Public Employee Press

Know your DC 37 Executive Board

The DC 37 Executive Board includes many experienced leaders and some dynamic new members. 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 five largest local unions (with at least 5 percent each of DC 37’s total membership), who were elected by their locals’ delegates in November; 20 vice presidents from the smaller locals, who were elected at-large Jan. 26 by the delegates from those locals, and the head of DC 37 Retirees Association, an ex-officio member who cannot vote.

Robert D. Ajaye started at Borough of Manhattan Community College in 1983 as a Program Analyst and is now an Information Technology Sr. Associate.

He became an activist years ago and was elected 1st VP of Electronic Data Processing Personnel Local 2627 in 2005 and president in 2008.

A Vietnam veteran who enjoys rollerblading, Ajaye holds a certificate in organizing from the AFL-CIO’s National Labor College and co-chairs the DC 37 Black History Committee.

“The union has lit a spark in me,” Ajaye said, telling how he enjoyed volunteering in last year’s mayoral race. “As public employees, we must be politically active in addition to protecting members in the workplace.”

Carmen Charles became president of Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 in 2002 when she led the Workers 4 Workers slate to victory.

Her climb to the top post began as a Nurse’s Aide at Coler-Goldwater Hospital. In1987 she became a shop steward and in 1999 was elected vice president of the 10,000 member local.

As president she has negotiated upgrades for her members, made the local more financially accountable and fought against contracting out while encouraging members to get more active in union affairs.

A strong advocate of using education as a tool for empowerment, Charles recently graduated from Cornell University’s Union Leadership Program.

“These tough economic times demonstrate more than ever how important unions are to working families,” said Sirra Crippen, president of Local 1507, which represents Gardeners and Assistant Gardeners at the Parks Dept.

She works to instill a pro-union ethos in members and educate them about the important work the union does to win and protect their benefits. “As a union leader, I view my role as promoting public policy that supports working-class people,” Crippen said. “The union is the strongest vehicle in our country fighting for economic and social justice.”

In addition to her regular duties as a Gardener, Crippen teaches horticulture to children in the schools and the Housing Authority.

“Our board is united in its efforts to deliver a good contract that protects members’ jobs and hard-won benefits and to contract-in work and counter this administration’s attempts to privatize the jobs and public services our members provide,” DeMarco said.

DeMarco chairs the DC 37 Education Fund Trust, Credentials and Italian Heritage committees and co-chairs its DOT Equipment Committee. He served on AFSCME’s Appeals and Election committees and represents DC 37 on AFSCME’s Transportation Committee.

Cuthbert Dickenson’s public service career began in 1984 as an electrical maintainer for the New York Public Library. He joined Local 374, became an activist and chapter chair and was elected president in 2002. In 2007, he was elected to the DC 37 Board.

Dickenson chairs the DC 37 Citizenship Committee and is a trustee of the NYPL Health and Security Trust and a member of the DC 37 Caribbean Committee and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

“As a representative of members in the libraries and cultural institutions, I am trying hard to hold on to the gains we have made. As union leaders, we on the Executive Board are faced with challenging times,” he said.

He grew up in the Bronx, graduated from Mount Vernon High School, and attended Bronx Community and Skidmore colleges. Gray, and wife Theresa, have three children.

“Union work is a passion for me,” he said. As a member of the DC 37 Executive Board, Gray will serve on the union’s Laws and Rules Committee.

Robert Herkommer, in his first term on the DC 37 Board, got his first taste of union life as a shop steward in 1991.

He served one term as secretary of Wildlife Conservation Society Local 1501, returned to being a steward, and was then elected vice president. In 2007, Herkommer was elected local president and in January he was re-elected.

“It’s a great honor to serve on the board,” he said.

Herkommer grew up on Long Island, attended Farmingdale State College and has an associate’s degree in ornamental horticulture. In 1989, he went to work at the New York Zoological Society as an Assistant Zoological Park Maintainer in the horticulture dept. He loved the work and was promoted to Gardener.

“When you grow up in the Third World, you need to get involved in labor early in your life,” said the president of Rent Regulation Service Employees Local 1359. His mentor then is now a Caribbean public services union leader.

Ifill immigrated to the U.S. in 1984 and landed a state job as an Assistant Rent Examiner. His local includes some 370 state Attorneys, Clerks, Hearing Officers, Rent Examiners, Rent Inspectors and Stenographers, Accountants and Housing Specialists. He has a diploma in accounting from the Guyana Technical Institute, a year of labor law at Guyana’s Critchlow Labor College and a bachelor’s degree in math from the University of Guelph in Canada.

Morris R. Johnson is a classic American immigrant success story. A native of Liberia, he settled in New York in 1978, earned a bachelor’s degree in finance, joined the city workforce as a Claims Specialist in 1990 and became a shop steward in 1996. He is a Local 154 delegate.

He has fought for civil service exams so co-workers can become permanent employees with promotional opportunities. Now in his second term on the DC 37 Board, Johnson plans to continue as a passionate voice behind Executive Director Lillian Robert’s drive for civil service improvements.

Johnson and his wife,Tonya, are the proud parents of two sons; his youngest is presently serving in Iraq with his wife.

“A lot of positions are under fire, and our main concern is to protect members’ jobs and benefits,” Latson said. “We have to fight for a decent contract that includes a wage increase. That’s the bottom line. It’s what members count on us to do.”

