Public Employee Press: PEP Talk
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Local 1930 leader receives labor activism award
The International Women’s History Month Red Carpet for Social Justice honored Nina Manning, secretary-treasurer of New York Public Library Guild Local 1930, on March 29 at St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan.
Manning was awarded the Audrey Smith-Campbell award, which SEIU Local 1199 gives each year to an outstanding woman community activist and labor leader. The award is named in honor of activist Smith-Campbell, who died on the picket line during a 2008 strike for better health care and wages.
On receiving the award, Manning said: “I enjoy working, helping, teaching and encouraging people. I treat people the way I like would like to be treated.”
A 34-year veteran of the New York public library system, Manning graduated from the union’s inaugural class of the Women’s Leadership Academy, in February.
“Nina has strong character and she knows how to get the job done,” said Valentin Colon, president of Local 1930. “She’s known for getting people to work together to be part of the solution or asking them to step aside and not become a part of the problem.”
A longtime union activist and libraries advocate, Manning devotes her time to literacy programs and food drives at Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church. She also is active in the American Library Association, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, CLUW, and the NAACP.
