Labor Spotlight- Kenneth Rigmaiden

Kenneth E. Rigmaiden began his career with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) upon graduating from California State University in San Jose in 1977.  He immediately enrolled in the floor covering apprenticeship training program of Local Union 1288, and received certificates of completion from the IUPAT’s International Joint Apprenticeship Training Fund and the State of California Division of Apprenticeship Standards in 1980.

Mr. Rigmaiden remained in San Jose as a floor covering installer, and in the following six years served as an executive board member, a trustee, the vice president and eventually president of Local Union 1288.  He also served as an instructor for floor covering installation in Local 1288’s apprenticeship training program.

In 1986, Mr. Rigmaiden was elected as Local 1288’s business representative and focused his career on labor relations.  His noted accomplishments during his seven-year tenure include administrating a residential collective bargaining agreement which served to recapture market share and the amalgamation of several local unions in his region to form Local Union 12.

He was elected business manager for the new Local Union 12 in 1993, and participated in the first region-wide collective bargaining agreement for Northern California.  Moreover, he was involved in the merger of several union health and welfare, training and vacation/holiday trust funds and the streamlining of member services for plan participants.

Mr. Rigmaiden was selected to serve as a general representative in 1996.  His duties in this post included labor management relations, contract administration, grievance and arbitration, organizing, education and training in 18 western states.

In 1997, he continued his education by earning a degree in labor studies from the George Meany Center/Antioch University.  Shortly thereafter, he was selected to serve as an assistant to the general president with specific duties in national agreements and jurisdiction maintenance.  During that time, he served on the National Maintenance Agreement Policy Committee (NMAPC), the General President’s Project Maintenance Agreement Committee and the General President’s Project Review Committee.

Mr. Rigmaiden also served as the national project coordinator for the IUPAT Job Corps Program.  This position required the oversight of a training program comprised of nearly 60 instructors throughout the United States and administering U.S. Department of Labor contracts of approximately $6 million annually.  Mr. Rigmaiden also served as a Director to the United Way.

Mr. Rigmaiden was elevated to the position of executive general vice president for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades in 2002.  As the executive general vice president, he was the general administrator of the International’s affairs and assigned tasks to the IUPAT board members and staff.  Furthermore, he coordinated national union meetings, conferences and the general president’s schedule. Mr. Rigmaiden co-chairs the Finishing Trades Institute, the Painters and Allied Trades Labor Management Cooperation Initiative and the IUPAT Industry Pension Fund.  He serves as a trustee on the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, and a member of the Board of Directors of several AFL-CIO constituency and allied groups.

He was unanimously elected to the office of general president by the IUPAT General Executive Board in March 2013.

Source: iupat.org