TAUC Statement on the Passing of Mark Ayers

April 9 2012

At the BCTD, Mark worked closely with TAUC on a number of crucial union construction issues. He understood the vital importance of union contractors and worked hard to strengthen cooperation between unions and management. Most recently, Mark gave the keynote speech at TAUC’s 2010 Leadership Conference.

Mark also had a long and productive relationship with TAUC’s sister organization, the National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee, Inc. (NMAPC). He served as the IBEW representative on the NMAPC Labor-Management Committee for many years. In 2002 he was elected Labor Co-Chair of the Committee and President of the NMAPC. He served as President until 2007, when he was elected President of the BCTD.

“On behalf of TAUC, we would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the family of Mark Ayers,” said TAUC President Robert Santillo, President of McCarl’s Inc. “Many of us within the organization, including myself, worked very closely with Mark in his positions as Labor Co-Chair for the NMAPC and as President of the BCTD. Mark was the utmost professional. His openness, honesty, and candid demeanor were admirable qualities. Mark’s never-ending dedication to the tripartite spirit of cooperation, along with his strong pledge to improve safety on the jobsite, will live on forever as a testimonial to his life’s work.”

“The union construction industry has lost a true innovator,” said Brent Booker, Director of the Construction Department for the Laborers International Union and current President and Labor Co-Chair of the NMAPC. “Mark was not only a great leader, but a great friend as well. During his tenure as President and Labor Co-Chair, he consistently demonstrated the principles of tripartite cooperation between labor, management and the owner community. Everyone who worked with Mark learned a lot from him. He will be sorely missed.”

“Mark was a union man through and through,” added Steve Lindauer, TAUC/CEO and Impartial Secretary/CEO of the NMAPC. “But he was also a businessman who was not afraid to seek out new and innovative relationships with people or organizations that could help the cause of the union workers and their employers – the contractors. Mark was gregarious in his approach and at the same time brought a new level of sophistication as a labor leader. These are the qualities that made him so effective in whatever role he took on. His death is a loss to me personally and to the industry as a whole.”