Thomas J. Ryan III

Thomas J. Ryan III

Labor Guild Board of Directors

Director Employee-Labor Relations National Grid, New England

Cushing-Gavin Awards Logo

Cushing-Gavin Award Recipient

Management Award, 2014

Responsible for negotiating and administering National Grid’s seventeen collective bargaining agreements, Tom Ryan works closely with four international unions representing 18 locals: the Steelworkers (USW), the Utility Workers (UWUA), the IBEW (Electricians) and the Teamsters (IBT).

Raised in Lynn by Camille and Thomas Joseph Ryan, Jr., Tom graduated from Union College in Schenectady NY in 1985 majoring in Managerial Economics. A varsity hockey player, Union hired him as Assistant Hockey Coach for a
year, then Chief Recruiter the following season. 

Returning home in 1987, Tom started as a meter reader at Boston Gas. Joining their Marketing Department in 1988, he helped launch Boston Gas’ first-in-the-nation home energy conservation program as a Supervisor in 1990, then Manager in 1992. That year, Tom received his MBA from Northeastern University.

In 1995, Tom Dargan, Director of Employee Relations recruited him as Labor Relations Manager. “I saw myself as a statistics/finance type, but Tom and HR VP Jack Cohane (CGA 1990) convinced me Labor Relations would be a ‘good experience’ and I’d ‘learn a lot’,” Tom notes. “I did and I stayed.”

As Director of Employee-Labor Relations since 2000, “My job is to be fair and solve problems,” he explains. “I get to work for (and with) excellent people and fix problems that matter. Whether people problems or a contractual disagreement, it gets resolved in a courteous, professional manner, and we move forward.”

“Tom is a fair and honorable guy to deal with,” says Steve Finnigan, a USW (Steelworkers) International Rep. “In my experience, he always tries to do the right thing by employees.”

Tom is married to Dr. Bonnie J. Ryan, a Board Certified Emergency Physician directing Emergency Services at HealthAlliance Hospital’s Leominster Campus. Their daughter, Taryn is a Penn State freshman studying biochemistry, and son, Trevor (17) is a senior at Algonquin Regional High School – and a hockey player.

Full bio » laborguild.com/cgawards