Ed Mayne Dies: Led Utah AFL-CIO for 30 Years
27th November 2007
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The union movement is mourning the loss of Ed Mayne, the president of the Utah State AFL-CIO, who died Nov. 25 of cancer. Mayne, 62, led the Utah union movement for 30 years.
Mayne began his union career as a member of the United Steelworkers while he was working for Kennecott Copper in the Bingham Canyon mine. He was elected president of USW Local 485 in 1977, leading a tough contract negotiation with Kennecott that year. Shortly after that, he was elected president of the Utah State AFL-CIO at age 32, making him the youngest state federation president in the country at the time.
He was elected to the Utah state Senate in 1994 and was in his fourth term when he died. In the Senate, just as in the union movement, Mayne fought for those who had no voice, working to maintain benefits for the most needy on Medicaid and legislation to raise the minimum wage, among other issues.