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Rusty Hicks to replace Durazo as new County Labor Federation leader

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A military veteran who served in Afghanistan will lead the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which represents 300 local unions and 600,000 workers, the organization announced Wednesday.

Rusty Hicks, the organization’s political director, was elected Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federal of Labor, AFL-CIO. He will succeed Maria Elena Durazo, who recently accepted a national labor post with UNITE HERE that starts Jan. 1.

The 34-year-old Hicks will be among the organization’s youngest leaders. As the political director since 2006, Hicks led the day-to-day operations for the Los Angeles County Federal of Labor. Under his management, the organization helped elect Mark Ridley-Thomas to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2008, then backed Sheila Kuehl’s successful bid this year for a board spot.

Hicks said after serving in Afghanistan, he is “ready for my next mission.”

“As leader of the Los Angeles labor movement, I’ll fight against income inequality and for greater access to the American Dream—that fundamental freedom to work hard and earn what’s fair,” Hicks said.

Durazo praised the selection, saying she has “full confidence in Rusty’s ability to take the voice of working women and men to new heights.”

She described Hicks as being a “part of a new generation of leaders that will continue to build one of the most progressive labor movements in the nation.

“He will remain steadfast in the fight for all workers—regardless of immigration status, sexual orientation or race,” Durazo said.

Mayor Eric Garcetti expressed confidence that Hicks, who is a “fellow Navy reservist,” would be a “tireless fighter for jobs and a stronger middle class in Los Angeles.”

“I look forward to working with him on behalf of L.A.’s economy,” he said.

Hicks is a lieutenant-rank intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy reserve and was deployed for a year to the Afghanistan as support for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan. He was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal.

Hicks was the California political director for the 2008 Obama for America campaign, and served in the Assembly offices of Ted Lieu and Mike Gordon.

Durazo, a powerful union voice who has led the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor since 2006, announced her resignation in October. She called her new position “the next step in my life’s work.”

“The international leadership of my union, UNITE HERE, has asked me to come home to guide their national efforts to organize immigrants in their workplaces and communities throughout the United States and Canada,” she said.

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