Eric Latson is married and lives in Queens. He has three children and one grandchild.

Faye Moore began her city career as a clerical employee and worked her way up to Caseworker. She joined the staff at SSEU Local 371 in 1993 and was soon elected VP of grievances. In 2008, members elected her president of the local, which includes 17,000 social service and juvenile justice workers.

Moore has led the local’s battles against privatization, downsizing and budget cuts, defended the civil service system and fought city plans to lay off members in community and senior centers and children’s services.

“We face attacks on all fronts, and we need to respond aggressively,” she said.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Moore attended the city’s public school system and graduated from John Jay College.

Brooklyn native Deborah A. Pitts grew up in a union family; both parents were DC 37 members. “My seven brothers and one sister — we were known as union babies. We were at meetings and out on the picket lines,” she recalls. Pitts is in her second term as Finance Dept. Local 1113 president and her first on the DC 37 Executive Board.

She has a long history of activism in her local and has held positions as a DC 37 delegate, local secretary for two terms and member of the DC 37 Political Action Committee and the AFL-CIO’s Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

Pitts and husband, Johnny, just celebrated their 30th anniversary. They have three grandchildren.

Darryl Ramsey has been active with Health Service Employees Local 768 since 1993. He was appointed chief shop steward at Kings County Hospital in 1993, became a grievance rep in 1997 and served as local president from 2003 to 2008. As president, he pushed to expand members’ participation and stressed the importance of steward training. “The strength of the union depends on the active participation of rank-and-file members,” he said.

Currently he chairs the labor caucus, which includes employees from all the unions at Kings County Hospital, and co-chairs the labor management committee.

Ramsey is also an active member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and the Save Our Safety Net Coalition.

“Without a union, workers have no rights or say about salary increases. Only unions can protect our future earnings as the backbone of New York’s middle class,” Ricci said. “I am proud to be part of Lillian Roberts’ team to help not just my local but all members,” he said.

Married for 27 years, Ricci has five children and lives on Staten Island.

Eddie Rodriguez has served as president of Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 since 2001. His road to leadership began at the Dyckman Welfare Center in Inwood, near the Washington Heights and Spanish Harlem neighborhoods where he grew up.

In 1972, he started work as a Grade II Clerk for the Welfare Dept. and served as an alternate steward, DC 37 delegate, social services chapter chair and as sergeant-at-arms for Local 1549.Rodriguez and his wife, Adelina, have three children.

Now serving his fourth term on the Executive Board, he is a member of the DC 37 Ethics Committee and has served as a vice president of DC 37’s parent union, AFSCME, since 2003.

She chairs DC 37’s PEOPLE Committee, the grassroots political fundraising arm of DC 37’s national union, AFSCME. As PEOPLE chair, she is leading a drive to sign up members and local leaders as VIP MVPs, who contribute every pay period throughout the year. “We have to fight back even harder, and PEOPLE gives us the power to do that,” she said.

As a community activist she is also involved with the Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E., a group that advocates stricter gun control laws.

Peter Stein, a committed unionist for over 40 years, is president of Lifeguard Supervisors Local 508. He calls his members “the first responders who patrol New York City’s public pools and beaches.” With help from DC 37, he recently recouped almost $200,000 in longevity and retroactive pay for the Supervisors and Local 461’s Lifeguards.

Stein has made political action a priority for his local. In elections, he volunteers with hundreds of Lifeguards and Supervisors to support the labor-friendly candidates DC 37 endorses.

“Political action is labor’s essential battleground for economic victories and social justice for our members. As public employees, the ballot box is where we show our strength as a union,” he said.

Jim Tucciarelli, president of Sewage Treatment Workers and Sr. STWs Local 1320 since 1983, has served for 19 years on the DC 37 Executive Board. He has been leading his members in a grueling eight-year battle for “a living wage commensurate with their work so they can provide security for their families.”

In the 1970s, Tucciarelli worked closely with Executive Director Lillian Roberts to win civil service exams for federal job program participants. He has fought at her side ever since.

“I have spent the greater part of my life with this union,” he said. “We have been through tough struggles and hardships in the past, and I believe we will survive and succeed because this institution is bigger than all of us.”

Currently serving as the president of CUNY and Educational Opportunity Centers Local 384, Esther (Sandy) Tucker began her union career as a shop steward in 1989 and was elected local president in 1999. She is now in her third term on the DC 37 Executive Board.

For five years she also chaired the DC 37 PEOPLE Committee, the grassroots political fundraising arm of DC 37’s national union, AFSCME.

Taking full advantage of one of her many union benefits, she has earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. Tucker began working for the City University of New York in 1968 as a provisional employee at City College. One test later, she had a career as a civil servant.

Don’t forget, you’re all future retirees.

That’s the mantra of Stuart Leibowitz, president of the DC 37 Retirees Association and the voice of retired members on the Executive Board.

Leibowitz joined the city workforce in 1966 and served 25 years as a VP of Local 371. He retired from the union in 1994 and became deputy chair of the Office of Collective Bargaining. The Retirees Association elected him president in 2001.

Co-chair of the DC 37 Pension Committee, Leibowitz is a tireless defender of public-sector retiree benefits. He helped win the pension COLA and reimbursement of retirees’ Medicare Part B payments. “Our mission is to protect the benefits of retirees and their children and grandchildren,” Leibowitz said.