Hayes was a resident of Chicago for most of his adult life. Hayes was also a prolific union man for 45 years. In the 1950s, he raised funds for
Martin Luther King Jr.'s
voter registration drive in the South. He was a civil rights leader who worked closely with King in the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the 1960s. Later, he was one of major labor leaders arrested during the 1980s anti-
apartheid protests that eventually won the freedom of
Nelson Mandela. Congressman Hayes was the
CBTU's first executive vice president, serving until 1986. Hayes was elected as a
Democrat to the
98th United States Congress by a special election held on August 23, 1983, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Harold Washington, who had been elected mayor of
Chicago. While a representative, Hayes was on the Committee on Education and Labor and Small Business Committee. He was most noted for pieces of legislation to encourage school dropouts to re-enter and complete their education. His candidacy for renomination in 1992 to the
103rd United States Congress was unsuccessful, as he was defeated in the Democratic primary by
Bobby Rush, partly due to the
House banking scandal. Hayes was also one of the founding members of
Rainbow/PUSH, along with
Jesse Jackson. == Death ==