01 Nov Scannell Retires after Three Decades, Clark Assumes New Role

After 34 years with the International Union, Ray Scannell, the Director of the BCTGM International Union Research & Education Department, will retire on November 1.

Scannell came to the BCTGM not long after graduating with a Master’s degree in organizational behavior from the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. His first position at the Union
was staff assistant in the Department of Research & Education.

Ray Scannell

From 1983 to 1988, Scannell was the Assistant Director of Public Relations and in 1988 he was appointed the Director of Research. In 1992, Scannell’s duties expanded and he was named the Director of Research and Special Projects. In 2000, during a restructuring of various Headquarters’ departments, then International President Frank Hurt named Scannell the Director of the combined Research and Education Departments. That same year, Matthew Clark was hired as Research Specialist.

Scannell served as the staff representative on the Union’s Technology Task Force and presented the Task Force’s report to the 1990 Constitutional Convention, where delegates voted unanimously to adopt the recommendations of the Task Force. Until 2001, Scannell served as staff support and principal liaison of the Technology Committee (chaired by then International Secretary-Treasurer David Durkee).

Scannell served as BCTGM liaison to the International Union of Food Workers (IUF), attending the 1993 Congress in Stockholm Sweden and the 1997 Congress in Geneva, Switzerland. Since the 1990s, Scannell has coordinated IUF and foreign unions’ participation in the Union’s various campaigns including the Hostess strike, and more recently, the Kellogg Memphis lockout.

In reflecting on Scannell’s long career as a trade unionist, BCTGM International President David Durkee states, “I have worked with Ray since 1983 when I first became the business agent for Local 280. I can attest to the fact that Ray is by far one of the best educators in the labor movement. From his extensive work on the Union’s technology task force, to his International work on behalf of the BCTGM with the IUF, Ray has served this Union and our membership with distinction and dedication.”

Retired International President Frank Hurt, who served 20 years in that position, noted the contributions of Scannell. “Ray Scannell has anchored our Research and Education Department for more than three decades and is the epitome of a union educator. Ray has had a positive effect on thousands of union leaders over his many years of dedicated service. I’m sure all those who have reaped the rewards of his influence join me in wishing him a long and happy retirement,” states Hurt.

Intl. Pres. David Durkee (right) consults with Matthew Clark (left) during the BCTGM's 2014 Constitutional Convention.

Clark, who assumes the position of International Director of Research and Education on November 1, came to the BCTGM in March 2000. He completed his Master’s degree in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts in 1999. A native of Toronto, Ontario, he received his undergraduate education at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont.

In addition to Clark’s academic background in organized labor, he has been a trade unionist for many years. In graduate school, he was a member of the UAW Local 2322 (the Graduate Employees Organization). He served as the local’s contract administrator and on the local’s executive board.

Clark began his career with the BCTGM shortly before the Earthgrains strike of 2000, where he was sent into the field to help with the dispute. He has since helped with research and analysis during every major contract negotiation, including Nabisco, Kellogg, Keebler, Hershey and General Mills. He has assisted in the education of hundreds of local union officers and stewards. Clark’s expertise in contract analysis proved vital during the Hostess strike in 2012, and most recently during the Kellogg lockout in Memphis.

“Ray and Matthew have worked together as educators, researchers and trade unionists for the last 14 years. I cannot think of a better person to continue the priorities of this Union in education, contract negotiations, and organizing than Matthew Clark,” concludes Durkee.