NORTH PROVIDENCE – A month after the death of its longtime president, Rhode Island’s largest public-sector employees union has named a new leader.
Rhode Island Council 94, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO announced Wednesday that Michael McDonald was unanimously elected its new president Tuesday evening. The union, according to Providence Business News’ 2024 Book of Lists, has 10,500 members.
McDonald succeeds the late J. Michael Downey,
who died in August at the age of 70. Downey was first elected president of Council 94 in 2005, and was reelected in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Council 94 says McDonald, currently the union president of Local 528 University of Rhode Island Employees for the last 13 years and has been state vice president since 2022, will serve the remainder of Downey’s term. McDonald, Council 94 says, has worked at URI as a landscape maintenance technician for more than 20 years.
“The passing of J. Michael Downey has left big shoes to fill. During the next year and a half, I will focus all of my energy and passion on enhancing our union’s organizing, political and membership services,” McDonald said in a statement. “I believe that working together, we can accomplish all of our goals and build a better, stronger union for all Rhode Island workers.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.