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IUPAT general president James A. Williams retires

May 1, 2013 —Effective April 1, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades general president James Williams officially retired from office. “There are no words to express just how much I have loved every minute of this job,” said Williams.“It has been my honour and privilege to serve the greatest membership in the labor movement. My thanks to those who have given me such incredible support over the years, and I will always cherish my time spent with my fellow members.”

May 1, 2013 —
Effective April 1, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades General
President James Williams officially retired from office.

Retiring IUPAT General President James Williams.	New IUPAT General President Ken Rigmaiden.

"There are no words
to express just how much I have loved every minute of this job,” said Williams.
“It has been my honour and privilege to serve the greatest membership in the
labour movement. My thanks to those who have given me such incredible support
over the years, and I will always cherish my time spent with my fellow
members.”



IUPAT executive general vice-president Ken Rigmaiden was unanimously elected by the union’s general
executive board, after being endorsed by all IUPAT business managers, as Williams’
successor.

“General president
Williams has ably led this union for nearly 11 years,” said Rigmaiden. “Like
the rest of the labour movement, we’ve been through some tough times. Yet, under
Jim’s leadership, we always overcame those challenges and emerged as the union
known for fighting above its weight class. I, and the rest of the proud men and
women of the IUPAT, wish him the best in his well-earned retirement.”

“I also want to
acknowledge and thank the IUPAT general executive board and the general president’s
advisory committee for their unanimous endorsement of my presidency. I will
work to ensure that their confidence in my leadership of our union is not
unfounded. My primary focus will be on creating more opportunities for our members.”

 “Ken Rigmaiden is more prepared to lead this
international than I was 11 years ago,” said Williams. “We have been working
together for the last 19 years, both on the local level in the Bay Area and in
Washington, D.C., and I knew from the first time I saw Ken chair a local union
meeting that he had a quality of leadership that sets him apart from the
average leader. In my opinion, there will be no learning curve. He’s good to go
from day one.”

General president
Williams served the IUPAT for 45 years as a member and a leader. He began as an
apprentice glazier in District Council 21/Local Union 252 in Philadelphia in 1968. Over the course of the next nearly five decades,
Williams rose through the ranks of his local union, district council and the International
headquarters to eventually lead the IUPAT as general president.

Rigmaiden became a
floor covering installer apprentice in District Council 16/Local Union 12 in
San Jose, Calif., in 1977. In the following years, he was elected by his
fellow members to serve in many leadership positions on both the local union
and district council levels. In 1996, he was tapped to work for the union on the International
level in the IUPAT Western Region as a general representative. In 1997, he
began working for the International headquarters in Washington, D.C., as an
assistant to the general president with responsibilities in National Agreements
and Jurisdiction, as well as serving as the national project co-ordinator for
the IUPAT Job Corps program, among other duties.

Rigmaiden was
elected to the position of executive general vice president for the
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades in 2002.

IUPAT general secretary-treasurer George Galis remains in his position, while Bill Candelori,
general vice-president of the IUPAT Eastern Region, has been elected by the general
executive board to fill the vacancy left by Rigmaiden as the executive general
vice president for the remainder of this term (August 2014). He’ll continue to
oversee the operations of the Eastern Region in addition to his new duties as
the EGVP.

Related Link
www.iupat.org