April 4th Foundation Events

William Lucy is the International Secretary-Treasurer of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO. Lucy was first elected AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer in May 1972 and was re-elected in July 2008 to another four-year term. Lucy is a former President of Local 1675, Contra Costa County Employees Association of Contra Costa County, California, where he was employed for 13 years.

Lucy joined the AFSCME International staff in 1966 as the Associate Director of the Legislation and Community Affairs departments. Before assuming the position of Secretary-Treasurer, he served as Executive Assistant to AFSCME's late president, Jerry Wurf. Lucy is a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council and a vice president of the Maritime Trades Department and Department of Professional Employees, and is well respected in the Labor community. He is also recognized as the consummate labor statesman among his peers.

For more than three decades, Lucy has been involved in international affairs; he is the highest-ranking African American in the Labor movement. He was one of the founders of the Free South Africa Movement that launched the successful anti-apartheid campaign in the United States in the mid 1980s. He led an AFL-CIO delegation to South Africa to monitor the first democratic election. Lucy serves as vice-president of Public Services International, the world's largest union federation. He also serves on the boards of directors for the International Rescue Committee, Americans for Democratic Action and the Center for Policy Alternatives.

He is a founder and the president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), an organization of union leaders and rank-and-file members dedicated to the unique needs of African Americans and minority group workers.

A civil engineer by trade, Lucy attended the University of California at Berkeley. A native of Memphis, Lucy lives in Washington, D.C.