Mark Ayers

Mark H. Ayers is the fourteenth and current President in the 100 year history of the Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.  After serving in the Unites States Navy for nearly six years as an aviator during the Viet Nam era Mark began his career as an Apprentice Inside Electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 34 in Peoria, Illinois where he served in numerous appointed and elected positions  including Business Manager and Financial Secretary.  Ayers was also elected Secretary-Treasurer of the West Central Illinois Building Trades Council.  He was a Commissioner on the Peoria Civic Center Authority, board member of the Forest Park Foundation and Co-Chairman of the Peoria Area Labor Management Committee.

In 1999 Ayers became the Director of the IBEW Construction and Maintenance Department, the IBEW’s largest branch.

In 2007, Mark was the unanimous choice by the Building Trades Department’s Governing Board of Presidents to succeed retiring president Edward Sullivan.

In his current capacity, Mark is working to strengthen the commitment of the Department to improving the overall stature of the union construction industry through advances in skilled workforce development, on-the-job productivity, craft professionalism, safety and health training, competitive marketing and recruitment, and labor-management cooperation and partnership.