HR EYE ON THE ELECTION

The Democratic and Republican Conventions are over. The Vice Presidential running mates are named. The platforms are in place. We now have eight weeks of debate, punditry, and personal attacks to look forward to as we try to decide between Barack Obama and John McCain, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.

This recurring election theme "HR EYE ON THE ELECTION" will focus on various players from both parties that will have an impact on the Presidential Race and the policy implications for the Human Resources profession that will take place as a result of this election.

HR EYE ON THE ELECTION will also feature short profiles of various pieces of legislation that are currently in play.

Today we feature Bruce Raynor - General President of UNITE HERE (bio follows from http://www.uscc.gov/bios/2005bios/05_02_3_4bios/raynor_bruce.htm)

UNITE HERE is the union representing nearly half a million workers in the hospitality, gaming, apparel, textile, retail, distribution and laundry industries in North America. Described as a “rising star in the labor movement” ( BusinessWeek, April 7, 2003), Raynor has distinguished himself as a creative, aggressive and strategic organizer with a broad understanding of the role of labor in the North American economy and society. In addition to being a pioneer in the area of corporate campaigns, in particular the campaign against textile giant J.P. Stevens early in his career, Raynor also serves as Secretary of the Council of Institutional Investors.

Raynor handles many of the union’s key negotiations, and has collective bargaining relationships with firms such as Levi Strauss & Co., Liz Claiborne, T.J. Maxx/Marshall's, the Hartmarx Group, and the national laundry industry employers such as Aramark and National Linen. He has forged productive labor-management relationships with leaders in the apparel, textile, laundry and other industries, which have contributed to improved conditions for members of UNITE HERE.

Raynor began his union career in the education department of the former Textile Workers Union of America in 1973, where he worked on numerous southern organizing drives, including the successful J.P. Stevens organizing campaign in the late 1970s. He went on to organize tens of thousands of workers in the South. He used a combination of aggressive rank and file organizing and alliances with civil rights and community leaders to build worker power.

Based on this experience, he took responsibility for building the organizing program throughout the United States and Canada, and was subsequently elected to various leadership positions. He was elected Executive Vice President of ACTWU in 1993 and elected Executive Vice President of UNITE at its founding convention in 1995. Raynor was elected Secretary Treasurer of UNITE in 1999, and President in 2001 and was elected General President of UNITE HERE at the union's founding convention in July of 2004.

Raynor is a Vice President of the AFL-CIO, and is a member its Executive Committee. He serves on the Executive Council Committees covering Capital Stewardship, Immigration, International Affairs, and Organizing. He is a member of Cornell University’s Board of Trustees since 1988 and serves on the Advisory Board for the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He graduated from Cornell’s ILR School in 1972 and in 1999, received the ILR School’s Groat Award for Distinguished Alumni.