have come to expect and deserve."

Hughes added that he was not surprised by McLaughlin's request. "He has always put the needs of the labor movement ahead of his personal interests," Hughes said. "He has dedicated his career and his life to furthering the cause of working men and women. This is just another example of his commitment to organized labor and to the union members in this city."

No one at the Labor Council or McLaughlin's Assembly office would respond to questions about whether the labor leader's request to give up his duties was connected to any other factor involving McLaughlin.

However, McLaughlin's move comes just days before the annual celebration of Labor Day, the premier event of the year for the powerful labor movement. The focal point of the celebration is the annual Labor Day parade up Fifth Avenue which has had McLaughlin in a leading role for many years.

All the city and state labor leaders will come together for a special breakfast to start the day. They are traditionally joined by top politicians, and this being an election year, it's expected that New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic candidate for governor, and United States Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton will be joining Spitzer and Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the line of march.

McLaughlin has served in the Assembly since 1992, representing the Flushing area where he grew up, was married and raised a family.

He started out as a card carrying electrician, rose through the electrical union ranks and ascended to the presidency of the Central Labor Council, a consortium of hundreds of unions, in 1995.

Last year, McLaughlin tested the water of the mayoral race for a possible run, but then gave it up.