Public Employee Press

New VP Ensley joins executive board

Social Service Employees Union Local 371 President Charles Ensley was elected to the DC 37 Executive Board April 24 as a vice president.

Local 371 delegates chose Ensley to represent the local on the board in a special election at the April meeting of the DC 37 Delegates Council; he was nominated without opposition and declared elected. Local 371 Vice President Faye Moore previously held the local’s board seat.

Ensley started as a Caseworker and has been president of SSEU Local 371 since 1982. He has chaired the DC 37 Civil Service Committee and served as a vice president of AFSCME, DC 37’s parent union. Under his stewardship, the local has doubled to over 18,000, and Ensley has aggressively defended the civil service merit system and fought for equal opportunity for all members.

Born in Alabama, Ensley credits his deep commitment to labor to his father, who led a struggle of black workers at the Birmingham News to fight for pay parity with white workers. While studying at Howard University, he participated in the civil rights movement.