Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee Appoints New Executive Director
Former Under Secretary at USDA to Lead the Committee in 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – The Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee (LMC), which works to align the interests of labor and management entities working within the forest products industry, has appointed Mark Rey as its new Executive Director. Mark, former Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the George W. Bush administration, brings 35 years of experience to this position. He assumed this role in January 2011.
“Mark Rey brings a wealth of government and private sector experience to the position of Executive Director at the LMC,” said Donna Harman, president and CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association. “The LMC has a proven track record of bringing important policies to leaders in the Congress and the Administration that strengthen the competitiveness of the U.S. Forest products industry. I look forward to working with Mark on continuing that effort.”
“Mark’s vast experience and familiarity with our issues and key players will prove invaluable to the Committee,” says Michael Draper, Chairman of the Committee and Vice President, Western District United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. “We are confident he will be a great fit for Executive Director as we work together to push forward the interests of our members.”
“I look forward to taking on this new challenge, and I plan to meet the issues facing labor and management by working on bipartisan solutions,” says Mark. “I believe in the work of the Committee, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity.”
Some of the Committee’s top line tasks include ensuring legislation surrounding green building initiatives in the United States do not discriminate against wood and protecting manufacturing jobs put at risk by pending Boiler MACT regulations. His primary responsibilities will include managing the day to day administration of the Committee, leading public relations and lobbying efforts, and coordinating activities with associated organizations.
Mark will be taking over for John Jarvis, who held the Executive Director position for the last 20 years. Under his tenure, the LMC played an instrumental role in obtaining passage of the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act in 1998, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003 – all broadly bipartisan efforts. In addition, he was able to grow the Committee to include key members from the labor and industry communities such as the American Forest and Paper Association, The National Alliance of Forest Owners, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
The Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee is a non-profit trust, formed to pursue the common public policy interests of the working men and women in the forest products industry. The Committee’s structure and goals operate within the confines of the Taft-Hartley Act, and do not affect individual collective bargaining agreements of labor relationships.