President & Secretary Treasurer
Mark H. Ayers
President
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Prior to his unanimous election on September 6, 2007 as President of the BCTD, Mark Ayers was the Director of the Construction and Maintenance Department of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and as Chair of the National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee (NMAPC). Prior to his tenure as the Director of the IBEW Construction and Maintenance Division, Ayers was the Business Manager and Financial Secretary for IBEW Local 34 in Peoria, Illinois; and served as co-founder and chairman of the Central Illinois Chapter of NECA-IBEW Local 34 Quality Connection, and was the Secretary-Treasurer of the West Central Illinois Building & Construction Trades Council.
Ayers attended the George Meany Institute for Labor Studies (now known as the National Labor College), the University of Wisconsin, the University of Illinois Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, and the International Foundation for Employee Benefits. Mark has also served his country as an aviator in the United States Navy.
Sean McGarvey
Secretary-Treasurer
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Secretary-Treasurer Sean McGarvey started his career with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) in 1981 as an apprentice glazier with Glazier’s Local 252 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated to journeyman status in 1984 and was later elected recording secretary and business representative of his local. Sean later was appointed a general president's representative for the Painter's International, and then Assistant to the General President.
In 2000 Sean was elected general vice president at large and in May 2002 he was appointed government affairs director for the IUPAT.
In 2005 he was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Department.
Sean currently serves on the National Alliance for Fair Contracting, Inc. Board of Directors, the Bipartisan Policy Center National Transportation Policy Project and the US Maglev Coalition Board. In addition he is the Treasurer of The Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment, and Veterans Employment which operates Helmets to Hardhats and he also serves as trustee on numerous other labor management committees.
Sean graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philadelphia, PA; attended the St. Joseph’s University of Philadelphia Labor Relations program; attended Harvard University’s Trade Union Program and earned his Bachelor of Arts from the National Labor College. He was born and raised in Philadelphia but currently resides in Oak Hill, Virginia. Sean and his wife, Tina, have two lovely daughters; Kerri Ann and Kelsey Marie.