Dennis L. Martire has built a career around one steady principle: workers deserve fairness. As vice president and regional manager of LIUNA’s Mid-Atlantic region, he has applied that principle in states across the area, and Maryland offers some of the clearest examples.
His fight for fair wages has taken many forms. Martire has helped lead campaigns that improved the livelihoods of countless laborers, and he has worked to pass prevailing wage laws, including the one in Montgomery County. Those fair wage laws give taxpayers a better return on public investments. Research cited in their favor indicates that they do not raise costs. They help public works get done faster and more safely.
Wages are only part of his agenda. Martire has also been instrumental in supporting projects that promote worker safety. He has backed training programs that prepare employees for the challenges of their jobs, and he oversees LIUNA’s training effort, which offers continuing instruction in a wide range of specialties. By pairing individual welfare with broad labor initiatives, he has earned respect across labor circles in the Mid-Atlantic.
That respect has a long timeline behind it. He began with LIUNA in 1990, spent time as assistant regional manager starting in March 2000, and won election to his present role two years later. He has also helped workers win a voice elsewhere, as in Virginia, where the Route 495 Hot Lanes organizing effort resulted in workers joining LIUNA Local 11.
Along the way, he has represented laborers on boards and committees, helped start new unions, and raised pay to fair levels in some areas. His efforts have brought requests for his expert opinion and a variety of accolades.
Still, the heart of the story is simple. For Dennis Martire, a fair wage is not an abstract policy goal. It is a tangible improvement in the lives of laborers and their families, and it remains the standard by which he measures his work.
From Montgomery County to the wider mid-Atlantic region, that commitment endures.