 |
 |
| | |||
 | Who we are | ||
| Join DC 37 | ||
| Contact Us | ||
 | Vice Presidents | ||
 |
Officers | ||
| Divisions | ||
| Locals | ||
| Retirees | ||
| Committees | ||
| Constitution | ||
| Code of Ethics | ||
| History | ||
SEARCH
LINKS
SITEMAP 
The DC 37 Executive Board includes veteran members and some dynamic new leaders. The board is the governing body of the union when the Delegates Council is not in session. The board includes the union’s top officers (the executive director, president, secretary and treasurer); vice presidents from the largest local unions (with at least 5 percent each of DC 37’s total membership) who were elected by their locals’ delegates in November 2006; 20 vice presidents from the smaller locals, elected at-large by the delegates from those locals on Jan. 23, 2007, and the president of DC 37 Retirees Association, an ex-officio member who cannot vote.
| 
| 
| 
|
| Leonard
Allen President, Local 2021 | Colleen
Carew-Rogers President, Local 2054 | Carmen
Charles | Santos
Crespo Vice President, Local 372 |
| 
| 
| 
|
| Sirra
Crippen President, Local 1507 | Michael
DeMarco President, Local 1455 | Cuthbert
Dickenson | Alfred
Edwards President, Local 1759 |
| 
| 
| 
|
| Charles
Ensley President, Local 371 | Charles
Farrison President, Local 1797 | Claude
Fort President, Local 375 | Michael
Hood |
| 
| 
| 
|
| Morris
R. Johnson Chapter Chair, Local 154 | David
Moog President, Local 1757 | Eileen
Muller President, Local 1482 | Walthene
Primus |
| 
| 
| 
|
| Darryl
Ramsey President, Local 768 | Eddie
Rodriguez President, Local 1549 | Jackie
Rowe- Adams Delegate, Local 299 |
Kevin D. Smith |
| 
| 
| 
|
| Cleveland
Terry President, Local 1559 | John
Townsend Delegate, Local 1322 | James Tucciarelli President, Local 1320 |
Esther (Sandy)
Tucker |
| 
| ||
| Shirley
A. Williams President, Local 1219 | Stuart
Leibowitz President, DC 37 Retirees Association |
|
|
President, Local 2021
In his 10 years as president of Off-Track Betting Corp. Employees
Local 2021, Leonard Allen has achieved a continuing victory against recurring
attacks by the forces of privatization.
In that protracted battle, Mr.
Allen repeatedly trumped Mayor Rudy Guiliani and the privateers by carefully playing
the union’s media, legal and political cards.
A Betting Clerk with 25
years of experience, Mr. Allen has served on the District Council 37 Executive
Board for the past eight years. He chairs the DC37 Political Action Committee
and is a member of the Veterans Advisory Committee. “I’m looking forward
to working with the new board members in the best interests of all DC 37 members,”
he said.
|
|
Colleen
Carew-Rogers
President,
Local 2054
Colleen Carew-Rogers was elected to a second term as vice president
of College Assistants Local 2054 in December 2006. She was appointed president
of the local upon the retirement of past president Joan Reed. She has worked as
a College Assistant at Kingsboro Community College for 12 years and is enrolled
in the Cornell University Labor Studies program.
Carew-Rogers is an active
member of the DC 37 Women’s Committee, the Pension Committee and the Political
Action Committee.
“I look forward to working with Lillian Roberts
to move the union forward and continue the work to improve services,” said
Carew-Rogers. “Our goal is to work for every member — regardless of
their affiliation. We are the ‘Members First’ team and we plan to keep
it that way.”
|
|
President, Local 420
Carmen Charles began her employment with the city as a Nurse’s Aide at Coler-Goldwater Hospital on Roosevelt Island. In 1987 she became shop steward for her chapter of Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the chapter’s vice chair in 1992; the local’s vice president in 1999.
Leading the Workers 4 Workers slate, Charles was elected local president in 2002. She has successfully negotiated upgrades for members and made the local more financially accountable. She encourages greater union activism and strives to empower members through education.
Ms. Charles recently graduated from the Union Leadership Program at Cornell University’s Institute of Industrial and Labor Relations.
|
|
Vice President, Local 372
Santos Crespo served as a shop steward for Local 372 for 10 years and as a grievance rep in the DC 37 Schools Division.
He spent a year and a half working on the organizing drive in Puerto Rico undertaken by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, DC 37’s national union. AFSCME successfully organized thousands of Social Workers and Corrections Officers into Servidores Publicos Unidos Concilio 95.
