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Public Employee Press: PEP Talk

3 new VPs elected to serve on DC 37 Exec Board

In Jan. 2022, three new DC 37 Local Presidents were elected to serve for their first time as Vice Presidents on the DC 37 Executive Board. In addition, the other 22 Vice Presidents were all re-elected to serve three-year term.

Carmen De Leon was elected in Jan. 2021 as president of the Health Services Employees Local 768, which represents hundreds of healthcare professionals at more than a dozen city agencies. A 20-year veteran respiratory therapist at Harlem Hospital, De Leon and her members are anesthetists, public health sanitarians, respiratory therapists, audiologists, speech pathologists, city pest control aides, dental assistants, dental hygienists, exterminators, nutritionists, physical therapists, physician assistants, public health advisors, social workers, rehabilitation counselors, and licensed creative arts therapists.

De Leon is a staunch advocate for workers’ rights, the right to organize and belong to a union, and women’s rights. She advocates for adequate funding from local, state, and federal governments “so our communities have the resources we need to preserve and support essential public services, to contain the coronavirus, and safely reopen the economy,” she said. “Additional aid can ensure that the critical public services DC 37 members provide continues. I will never stop showing up for my union and my community to make sure we get what we need.”

Olivia Duong, a Criminalist III at the NYPD Police Laboratory for eight years, was elected president of NYPD Technical Professional Employees Local 3778 in 2020. Previously she had served as Local 3778 delegate.
Local 3778 represents about 300 members at NYPD in the titles of administrative architect, assistant architect, architect, administrative project manager, associate project manager, assistant chemical engineer, criminalist, graphic artist, mechanical engineer, operations communication specialist, principal title examiner, research scientist, space analyst, and supervisor of mechanical installation maintenance.

Olivia began her scientific career as an analytical chemist and moved into the nutraceutical field before entering forensic science. She is a first generation Chinese-American and a second-generation union member.

“I grew up with the profound experience that unions are the reason why families like mine could succeed,” Duong said. “My father worked over 30 years and was able to provide a family of three with quality health care and college educations. Because of the union, he knew he would be defended when employers made unreasonable demands. Because of the union, my father was able to retire with dignity.”

Duong is a true activist and advocate for labor, and workers’ and women’s rights. “The past two years have shown that when our nation is in crisis, members look to the union for leadership. As younger members enter the workforce, they are learning that there is power in solidarity,” she said.

Leonard Paul is foreman of the Steinhardt Conservatory at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and is president of Local 374 Quasi-Public Employees, one of the locals within the cultural institutions of New York City. Local 374 members work at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York Botanical Garden, Queens Botanic Garden, Wave Hill Public Gardens, New York Public Library, and Cary Institute for Eco Systems Studies. Local 374 represents approximately 530 members.

Paul has been part of the labor movement for almost 29 years, rising through the ranks of Local 374 from shop steward and chapter chair to become vice president and now president. “Labor is in my bloodstream. My main objective is to advocate for better wages, secured health benefits, a good pension plan, and better support systems for all members of my local. While unions have been under extreme pressure from the right, it has made my resolve even stronger to be more proactive in the labor movement,” he said.