There are members, and then there are members who are the union. Brother Mark Verity is the second kind.

After 49 years with Local 1122, Mark is retiring, and his story is one worth telling in full, because it's really a story about what devotion to the labor movement looks like when it's measured not in months or years, but in a lifetime.

Following in his father's footsteps.
Mark's commitment to the IUPAT began with a family. He followed his father into the union, inheriting more than a trade or a legacy. He inherited a belief that working people are stronger together, and that representing your brothers, sisters, and siblings is a calling worth giving your life to.
He gave his.

Twenty-seven years on the front line.

For 27 years, Mark served the members of District Council 11 as a Business Representative. That's nearly three decades of walking jobsites, answering the phone when a member was in trouble, sitting across the table in negotiations, and doing the unglamorous, essential work of making sure the people of this district council were protected and represented.

Being a business rep is not a title you coast in. It's a job you have to earn every single day, member by member, problem by problem. Mark earned it for 27 years.

Called to lead

In 2005, Mark was nominated as President of District Council 11, a recognition of the trust and respect he had built across the membership. That same year, he was appointed to Director of Service.

This may be the role where Mark's fingerprints will be felt the longest.

As Director of Business Representatives, Mark was responsible for our reps. He guided them, taught them, and shaped them into the representatives our members needed. He taught them what it means to carry this union's name: how to stand up for a member, how to represent the local with integrity, and how to never forget who the work is really for.

Every rep Mark mentored carries something of him forward. That's the kind of legacy that doesn't end at a retirement date. It keeps working long after the man himself has hung up his hat.

Beyond our walls

Mark's leadership reached past District Council 11. Since 2003, he has served as Vice President of the Norwich-New London Building Trades, standing shoulder to shoulder with the broader labor community and representing our members' interests in rooms where those interests needed a strong voice.

A partnership in service: Sister Linda Verity

No tribute to Mark would be complete without honoring Linda Verity.

For 21 years, Linda served the members of District Council 11 and Local 1122 as an administrator, the steady hand behind so much of what kept this house running. Hers was the kind of work members rarely see but always rely on: the details handled, the office kept in order, the quiet competence that lets everything else function.

Together, Mark and Linda gave this union a combined lifetime of service. Ours is a stronger, better-run, better-represented council because of both of them.

Thank you Mark + Linda

Forty-nine years of membership. Twenty-seven years as a business rep. Years spent leading this district council and shaping the reps who serve it. A career that started by following his father into the movement and ended having set the standard for everyone who came after.

Brother Mark, from all of us at District Council 11 and Local 1122, thank you. For your service, your devotion, your mentorship, and your example. Your mark on this Union will never fade.

Enjoy your retirement. You've more than earned it.

And thank you to our sister Linda. 21 years serving our members as an administrator. Sometimes a very thankless job of behind the scenes work and making the local run smoothly. We give our great thanks to Linda for standing alongside our Union for over two decades and forever leaving her mark on District Council 11.

Honoring a Lifetime of Service: Brother Mark Verity Retires After 49 Years