In 1999, Crespo was elected as Local 372’s Executive Vice President. He is also a delegate to DC 37. He served as president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and is currently a member of its Executive Board.
|
|
President, Local 1507
Sirra Crippen is president of Gardeners and Assistant Gardeners
Local 1507, which represents about 100 members in the Parks Dept. She is the youngest
local president elected to the DC 37 Executive Board.
“I look forward
to learning from Lillian Roberts and other leaders at DC 37,” Crippen said.
“I want us to keep the benefits we’ve fought long and hard for, and
build on our accomplishments,” said Crippen. “I hope to motivate more
members of my generation to get involved in the labor movement. We could use their
energy and support.”
Crippen also teaches horticulture and plant
care to public school students and children in Housing Authority projects.
|
|
Michael
DeMarco
President,
Local 1455
Michael DeMarco, president of Traffic Employees Local 1455 since 1998,
previously served on the DC 37 Executive Board from 2000 to 2002. He is currently
in his third term as president of the local, which represents 430 members at the
Dept. of Transportation.
“I will do everything in my power to make
sure we put Members First, as I do for all my local members,” DeMarco said.
DeMarco chairs DC 37’s Italian Heritage and Credentials committees,
co-chairs the Dept. of Transportation Equipment Committee, serves on the DC 37
Pension Committee and the AFSCME Transportation Committee. DeMarco and Local 1455
are known for generously supporting the DC 37 Help Our Own Fund and the Holiday
Giving program.
|
|
President, Local 374
Cuthbert Dickenson was elected president of Quasi-Public Employees Local 374 in 2002 after serving as a chapter chair and DC 37 Delegate for 10 years. He chairs the DC 37 Citizenship/Immigration Committee, is a trustee of the New York Public Library Health and Security Trust, and is a member of the DC 37 Caribbean Heritage Committee and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
“This union has delivered more social and economic gains for members than any institution,” said Dickenson, who will graduatefrom Cornell University’s Labor Leadership program in July. “We must continue to be proactive rather than reactionary. We want to protect and improve our job security, retirement system and benefits for all members.”
|
|
President, Local 1759
Except for 15 years in military service, Alfred Edwards has virtually always been a union man.
He worked four years as a Sanitation Enforcement Agent in the Communications Workers Union before becoming a Consumer Affairs Inspector in 1993 and joining DC 37. Now in his third term as president of Consumer Affairs Inspectors Local 1759, he has pushed for promotional exams and retirement improvements.
“Ever since I’ve worked for the city, I have been involved in the union,” said Edwards, who studied criminal justice at John Jay College. “It’s very important to be represented and have the protection that unions give,” Edwards said. “The union is all about unity and change.”
|
|
President, Local 371
Social Service Employees Union Local 371 President Charles Ensley
was elected to the DC 37 Executive Board April 24, 2007 as a vice president.
Local 371 delegates chose Ensley to represent the local on the board in a
special election at the April 2007 meeting of the DC 37 Delegates Council; he
was nominated without opposition and declared elected. Local 371 Vice President
Faye Moore previously held the local’s board seat.
Ensley started
as a Caseworker and has been president of SSEU Local 371 since 1982. He has chaired
the DC 37 Civil Service Committee and served as a vice president of AFSCME, DC
37’s parent union. Under his stewardship, the local has doubled to over 18,000,
and Ensley has aggressively defended the civil service merit system and fought
for equal opportunity for all members.
Born in Alabama, Ensley credits
his deep commitment to labor to his father, who led a struggle of black workers
at the Birmingham News to fight for pay parity with white workers. While studying
at Howard University, he participated in the civil rights movement.
|
|
President, Local 1797
Charles Farrison, president of Custodial Supervisors Local 1797
since 1996, is a member of the DC 37 Laws and Rules Committee and the Labor Management
Committee at the City University of New York.
“We want to continue
to service and educate all the members — everyone counts in this great council,”
he said.
“I hope to see more members take an active interest in
the union and become more involved, especially the younger generation, who are
tomorrow’s leaders,” said Farrison.
“It is important to
recognize in others the potential for leadership and not be afraid to teach them;
to really care about the work you do and above everything else to have faith in
God,” Farrison said.
|
|
Claude
Fort
President,
Local 375
Local 375 President Claude Fort uses whatever it takes — quiet diplomacy,
media pressure, the courts, lobbying and grievances — to defend members.
Local grievances won members over $10 million in back pay and promotions
at the Dept. of Environmental Protection.
Negotiations with New York
City Transit will keep work worth $750 million in-house for the 2nd Avenue subway
project. A lawsuit at the School Construction Authority brought back over 100
fired members. After protests and a media campaign, Local 375 recently convinced
management to back off from using palm scanners.
