A Juneau man has been named executive director of the state’s largest labor union.
Jake Metcalfe, who was born and raised in Juneau, was appointed executive director of ASEA/AFSCME Local 52 on Jan. 1. The appointment was announced Jan. 12 by the union.
Metcalfe graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1976 and attended Eastern Michigan University, graduating in 1986. He obtained a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland four years later.
He worked as a district attorney in Bethel and served a term on the Bethel City Council before moving to Anchorage, where he worked as associate general counsel to the IBEW Local 1547. He became that union’s top lawyer in 2004.
He was elected to the Anchorage School Board in 2001 and served two terms. In 2009, he became director of the Public Safety Employees’ Association Local 803, the union that represents police and corrections officers.
He had a brief run for U.S. House in 2008 as a Democrat but dropped out before the primary.
In a prepared statement, Metcalfe said he is “proud and excited” to take the new job and pledged to work hard.
