2023 AOLAF Labor Person of the Year - Mark Cochran was active in his Local Union serving in several elected roles from Steward to Department Chair, He served as his Local was merging from OCAW with United Paperworkers International Union on January 4, 1999, to form the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE).
Mark was elected President of Local 9-675, in early 2000 and guided his Local through the merger from PACE to the United Steelworkers International Union in 2005. He led multiple contract negotiations during his tenure with the Local. He was asked to work on several campaigns and projects for the United Steelworkers before being hired as Staff Representative in 2010. In 2014 he was appointed Sub Director serving in multiple roles. Mark is a graduate of the 2015 University of Harvard Trade Union Program. In 2016, he was named Assistant to the Director Daniel Flippo, where he still serves as Education Coordinator and PAC Coordinator. Mark was named Alabama Organized Labor Awards Foundation's Labor Person of the Year, August 12, 2023 at Embassy Suites in Hoover Alabama.
33rd Annual Awards Baquet Photos - by Van Tenpenny
- Hall of Fame, Posthumous - Franklin Eugene Sadberry, President UMWA Local 1288
- Hall of Fame - Rick Lambert, IUPAT, Alabama State Building & Construction Trades
- Hall of Fame - James Crowder, USW Local 351L, West Alabama CLC, Alabama AFL-CIO
- Hall of Fame - Fred "Bart" Maddox, Ironworkers Local 92, Central Alabama Building & Construction Trades
- Hall of Fame - George Wesley Pierson, UMWA, West Alabama CLC
- Hall of Fame - Gary Lee "Gabby" Frost, UA 91, Northeast Alabama CLC, North East Alabama Building & Construction Trades
2023 Friend of Labor - Scott Douglas, Greater Birmingham Ministries, currently serves on the board of the Equal Justice Initiative. Alumnus of Leadership Birmingham, Leadership Alabama, the Rockwood Leadership Institute and the Windcall Residency Program. Scott is a founding board member of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits and a 2011 alumnus of the MIT Mel King Community Fellows Program.