“We’re passionate
about protecting civil service,” said Fort, who has a master’s in engineering
and is a licensed engineer.
|
|
President, Local 1505
Michael Hood was a shop steward for four years before being elected president of Attendants, Park Service Workers, City Park Workers and Debris Removers Local 1505, whose 1,000 members work in parks and recreation facilities citywide.
Now in his second term on the Executive Board, Hood chairs the union’s Parks Policy Committee, which examines department issues and policies that affect members from several locals. Hood is an Education Fund trustee, a member of the Finance Committee, and an activist in the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. “DC 37 is not just an organization, but an organism alive with ideas,” said Hood.
“Working with our officers, I am confident we will make improvements.”
|
|
Chapter Chair, Local 154
Morris Johnson embodies the civil service system’s noble purpose of providing immigrants and minorities with a gateway to the middle class.
In 1978, Johnson left his home in Monrovia, Liberia, to travel to New York City. Here, he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Medgar Evers College, joined the city workforce in 1990 and became a U.S. citizen. Now he is a Claims Specialist and chair of the Corporation Counsel and Housing Authority Chapter of Local 154.
Johnson pushes for civil service exams so co-workers can become permanent employees with promotional opportunities. Johnson says he will be a passionate voice behind Executive Director Lillian Robert’s drive for civil service improvements.
|
|
President, Local 1757
With 20 years as a city worker, City Assessor 4 David Moog is
serving his second term as president of Assessors, Appraisers and Mortgage Analysts
Local 1757.
In the state Legislature, the City Council and the media,
Moog is a public advocate for reforming the city’s real property assessment
system.
He has long pushed for changes, including better use of technology
to capture lost revenues and increase city income, including funds for the workforce.
Moog won pay adjustments and promotions for 60 percent of Local 1757’s
membership. He holds a master’s in public administration and financial management
from Baruch College.
|
|
Eileen
Muller
President,
Local 1482
Threatened by a lay-off, Brooklyn Public Library clerical worker Eileen
Muller went back to college. A degree from Pratt Institute led to a new position
as a librarian at Brooklyn Public Library.
Her roots are firmly planted
in Brooklyn. She has always lived in the same home her paternal grandmother took
title to on the day Muller was born. Her grandfather helped to organize a union
at the Brooklyn Union Gas Company. Muller got active in Local 1482 in1990 as a
delegate to DC 37. Four years ago she became president and is now in her second
term.
She has one son, a city Police Officer, and is the proud grandmother
of 5-month old Christopher.
|
|
President, Local 957
Walthene Primus, president of Housing Authority Clerical Employees Local 957, was first elected to the Executive Board in 2002 and was re-elected in 2007.
A member of the DC 37 Laws and Rules Committee, the Ethical Practices Committee, and chair of the Women’s Committee, Primus also serves on the Women’s Advisory Committee of AFSCME and the AFL-CIO Rehabilitation Committee.
She brings to DC 37 almost three decades of experience in the HA. “While Local 957 faces federal cuts, I’m proud to say we are winning the battle. We’ve lobbied legislators to restore funds, and we have strong support from our members, who work for and are residents of NYCHA,” she said.
|
|
President, Local 768
Darryl Ramsey, president of Health Services Employees Local 768, became a union activist in 1993. He was appointed as chief shop steward at Kings County Hospital in 1994 and a Grievance Rep in 1997. In 2003 he was elected president.
“I continue to focus on improving the participation of the members in their union,” said Ramsey. “I’ve stressed to the members the importance of shop steward training, attending union meetings and joining committees. The strength of the union depends on the active participation of the rank-and-file members.”
Mr. Ramsey is also a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the DC 37 Political Action Committee and the Save Our Safety Net Coalition.
|
|
President, Local 1549
Eddie Rodriguez grew up in Spanish Harlem and Washington Heights,
where his mother raised six children and his father worked as a hotel maintainer.
In 1972, Rodriguez went to work as a Clerk at the Dyckman Welfare Center
in Inwood.He became an alternate shop steward and then delegate for Local 1549.
In 1985, another alternate steward caught his eye and in 1986, they married.
Rodriguez and his wife, Adelina, have three children. Rodriguez became a
grievance rep in 1987. He was elected local president in 2001 and a vice president
of DC 37’s parent union, AFSCME, in 2003, fulfilling a dream he had since
attending his first AFSCME convention. Rodriguez is serving his third Executive
Board term.
|
|
Jackie
Rowe-Adams
Delegate,
Local 299
A member of Local 299 for 21 years, Jackie Rowe-Adams is a Recreation Supervisor
at the Jackie Robinson Recreation Center. She has been a union delegate for five
years, a member of the local’s Political Action and Women’s committees
and a member of the Executive Board of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
A community activist, Rowe-Adams is involved with the Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E.
group that advocates eliminating guns. This issue is close to her heart, for two
of her own children were gunned down on the streets. An accomplished singer, Rowe-Adams
has sung the national anthem at Shea Stadium, Gracie Mansion and at the AFSCME
convention in Chicago last summer.
|
|
President, Local 1655
Kevin D. Smith, president of Metropolitan Transportation Authority Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1655, began his union activism in 1984 as a shop steward and served for five years as the local’s secretary. In Sept. 2005 he was elected president of the local.
