Labor Power Players

Beverley Brakeman was elected director of UAW Region 9A in June 2018, and serves as regional director on their International Executive Board. Region 9A represents 34,000 members in New England, New York City, and Puerto Rico, including legal services/aid attorneys and staff, higher education, auto technicians, casino dealers, manufacturers, museum and nonprofit professionals, municipal workers, marine draftspeople, and more. Beverley is committed to continuing the Region’s tradition of winning elections and good contracts for more workers, focusing on how to use the tools of labor to fight systemic racism, gender bias, and discrimination.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Legal services, legal aid, higher education, manufacturing, nonprofit, social justice, cultural institutions.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Good contracts to improve lives.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
Commitment to workers’ rights and social justice.

How will New York’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
As with the entire country, the labor force will change dramatically with the new, more remote economy, the electrification of industry, and the need to address climate change.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Labor unions are institutions that raise the bar for all workers – a rising tide that raises all ships, in essence. Unions can provide institutional resources and support for workers to fight for economic, health and retirement security.

Priscilla Sims Brown is the president and chief executive officer of Amalgamated Bank, America’s socially responsible bank, empowering organizations and individuals to advance positive social change. She is the first Black woman to lead Amalgamated Bank and one of only a few Black women CEOs in the banking industry. A passionate advocate for banking that furthers social and environmental justice, Priscilla speaks out often on gun safety, voting rights, climate safety and racial equity.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Amalgamated Bank was founded by organized labor and currently provides a full range of banking services to over 1,000 labor unions. Unions we serve represent members in nearly every major sector of the United States economy.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Through the power of collective bargaining, unions provide higher pay, better benefits, job security, and dependable retirement savings to their members. At Amalgamated, approximately 27% of our workforce is unionized and has collective bargaining rights.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
Amalgamated Bank is a union bank, founded nearly a century ago by workers, for workers. We are committed to helping America’s working families find new avenues to economic opportunity, and supporting the growing movement for workers’ rights.

How will New York’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
We believe we will continue to see organized labor make in-roads in industries that sorely need collective bargaining rights. We expect the energy behind campaigns at Starbucks, REI, and Amazon will inspire new organizing efforts around the state.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Unions are the strongest line of defense in protecting fair pay, benefits, and treatment in the workplace. Unions raise wages across the board, and provide vital political support through legislative proposals that defend democracy in the workplace.

Matthew Bruccoleri is secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 272, whose members work in parking garages, rental car agencies, and trucking firms across greater New York. Bruccoleri started as a parking attendant in Manhattan in 1978, was first elected to union office in 1994, and became principal officer in 2011. He leads bargaining for an industry-wide master contract that gives parking workers the power to establish good wages and pensions in what is a low-paying job elsewhere in the country.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Parking garages, rental car agencies, and trucking firms.

Rachel Bruce serves as Labor Task Force chair of the New York State Young Democrats. The daughter of two union members, Rachel works to bolster the involvement and voices of young people in organized labor. Together, Rachel and her team have worked to revive the Labor Task Force, standing side-by-side with striking workers, attending public hearings, and more, with the Task Force earning the designation of New York State Young Democrats’ Caucus of the Year for 2022.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
We work across sectors, from striking NYSNA members in Westchester to the student workers of Columbia University (UAW Local 2110), providing whatever support that can be useful to their cause.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
Both of my parents are proud union members, so supporting and preserving unions has always been a very important issue, although my level of involvement took on an entirely new level when I joined Young Dems.

How will New York’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
I think we are seeing a major resurgence in organized labor here in New York, as well as nationally, largely due to COVID and working people no longer being willing to settle for the bare minimum. I expect unions to be a large part of this change.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Organized labor has the power to build strong and lasting local communities because of the quality of work and lifestyle they afford working and middle-class families. The longer we can maintain union jobs in those communities, the stronger their futures.

Jim Callahan serves as general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers, a trade union representing over 400,000 working people across the United States and Canada. A third generation operating engineer, he worked his way up from shop mechanic to lead IUOE Local 15 in New York City as business manager in 2003. On September 11, 2001, Callahan was one of many NYC operating engineers who responded immediately to the World Trade Center site and stayed on to work through the entire recovery effort at Ground Zero.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Construction.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Specialized training, job placement, quality healthcare, and secure retirement.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
It negotiates and secures stable, family-supporting jobs that grow the middle-class and bolster the local economy.

Tom Canty is currently vice president and general manager of labor, government, and special accounts in New York. His group covers over 2.3 million members. Prior to joining Empire in 2001, Tom held the position of vice president of sales and marketing at HIP. While at HIP, Tom also worked in the area of Workers Compensation. Tom, a Brooklyn native, earned a B.A. from Brooklyn College, and a J.D. from Western Michigan University. He lives with his wife Frances, and they have three adult children.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Healthcare.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Health benefits.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
My family has deep roots in the labor community, and it has always been my mission to use my platform to support workers across New York to improve their health with access to high-quality, affordable healthcare.

How will New York’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
New York’s labor force continues to get stronger in the face of an ever-changing landscape. The last two years were unprecedented, and our labor force rose to the occasion. As we work toward the future, our labor force will continue to deliver.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Organized labor powers the city that never sleeps and communities across New York State. I view my role as ensuring New York’s workers have the tools they need to take care of their own health, and the health of their loved ones.

Carmen Charles is a passionate champion of New York City’s public health system and an ardent defender of workers’ rights. Over the past 20 years as president of Local 420 AFSCME, she has successfully lobbied the City of New York to keep public hospitals open, and negotiated wage increases, job upgrades, improved working conditions, and other benefits for her members. She has done all this while keeping her Local fiscally sound. Ms. Charles is a graduate of Cornell University’s Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, and is currently serving her seventh term (each term being three years) as president of AFSCME Local 420.

What sector does your union service (healthcare, construction, etc.)?
Healthcare.

What are the benefits that unions (your particular union, if applicable) offer their members?
Job security, workplace safety, retirement benefits and pensions.

What brought you to organizing and/or the issue of worker advocacy?
My passion for inclusivity in the workplace and equal pay.

How will New York’s labor force evolve in the next five years?
New York’s labor force will expand, leading to safer workplaces and better jobs for all New Yorkers.

What kind of impact does organized labor have on local communities?
Organized labor helps communities achieve economic growth and become safer spaces for families.

Under Mario Cilento’s leadership, the New York State AFL-CIO has secured several victories related to COVID-19, including passage of the New York HERO Act, vaccine paid leave and expedited death benefits to families of essential workers in the public sector who lost their lives. He helped secure historic labor standards on renewable energy projects, won labor rights for farm workers, and wage theft protections for all workers. He remains committed to  growing the union movement in New York to ensure a better quality of life for all workers.