Greg Tarpinian to Step Down as Change to Win Executive Director

Leadership Council Names Chris Chafe As Replacement

WASHINGTON, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Change to Win chair Anna Burger announced today that Change to Win executive director Greg Tarpinian will step down on July 6, 2008 from the position he has held since Change to Win's founding in 2005 to return to his New York City based labor advocacy group. While Tarpinian will be leaving as executive director, he will remain as an advisor to Change to Win. The Change to Win Leadership Council has named former UNITE HERE chief of staff Chris Chafe as the new executive director.

"Greg Tarpinian's vision was instrumental in the creation of Change to Win. He has played a leading role in the development and unity of Change to Win over the last three years and has won the respect of labor leaders throughout the country for his leadership in shaping the movement to restore the American Dream," said Burger.

During Tarpinian's tenure, Change to Win affiliates worked together on an unprecedented level to build the collective strength of workers in the occupations and industries of the new American economy. As a result, Change to Win affiliates achieved a collective increase in membership for the first time in twenty-five years.

"I am proud to have had Greg as a partner in our efforts to unite the strengths of our affiliates in our organizing, bargaining, and political activities. On behalf of the Change to Win Leadership Council, I want to thank him for his dedicated efforts and look forward to working with him in the future," continued Burger.

Chris Chafe, a well-known worker advocate, began his union service seventeen years ago as an organizer in the textile industry in the South. Chafe made the connection between organizing and politics as the political director of UNITE, and moved to chief of staff for UNITE HERE following the merger of the two unions. He served in the key staff group that helped create and advise Change to Win from its inception in 2005 and was the lead negotiator for Change to Win in the creation and implementation of joint political agreements with the AFL-CIO during the 2006 election cycle that allowed labor to maintain a strong field presence in key races across the country. Earlier this year, Chafe served as a senior advisor to John Edwards' presidential campaign.

"We are excited that Chris Chafe has agreed to assume the executive director position," said Burger. "The Change to Win Leadership Council believes that his background as an organizational leader, a political director, and organizer make him uniquely qualified to serve as executive director."

About Change to Win

Change to Win is a partnership of seven unions and six million members founded in 2005 to organize workers of the new American economy. Change to Win is committed to restoring the American Dream so that all workers have a paycheck that can support a family, affordable health care, a secure and dignified retirement, and the opportunity for the next generation to be better off. The seven affiliated unions are: Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers' International Union of North America, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and United Farm Workers of America.

** Note: Media representatives interested in scheduling an interview to
discuss Change to Win's new leadership announcement should contact Noreen
Nielsen at Noreen.nielsen@changetowin.org. **
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Source: Change to Win

CONTACT: Greg Denier or Noreen Nielsen, +1-202-721-0660, both of Change
to Win

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Profile: labor-news