Mr. Smith is on DC 37’s Political Action Screening Committee, the Pension Committee and the Credentials Committee. His recent appointment as chair of the PEOPLE Committee and the DC 37 Black History Committee added new excitement to this year’s programs.
As president of the local he has helped establish 12 new internal committees and created a Website. The local has also assisted Katrina victims who live in New York by providing them with Metro cards.
|
|
President, Local 1559
Cleveland Terry, an Assistant Maintainer at the American Museum of Natural History, has been a member of Local 1559 for 11 years.
His union activism began when he became a shop steward. In that position, he helped establish the Crew Leader title. He then become vice president of the local before being elected president in November 2005.
“I enjoy serving the members and helping them identify issues for contract bargaining and working conditions issues that we can take immediate action to improve,” said Terry. He’s excited to be joining the board. “I’m eager to join the team and be part of the great vision that Lillian Roberts has for this union.”
|
|
Delegate, Local 1322
John Townsend grew up in Brooklyn, the son of a union man who
worked for “Ma Bell.”
In May 1981, Townsend went to work for
the Dept. of Environmental Protection as a Construction Laborer and member of
Local 376, where he was an active member. After a promotion into the ranks of
DEP Supervisory Employees Local 1322, he was elected president, a position he
held from 1994 to 2006.
As a member of DC 37’s Executive Board,
Townsend looks forward to serving members unionwide. In addition to his obligations
as a family man, with a wife, two grown children, and two young grandchildren,
Townsend enjoys playing golf. But he’d “rather not discuss” his
handicap.
|
|
James
Tucciarelli
President,
Local 1320
Staten Islander James Tucciarelli started work as a Sewage Treatment
Worker in 1978 under the Comprehensive Employment Training Act. He led a drive
for a civil service test for the workers. He scored high, and soon had a permanent
job in the Dept. of Environmental Protection.
His union activism took
off from there. In 1983, he was appointed to serve out the term of Local 1320
President John Toto, who left to organize public sector employees in Ohio. “I’ve
been running ever since,” said Tucciarelli.
In addition to the
board, Tucciarelli serves on AFSCME’s Judicial Panel. He has three children
— including two sons in Local 376 — and two grandchildren.
|
|
President, Local 384
In 1968, Esther (Sandy) Tucker was a provisional employee at City College. One test later, she had a career as a civil servant. Putting one of her union benefits to work, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education.
Always an activist, Tucker began her union career as a shop steward in 1989. In 1999, she was elected president of Local 384, City University of New York & Educational Opportunity Center employees. Her first term on the DC 37 Executive Board began in 2000. She chaired the DC 37 PEOPLE Committee for five years.
The young woman from Virginia who started out to become a physical education teacher took a different, albeit satisfying road, she said.
|
|
President, Local 1219
Shirley A. Williams brings years of experience as a union activist and powerful voice for her co-workers to the DC37 Executive Board.
The president of Real Estate Employees Local 1219 is a native of South Carolina. She began her career with the city at the Dept. of Employment in 1972. She decided to emulate the example of her mentor, the late Local 1219 President James Cobb, and got involved in her local in 1990, first as a DC 37 delegate.
Williams was elected vice president of Local 1219 in June 2005 and in Sept. 2006, she became president. Now, as a member of the District Council 37 Executive Board, she’s “honored to be part of making history at DC 37.”
|
|
President, DC 37 Retirees Association
DC 37 Retirees
Association President Stuart Leibowitz helped expand the membership to 26,000.
He helped win full reimbursement for Medicare Part B deductions from retirees’
pension checks and a permanent pension cost-of-living adjustment. Currently, the
association is fighting for surviving spouses of retirees to keep their health
coverage.
In 1967, Leibowitz worked on the DC 37 committee that helped
establish the Tier 1 pension. He was Local 371’s vice president for research
and negotiations for 25 years and retired in 1994 as deputy chair of the Office
of Collective Bargaining. “I’ve been involved in the union because I
feel unions are the best vehicle for social advancement,” Leibowitz said.
Privacy
PolicyThis site is best viewed at 800 x 600 resolution or greater with Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater.