Earlier this month, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees welcomed both a new chief of staff and a new general counsel to the fold.
For chief of staff, the AFSCME named Bill Lurye to the position. Lurye initially served as general counsel for AFSCME, where he has led the union’s response in cases such as Freidrichs v. CTA that challenged the notion of mandatory union fees.
“Bill has played a critical role to help our union weather the storm of attacks over the past several years,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “He has time and again proved himself to be one of the finest strategists in the labor movement, and as chief of staff/counsel, he will continue to help AFSCME grow and build power for working families and our communities.”
ASFCME represents more than 1.6 million members, including nurses, correction officers, sanitation workers and child care providers.
In addition to serving as a general counsel, Lurye also worked for a private practice in New Orleans, representing unions, employees and pension trust funds. Lurye also serves on the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law Leadership Council and is a College of Labor and Employment Lawyers fellow.
Judith Rivlin replaces Lurye in the general counsel position. Rivlin has served as the deputy general counsel for AFSCME since 2014. She has spent her entire career as a labor lawyer and served in the federal government in positions for the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and the National Labor Relations Board. Rivlin has worked with multiple unions, including the Sheet Metal Workers union and the United Mine Workers, where she served as house counsel and associate general counsel, respectively. Rivlin also volunteered as a court-appointed mediator through the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
In addition to her legal career in the labor movement, Rivlin has been active as union member and official—as a steward for the American Federation of Government Employees, and as president of the NLRB lawyer’s union. Since joining AFSCME, she has particularly enjoyed working with affiliates on the AFSCME Strong program, a long-term internal organizing effort that has yielded more than 300,000 new members throughout the country. Rivlin will officially begin her new role of general counsel later this month.
