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Public
Employee Press Union
mourns activist Ella Woodley Ella Woodley, a longtime
activist in Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 and staffer for District Council
37, passed away Oct. 30 in Florida. Born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Woodley
migrated to New York City in 1949 and became a Licensed Practical Nurse two years
later.
She helped organize and build Local 420 at Bellevue Hospital, where
she served her co-workers as a Local 420 shop steward and chapter chair. Woodley
was known for her determined advocacy on behalf of the members of the local, and
was never afraid to take on management as she defended union workers.
In
1985 she went to work as a grievance rep for Local 420 and then became a council
rep for DC 37. In 1993 she was promoted to assistant director of the Hospitals
Division.
These are heavy times for unions, she said as she
retired in 1995 after 30 years in the labor movement, but I know our members
are in good hands and DC 37 will keep up the fight.
Woodley left
behind a daughter, a son, six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Ella
Woodley was a stalwart unionist who helped DC 37 grow and fought hard for the
rights of our members, said Executive Director Lillian Roberts.
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