NFFE’s Richard Brown Dies at 47: ‘A Trade Unionist at Heart’

by Mike Hall, Jul 1, 2009

Richard N. Brown

Richard N. Brown, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), died yesterday in Arlington, Va.  He was 47 years old.

Brown served as president of the 100,000-member NFFE  since 1998. The union represents blue- and white-collar federal workers in more than 30 federal departments and agencies. The NFFE was founded in 1917 and affiliated with the Machinists (IAM) in 1990.

NFFE Secretary-Treasurer Bill Dougan says Brown was “a strong leader, a dedicated trade unionist, and a friend.”

Rick was a trade unionist at heart.  He came from a union family and maintained membership in NFFE-IAM and the Laborers Union (LIUNA), the latter being a membership he maintained after leaving construction to become a machinist.  Rick was a strong advocate for federal employees.  Never one to back down, Rick was a strong presence in the fight against several federal workforce initiatives aimed at contracting out federal government jobs and eliminating federal employees’ unions.

In his passing, we have lost a strong voice and champion for working men and women.  We will mourn his loss greatly.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called Brown

A strong and tenacious voice for federal employees, Brown will be missed by the members of the union he led and by all those who fight daily for working Americans.

Says Ron Ault, president of the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department who served with Brown on the United DoD Workers Coalition, which was formed during the Bush administration to fight attempts to end collective bargaining rights for Defense Department workers:

Federal employees have lost a great spokesman who’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to replace.

Prior to taking office as president, Brown served as NFFE vice president and also president of NFFE Local 2109 in Watervliet, N.Y. He was a machinist at Watervliet Arsenal, which manufactured ordnance for the U.S. Army.

The Washington Post reports that Brown was survived by his father, two siblings and their families. He was engaged to Cate McGregor of Albany, N.Y.

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