Charlestown labor leader inducted into Rhode Island labor hall of fame

J. Michael Downey honored by the RI Labor History Society

By Will Collette

Mike Downey was inducted in the Rhode Island Labor History hall of fame at the 26^th Annual Labor History Society banquet. 

Mike is well-known in Charlestown for his service as a Charlestown Town Council member and his work on many local boards and commissions. He currently chairs the Tax Assessment Review Commission.

Mike is also a well-known statewide figure as the head of Rhode Island’s largest public worker union, Council 94 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Mike came out of the rank-and-file. He was an AFSCME member working as a plumber at the University of Rhode Island. Mike was President of Local 528 at URI for 28 years.

After the death of long-time AFSCME President Tom Chellel, Mike ran for and won election as Council 94’s president in 2006 and won re-election in 2010.

Mike has led AFSCME through some of its most challenging times since public employees won the right to bargain collectively over 40 years ago as conservative governors and General Assembly leaders and a bad economy cut into the ranks of public workers and sliced up the benefits of retirees.

Mike Downey receives his citation from RI AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer
Maureen Martin

It’s fun to be a leader when things are going well and you go into each campaign with a reasonable hope for victory.

It sucks to be a leader when times are tough, but that’s when you can tell the difference between truly great leaders and those who only look that way because of opportunity.

Mike was honored for fighting against long odds and sticking to the fight when others caved in and negotiated givebacks their members could ill afford.

Although several thousands of AFSCME members chose early retirement when Governor Carcieri presented them with the choice of getting out now, or facing draconian cuts to their retirement benefits, Mike looked for new ways to build membership.

Of particular note was AFSCME Council 94’s success in organizing Newport and Tiverton bus drivers working for the notoriously anti-union, British-based private school bus company First Student.

Mike becomes only the second Charlestown resident to be inducted in the RI Labor History Hall of Fame. The other is my wife Cathy who was inducted in 1989 while she was Women’s Rights Director of AFSCME in Washington, DC. Cathy currently serves as President of the RI Labor History Society.

IBEW's Mike D'Amico (right) receives his citation from brother electrician
Pat Brady (left)

Another Hall of Famer Scott Duhamel (2008) of Rhode Island’s Painters and Allied Trades Union told me about his Charlestown ties. His uncle Jerry Duhamel, recently deceased, founded and ran the Hitching Post restaurant (best clam cakes in Rhode Island). Scott told me about the joys of growing up and coming down to stay in Charlestown every summer.

The other honorees at this year’s RI Labor History Society annual banquet were Mike D’Amico of Electricians Local 99 (and one of the funniest stand-up comic honorees in recent memory) and only the second wife-and-husband team, Ray and Mary Jo Pouliot who are both retired teachers and leaders in the National Education Association of Rhode Island (NEARI).

Scott Molloy MC's the 2013 annual dinner

The Rhode Island Labor History Society was founded 26 years ago by firebrand and labor scholar Dr. Scott Molloy and other labor historians. It is one of the oldest and is easily the largest such organization in the United States dedicated to keeping the history of organizing working people alive and vibrant today. 

The Society is governed by a volunteer board of present and past labor activists. Membership is open. Visit their website for more information, including how to join.