Public Employee Press

Two DC 37 stalwarts retire

40 years
Joan Reed,
President,
College Assistants Local 2054

“$2 an hour and no benefits
convinced me to join the union.”

Praised for her grace, wisdom and 40 years of dedicated service to DC 37, Local 2054 President Joan Reed celebrated her retirement with 300 friends and family March 18 at Russo’s on the Bay.

“She is one of the hardest working local presidents I know, and­DC 37 is blessed to have had her,” said Lee Saunders, executive assistant toAFSCME President Gerald McEntee.

“Joan is a soldier, a leader and an everyday hero who represented DC 37 to the fullest.” Reed was elected an AFSCME international vice president in 2004 and will serve until 2008.

Reed started in 1967 as a part-timer at Queens College library. “During those days we were paid $2 an hour,” she said. “Each year the college gave us a 25-cent raise.”

A bomb scare led to a campus-wide evacuation for which management docked its workers. “This shook us up about our rights and lack of benefits,” Reed said. “So we organized.”

“I wasn’t really interested in the labor movement, but I was interested in better working conditions — and I had a big mouth,” said Reed, a New Orleans native. In 1970, College Assistants Local 2054 was formed and Reed was elected shop steward. She became a grievance rep in 1971. Nat Lindenthal, then White CollarDivision director, urged Reed to run for local president — and she has remained in office for 35 years.

Reed won full benefits, including NYCERS pensions, for her members. “It means people can retire with dignity,” Reed said. “We cannot think of ourselves as just College Assistants. We are valuable employees.”

For the last decade, Reed chaired DC 37’s Education Committee, which disbursed more than $18,000 in college scholarships in 2006.

“I have tremendous shoes to fill,” said Local 2054 President Colleen Carew-Rogers. “Joan is inspiring and sets a standard of dignity for us all.”

— Diane S. Williams

39 years
Johnnie Locus,
Hospital Division
Director

“I have been honored to work with the members and staff of this great union.”

After an exceptional career that stretched out over 39 years and took her from an entry-level Nurses Aide position to director of DC 37’s Hospitals Division, Johnnie M. Locus is looking forward to her well-deserved retirement.

To help launch her new journey, her colleagues, friends and family gathered at the union March 30 for a festive retirement party and tribute to her years of dedicated service and leadership.

“I’m looking forward to traveling around the country and visiting friends and family,” Locus said at her party. “I have been honored to work with the members and staff of this great union.”

Born and raised in Alabama, Locus began her career in 1968 at Coler Hospital on Roosevelt Island. She became increasingly active in the union and was named shop steward at Coler in 1978; later, co-workers elected her chapter chair. She became a grievance rep in 1989 and assistant director of the Hospitals Division in 1993. In May 2004, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts promoted her to division director.

“For me it’s always been about winning respect for our members and the work that they do,” she said, after receiving gifts and flowers from her staff and hearing farewell speeches from Local 420 President Carmen Charles, Assistant Division Director Norbert Harry, Director of Field Operations Barbara Ingram-Edmonds and others.

“Without a doubt Johnnie was one of the staunchest and strongest supporters in the fight for respect for our members,” said Charles, who first met Locus more than 20 years ago when they both worked at Coler. “She will be sorely missed.”

“Johnnie Locus is an excellent example of a member who rose through the ranks and has made a significant contribution to the union every step of the way,” said Roberts.

—Alfredo Alvarado