Frank Garrison | Ex-AFL-CIO activist, 74

Former Michigan AFL-CIO president Frank Garrison, 74, a union activist for more than 40 years, has died.

Mark Gaffney, the current Michigan AFL-CIO president, confirmed that Mr. Garrison died Wednesday. The cause was not immediately released.

Mr. Garrison served as AFL-CIO president in one of the nation's most heavily unionized states from December 1986 until he retired in September 1999. Before that, he was a member of United Auto Workers Local 699 at the Saginaw Steering Gear Plant. From 1982-86, he served as executive director of the UAW Michigan CAP, the union's political action program in the state.

Mr. Garrison was succeeded in 1999 by Gaffney, who told the Associated Press that "the AFL under Frank was very strong and very active in the Democratic Party and the politics of the state."

Mr. Garrison served in the Army for two years before returning to Michigan and becoming active in his local UAW union, according to former Michigan Rep. David Bonior, who honored Mr. Garrison in the Congressional Record when the labor leader retired. - AP