Bios

Paul E. Almeida, DPE President

Thomas Lee, DPE Chairman, General Board

On February 1, 2001, Paul E. Almeida was elected President of the Department for Professional Employees (DPE), AFL-CIO by acclamation of the DPE General Board to fill the remainder of an unexpired term. He was then re-elected at the DPE General Board meetings in 2001 & 2005. Prior to DPE, Almeida was President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) AFL-CIO & CLC. He was first elected to this national union position in 1994 and re-elected 1997 and 2000. During the last four years of his tenure as IFPTE president, the union was the fastest growing organization in the AFL-CIO increasing in size from 23,000 to over 40,000--a 75% increase in membership. As president in 1999 he helped facilitate the affiliation of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) that brought 10,000 new members to IFPTE with a potential for many more. In 2000 he was one of the leaders of the longest strike by these Boeing engineers workers lasting nearly six weeks. This job action was one of the largest strikes by professional workers in the nation’s history. Almeida received his degree in engineering from Franklin Institute of Boston and was employed by Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation in Boston from 1971 - 1994. During that time, he worked as a Senior Electrical Designer, and was IFPTE’s Local 105 Divisional President, a position he served in until 1994. As a local and national union leader, Almeida has been involved in all aspects of representational work including chairing private sector negotiating committees and as labor's panel member on a tripartite, interest-based arbitration panel that mediated contract disputes affecting public sector unions in the State of Connecticut. As President of IFPTE, he Co-Chaired--with Boeing’s CEO Phil Condit--the Boeing Leadership Council. He also Co-Chaired the Department of Defense Partnership Council—a joint labor-management program to improve the quality of agency operations and services. This partnership was an outgrowth of then Vice President Gore’s "Reinventing Government" initiative. Almeida also serves on seven policy committees of the AFL-CIO Executive Council-- Education and Training, Immigration, Policy/Legislation, Organizing, International Affairs, Strategic Approaches and Women Workers. Almeida serves as a Board Member of the Albert Shanker Institute and the Labor Employment Research Association. Almeida and his wife reside in Arlington, MA. He has two children and two grandchildren.

Thomas Lee is president of the American Federation of Musicians. He was a member of the United States Marine Band for 24 years. As pianist for "The President's Own" Marine Band, he worked closely with six presidents, providing musical support several times weekly for state dinners, receptions, and other official occasions. At the same time, Lee lobbied the AFM to change the union policy which kept military musicians from membership. His efforts were successful and in 1978 military musicians were accepted as members. In 1980, he was elected to the Executive Board of Local 161-710 (Washington, DC), where he assisted in negotiations for the National Symphony and the orchestras of the Kennedy Center and National Theater. He was also elected delegate to the AFM Convention, where he served on the Finance Committee. He was elected Secretary-Treasurer of Local 161-710 in 1990. Lee was elected to the International Executive Board in 1991 and International Vice President in 1995.