PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Officials from two state unions have announced their candidacies for top positions in the Rhode Island AFL-CIO.

William C. McGowan, business manager and financial secretary for the IBEW Local 2323, is running for state AFL-CIO president. Jim Cenerini, legislative affairs and political action coordinator for Council 94, the largest union of state employees, is running for AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer.

George Nee, the current AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, is also expected to run for AFL-CIO president. The top seat is now held by Frank J. Montanaro, who announced in July that he will not seek reelection. Montanaro, 75, was elected president in 1992.

The AFL-CIO is an umbrella organization representing dozens of local unions across the state, including more than 9,000 teachers, 7,000 state and municipal employees, and hundreds of longshoremen, machinists and plumbers. AFL-CIO elections will be held Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

In a joint statement announcing their candidacies, McGowan said he was running for president " to build an organization that always makes the rank and file member's interests first on any agenda.

"I will work hard to improve membership communications, make the RI AFL-CIO more accessible to the media, recruit more union members to run for political office, and make the operations of the RI AFL-CIO democratic, transparent, and accountable to the member," he said

Cenerini said he was running to help the AFL-CIO "leap into the 21st Century."

"For too long, affiliate unions have had better technology and membership communication/mobilization capabilities," he said. "I am running for Secretary-Treasurer so that the RI AFL-CIO will have stronger lobbying/political programs through more membership participation. I will also ensure that members' dues are spent on the programs that matter most to working families. After all, it's the members' money and they need to know how funds are spent."