Born: 17 June 1947, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Linda Chavez
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
1947, June 17 Born, Albuquerque, N. Mex.
1967 Married Christopher Gersten
1970 B.A., English literature, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.
1970-1972 Attended graduate school and lectured, University of California, Los Angeles, Calif.
1972 Worked for Office of Spanish Speaking, Democratic National Committee, Washington, D.C.
1972-1974 Clerk and later legislative staff member, House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights
1975-1983 Worked for American Federation of Teachers, Washington, D.C.; assistant director of legislation,
1975-1977; editor of American Educator, 1977-1983; assistant to president Albert Shanker, 1982-1983
1977 Consultant to Civil Rights Division, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. Special assistant to deputy secretary, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, D.C.
1983-1985 Member and later staff director, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
1984-1986 Member, Administrative Conference of the United States
1985 Changed political affiliation from Democratic Party to Republican Party
1985-1986 Deputy assistant to president and director of the Office of Public Liaison, White House, Washington, D.C.
1986 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Maryland
1987-1988 President, U.S. English, a private organization devoted to making English the official national language
1988-1992 Chairman, U.S. Commission on Migrant Education
1989-1994 Senior fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Washington, D.C.
1991 Published Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation. New York: Basic Books
1992-1997 Served as U.S. expert to United Nations Sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities; special rapporteur, project to study systemic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during wartime, including internal armed conflict, 1993-1997; withdrew from project, 1997
1995- Founder and president, Center for Equal Opportunity, Washington, D.C., a conservative think tank devoted to issues of race and ethnicity
2000 Headed task force on immigration, presidential campaign of George W. Bush. Awarded Library of Congress’ “Living Legend” award
2001 Nominated as secretary of labor by George W. Bush, but withdrew from consideration
2002 Published An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal. New York: Basic Books
2004 Published with Daniel Gray Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics. New York: Crown Forum
The following is republished from the Clinton White House site. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Linda Chavez-Thompson was elected Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO on October 25, 1995 at the federation’s convention in New York, part of an insurgent campaign to reinvigorate the American labor movement. A second-generation American of Mexican descent, Ms. Chavez-Thompson has 29 years experience in the labor movement. She rose from the organizing ranks of her union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), to become the first person of color elected to an executive office of the AFL-CIO. She is the highest-ranking woman in the labor movement.
Prior to her election as Executive Vice President, Ms. Chavez-Thompson served as a Vice President of the AFL-CIO since August 3, 1993. She served on the Executive Council Committees on Full Participation, International Affairs, Article XX Appeals and Housing. She was elected National Vice-President of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement in 1986 and served in this capacity through 1996.
Ms. Chavez-Thompson was a Vice President of AFSCME from June 1988 through June 1996. As Vice President, she directed the union’s efforts in a seven-state district–Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. During her term in office, there were numerous successes in her Southwestern district, including an organizing drive in Texas that brought in 5,000 new members over the past five years, and the passage of a collective bargaining law for public employees in New Mexico.
She was elected Executive Director of AFSCME Texas Council 42 on February 4, 1995, responsible for advancing legislative, political action and education programs for more than seventeen local unions that make up the council.
Born to sharecropper parents in Lubbock, Texas, Ms. Chavez-Thompson began her trade union career as a union secretary for the Laborers’ International Union from December 1967 through June 1971. She served as an AFSCME International Representative, Assistant Business Manager, Business Manager and Executive Director of AFSCME Local 2399 from June 1971 to February 1995. She has also served on many city and community boards in San Antonio and was named to several political appointments in her home state of Texas. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C. in November 1995, Ms. Chavez-Thompson resided in San Antonio, Texas.
She is the widow of Robert Thompson, and has two children by a previous marriage and a grandson.