Paul Mark dropped out of the University of Massachusetts during his freshman year, not long after classes began. His family couldn’t afford putting him through college after his father lost his job following the closure of the warehouse he worked in.

It could have been a devastating moment. Instead, it sent the younger Mark on a path to becoming an IBEW activist and, eventually, a member of the commonwealth’s Legislature.

In March, the Massachusetts Building Trades Unions — of which the IBEW is a member — named him its state senator of the year. Mark was the sponsor of a successful bill that requires local municipalities throughout the state to use project labor agreements on public works projects.

PLAs ensure that jobs are filled by workers in those communities and that contractors pay them family-sustaining wages. They benefit the taxpayer by ensuring that projects come in on time and on budget.

Mark was successful in getting language requiring PLAs inserted into an economic development bill. It was eventually passed and signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey. The governor also signed an executive order in March that requires executive development agencies to review PLAs with a cost of $35 million or more of state funds to ensure that they are favorable to workers and the communities.

“The trades came to me and asked them to be their champion on this,” Mark said, “and stuck with me throughout a process that was relatively contentious. It’s a great honor.”

Mark represents part of western Massachusetts, an area that includes the Berkshires, in the state Senate, and was reelected to a second term last November with nearly 71% of the vote.

It’s a long way from when he left college more than 25 years ago.

Not long after that, he took a job with Bell Atlantic as a phone installer in central Massachusetts and became a member of Worcester Local 2325.

Mark grew up in a union family. His father was a Teamsters member, so he decided early on to get involved in his local.

“He’s made for the labor movement. He loves helping working families.”

_{– Second District International Representative Dave Keating}

One day, he showed up unannounced at Business Manager Dave Keating’s office. It didn’t take long for Keating to realize his new member had a nose for politics and enjoyed working in the community.

“We had a great discussion,” said Keating, now a Second District international representative. “I could tell off the bat he was very smart and we were aligned in our thinking about working families. And as a business manager, I never shied away from anyone who wants to help.”

Mark was appointed a steward and soon became the local’s political director, a role he kept for most of the next decade.

“When he walked into my office,” Keating said, “our local struck gold.”

Bell Atlantic merged with Verizon in June 2000. Mark recalls sitting in a meeting with other Verizon employees not long after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, worried that layoffs were imminent.

But the dream of a college degree remained. Mark knew the company offered a benefit where employees could return to college and finish their degrees, almost entirely at Verizon’s expense.

“I remember looking around the room at people who had been working there for at least 10 years, and it made me think of my father,” Mark said.

“Right then, I decided to go back to school.”

He received a bachelor’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University in 2005, followed by a master’s from the University of Massachusetts in 2008. By this time, he was making a three-hour drive to Boson twice a week to attend night classes at Suffolk University, from which he earned his law degree in 2009. Nearly all of it was paid for by Verizon.

Mark said his primary motivation for becoming a lawyer was to make him a better steward. Too often, companies at the bargaining table had a bevy of lawyers, and being a worker with a legal background helped level that slightly, he said.

By 2010, people in western Massachusetts noticed his community involvement. He had been a leader in a strike against Verizon in 2003 and worked with Sen. Edward Kennedy’s office to get a fair resolution. He was active in the Berkshires Central Labor Council and became its political director.

So when a state House seat came open, he was urged to run for it.

“People I was working with said, ‘Why don’t you do it?’” Mark said. “You’re already involved.”

Mark won the Democratic primary and then the general election, the first of six straight wins for a seat in the House, where his assignments included a stint as Redistricting Committee chair. He also was a founder of the House Labor Caucus.

He moved up and won a Senate seat in 2022 and was reelected in 2024. He is one of two IBEW members serving in the state Senate, joining Paul Feeney, a member of Boston Local 2222.

Like in the House, Senate members face reelection every two years, but there are only 40 members of the Senate, compared to 160 in the lower chamber.

“Your chance to have an impact is much greater,” Mark said. “You have access whenever you need it to every other member, including the leadership team. I did well in the House, but it takes a lot of effort to get attention.”

Massachusetts has long been a stronghold for Democrats, who outnumber Republicans 35-5 in the Senate. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get pro-working family initiatives passed into law. (Massachusetts has a history of electing Republican governors. The GOP has controlled the executive branch for 25 of the last 35 years, although Healey is a Democrat.)

“Even though we have a supermajority, the ideological spectrum of those Democrats varies greatly,” Mark said. “It’s really important to have a solid group that is always there to fight not just for labor, but for unrepresented workers.”

Keating said Mark’s presence has been invaluable for not just the IBEW but all of Massachusetts’ union members.

“Him being so articulate and smart, you can have an adult conversation about politics,” Keating said. “He’s made for the labor movement. He loves helping working families.”

Mark’s advice to any IBEW members across North America considering a run for public office is direct.

“Do it,” he said. “If you are interested in running, try to volunteer for a campaign with your union or on your own time. Find a candidate you believe in. You’ll learn so much.

“Try to become a regular voice to your elected officials and try to learn what it means to serve the public,” he added. “Talk to a union member in office and other union brothers and sisters who will help and support you. We have great friends (in public office), but no one is a better friend than another IBEW member who understands our experience.”

Mark proudly remains an IBEW member, even though his days working in telecommunications are over. He regularly pays his Local 2325 membership fees.

“It’s important for me as an elected official to put my money where my mouth is,” he said. “I want people to say, ‘He’s a union member’ when I talk about unions and working families and important issues like PLAs.”

At one time, Mark worked for Verizon repairing payphones, which are now largely extinct. It’s been quite the journey ever since. Mark is grateful for the role the IBEW played in that, and his political journey is committed to helping others have the same opportunities.

“The union is not just about extra pay and benefits,” he said. “It’s about dignity on the job. That means so much to me.”