FBI Probing Activities

CLC's McLaughlin Takes Paid Leave

By RICHARD STEIER

Brian M. McLaughlin, who has been under a cloud since FBI agents raided both his union and Assembly offices in connection with a bid-rigging investigation six months ago, will take a six-month paid leave of absence as president of the AFLCIO New York City Central Labor Council, effective Sept. 1.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow LABOR STRIFE: Brian M. McLaughlin (right) pictured here in lesstroubled times with former Mayor David N. Dinkins and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, has taken a paid leave of absence from his position as president of the AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council amid an ongoing Federal probe into possible bid-rigging for contracts to provide city streetlights.

One well-placed union source said it was Mr. McLaughlin's decision to step down temporarily while the probe continues. He said that the move was inevitable, describing it as "more a question of when than if."

Ott's Role Expanded

In his absence, Ed Ott, the longtime public policy director of the CLC who in recent months had taken on many of Mr. McLaughlin's administrative duties, has been given a six-month appointment as interim executive director of the umbrella group for public- and private-sector unions here.

Mr. Ott will handle day-to-day matters for the CLC, but long-term policy decisions will be referred to the organization's executive board. The group's meetings will be conducted by Denis M. Hughes, the president of the State AFLCIO.

Following the CLC board's votes Aug. 23 on Mr. McLaughlin's leave and Mr. Ott's new role, Mr. Hughes said in a statement, "Today's action ensures that the Central Labor Council will continue to operate with the same intensity, focus and singular sense of purpose our members have come to expect and deserve."

Mr. McLaughlin, an Assemblyman from Queens who at one point was considered a viable candidate for citywide office, had his career disrupted in early March when the FBI raided his offices as part of an investigation into a possible bidrigging scheme involving city street-lighting contracts. Probers also seized records at Petrocelli Electric, which had $92 million in contracts with the Department of Transportation to maintain street-lights in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

At the time, WNBC-TV reported that among the subjects of the probe was whether contractors had installed a security system in Mr. McLaughlin's home and provided an American Express card for his personal use. Mr. McLaughlin is a leader of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3, which provided his early political base.

Change in Parade Plans

DENIS M. HUGHES: Won't miss a beat.

No charges have been brought against him, and it is not known whether any are imminent. The timing of his leave appears to be connected to the CLC's major event, the Sept. 9 Labor Day Parade, even though two weeks earlier, the organization's secretary, Ted Jacobsen, had told this newspaper, "Mr. McLaughlin will be marching right up front with the rest of us, as he does every year."

One source said last week that it was unlikely that Mr. McLaughlin would be at the parade.