Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, announced that he will not be seeking re-election. McEntee's rise began in 1970, when he helped persuade Pennsylvania's governor and Senate to give state workers collective-bargaining rights and led the drive to organize more than 75,000 public employees. "He's the most successful labor organizer of his generation, and one of the most effective in U.S. history," said Francis Ryan, a history instructor at Temple who has written a Temple University Press book about AFSCME.