Public Employee Press

Joan Reed: “A passion for social and economic justice”

After four decades of dedicated service to the members of Local 2054, District Council 37 and AFSCME, Joan Reed died Feb. 3. “Her devotion to the union was unwavering. Her determination in the fight for the members was matched only by her generosity and grace and love,” said a message delivered at her funeral on behalf of AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee.

McEntee’s plane was delayed by bad weather, and Sewage Treatment Workers and Sr. STWs Local 1320 President James Tucciarelli delivered his eulogy.

Reed started in 1967 as a $2-an-hour part-timer at Queens College, helped found College Assistants Local 2054 in 1970, was elected president three years later and served until she retired in 2007. She won excellent pensions and welfare fund benefits for her members, who were mainly part-time workers. Under her leadership, Local 2054’s membership grew from 300 to over 5,000.

Always polite, composed and soft-spoken, Reed usually got what she wanted through skillful diplomacy, smart negotiating and strong resolve. “Beneath her calm exterior was a passion for social and economic justice,” said McEntee.

Reed served as a vice president and Executive Board member of DC 37 and of AFSCME. She was a founding member of DC 37’s Women’s Committee and chaired the union’s Education Committee for 10 years, tirelessly raising funds to provide scholarships for members’ children. She organized clerical workers into AFSCME at the University of Connecticut and Harvard College and was a member of AFSCME’s Committee on the 21st Century and its Judicial Panel.

Her survivors include husband Mike, sons Jack, Marc and Adam, their wives and her beloved grandchildren.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, most of the Executive Board and 500 union members, staff, friends and family attended Reed’s funeral on Feb. 6. “Joan Reed was an incomparable union leader and person, who made immense contributions to this union and will be missed by all of us,” said Roberts.

Rabbi Regina Sandler Phillips of the Free Synagogue of Flushing led the throng in reaching out to Reed’s spirit as they rose and sang the labor anthem “Solidarity Forever” in a stirring sendoff to a magnificent trade unionist.

—Bill Schleicher