Incoming Iron Workers General President Eric Dean became the newest member of the MTD Executive Board on July 1. He succeeds Walter Wise, who retired as the head of that union effective June 30.
Dean completed his apprenticeship in 1984 and became a journeyman in Chicago Local 63. From 1989 to 1995, he served as an apprenticeship instructor, earning the status of certified welding inspector.
He became involved in his local, serving as conductor, trustee, vice president and business agent. In 1999, then General President Jake West appointed him general organizer, assigning him to the union’s department of ornamental, architectural and miscellaneous metals. Six years later, he was elected President of the Chicago and Vicinity District Council of Iron Workers.
In August 2008, Dean was appointed general vice president. Wise named Dean general secretary in February 2011. Earlier this year, the union’s general executive council unanimously elected him as general president upon Wise’s retirement.