Johnny Doc ally removed from prominent role on Philadelphia’s Building Trades Council

The Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council has removed Brian Eddis, a business agent who had previously worked closely with the council’s former business manager, John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty.

Eddis was hired into his role in 2021, the same year that Dougherty resigned from his positions as business manager of both the Building Trades Council and of IBEW Local 98. Eddis is also a ward leader in Northeast Philadelphia’s 63rd Ward.

The decision to remove Eddis was made late last week, said Patrick J. Eiding, the council’s secretary-treasurer. Eiding called it a “reduction of force,” and said that Eddis may be replaced in the future, but not right away. “It happens in every business,” he added, noting that Eddis will be getting severance.

Eddis’ name has surfaced several times throughout the criminal proceedings against Dougherty, though prosecutors have not charged him or accused him of wrongdoing. He did not respond to multiple calls for comment Tuesday. Dougherty has been convicted in two separate trials on bribery and embezzlement charges.

Ryan Boyer, the council’s business manager, and Frank Keel, a spokesperson for the council, declined to comment on Eddis’ termination.

Eddis’ salary was about $135,000 last year, according to records from the U.S. Department of Labor. His duties were focused on Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties, according to the council’s website. Union business agents generally are seen as a liaison between membership and top leadership.

Before taking his role with the council, Eddis worked for IBEW Local 98, also under Dougherty. In his last full year working for Local 98, as a political staffer, his salary was about $157,000, Labor Department records show.

Eddis also served as campaign manager for Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty, John Dougherty’s brother, during his first run for the state’s highest court in 2015.

During Dougherty’s most recent criminal trial, which centered on embezzlement charges, prosecutors used a recorded conversation between Dougherty and Eddis in 2016, as they alleged that the former union leader used $1,500 from Local 98′s general fund to pay for snow removal services for friends of Local 98. Those who benefited included Kevin Dougherty, then-City Councilmember Bobby Henon, the head of Philadelphia’s police union, and several ward leaders, prosecutors said.

On that call, Dougherty told Eddis to “just give me the bill” and asked if there was “anyone else we gotta take care of?” Eddis then turned to a former Kevin Dougherty campaign staffer, who had a snow removal business, sending him a list of addresses to service.

In a 2021 corruption trial in which Dougherty and Henon were both convicted, Eddis, who was not charged with any crimes, was called to testify about the time he spent with Henon after the former Council member’s offices were raided in 2016. Prosecutors aimed to show that Dougherty instructed Eddis to keep tabs on Henon, playing a wiretapped call between the Council member and Local 98 staffer.

But Eddis’ account was that he was spending time with Henon as a supportive friend. He testified about their personal relationship, as well as the close friendship between Dougherty and Henon. Eddis testified that he and Henon had a lot in common — they both got sober at the age of 26, were both ward leaders in the Northeast, and both had two children.

Henon “was under a lot of pressure, a lot of stress. As a sober member of [Alcoholics Anonymous], I was worried about him picking up a drink,” Eddis said. “If he fell off the ladder, John would want me to be there for him. This is a brotherhood, a fraternity.”

Henon is currently serving a 3½-year sentence at a minimum security prison camp in Lewisburg.

The Building Trades Council is a coalition of 30 local construction unions in the Philadelphia region. Boyer became the council’s leader in 2021, after Dougherty was forced to resign following his first conviction.

Last year’s mayoral election was a political test of sorts for the new Building Trades leader. The decisive win by the trades-backed candidate, Cherelle L. Parker, sent a message that the council’s political influence remains strong. The Building Trades endorsement was seen as a pivotal moment for her campaign.

IBEW Local 98 also chose to back Parker, independently of the council’s endorsement, after polling membership about their top concerns for Philadelphia. Business manager Mark Lynch has said the electricians’ union now has a “different culture” than it has in the past, and pointed to his choice to get membership input on the endorsement as an example of that.