Former San Francisco labor leader and longtime Airport Commissioner Larry Mazzola Sr. has died, according to a statement Saturday by the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council.
“Larry was a fighter in every sense of the word. He never backed down when working people were under attack, and he never wavered in his commitment to the men and women he represented,” Rudy Gonzalez, secretary-treasurer of the council, said in the statement. “His leadership helped shape the modern labor movement in the Bay Area.”
Mazzola, who was 82, spent nearly 50 years with UA Local 38 and as a United Association administrator, including as an assistant training director, organizer, business agent, business manager and financial secretary-treasurer. He retired in 2022 after 26 years of service as a San Francisco airport commissioner, including 18 years as president.
“He brought the same unwavering advocacy for working people into public service,” Gonzalez said. “His impact extended far beyond his union — he was a respected and formidable force across the entire labor community.”
The cause of death and memorial plans were not immediately available Saturday.
Mazzola’s son, Larry Mazzola Jr., is business manager and financial secretary-treasurer for UA Local 38 and president of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council.
“I am extremely proud of my dad’s accomplishments on the airport commission,” Mazzola Jr. said in 2022 when his father retired from that post. “It highlights the importance of having strong union voices in critical government positions protecting the interests of our members. He was instrumental in maintaining union workers’ status, wages, and benefits, even during times when they were under attack at airports throughout the country.”