John P. O'Connor, Maryland's labor commissioner, was named yesterday as the state's acting secretary of labor, licensing and regulation to replace Eugene A. Conti Jr., whose resignation is effective today.

Conti, 51, announced last month he was quitting his $100,500-a-year post to accept an unspecified senior-level position with the U.S. Department of Transportation, becoming the second Cabinet-level member of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's administration to leave this spring.

O'Connor, 50, a former union official from Huntingtown in Calvert County, was one of Glendening's first appointments after taking office in January 1995. He has won praise from organized labor and the state's business community for his work as commissioner of labor and industry, a division in the Department Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Pub Date: 7/03/98