By MIKE LEE

The New York Daily News focused on the role of African American women in the city’s labor movement, featuring DC 37 members.

The Daily News article focused on Local 420 President Carmen Charles, Carletta Pogue-Brewer, Local 384 shop steward, and Local 1407 member Isa Clarke.

As leader of the New York City Municipal Hospital Employees Union, Charles has served seven terms as president. While a nurse’s aide at Coler-Goldwater Hospital, she was inspired to become active in the union after encouragement from others.

She told the Daily News, “There was one lady – I guess she saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself – and she was in leadership in the local at the time.”

The local operates with the intense pace of hospital work, as she says “a 24-hour operation.”

“I bring passion and a dedication to this job,” she said. The newspaper reported that Charles’ goal is that her legacy as leader is to inspire a new generation of young leaders.

For Shop Steward Carletta Pogue-Brewer, a cashier specialist/supervisor in the bursar’s office at Borough of Manhattan Community College never expected to be a key activist for the union.

Encouraged by Sandy Tucker, her local president, she became a Shop Steward, a role she has held for 16 years. She hopes members get involved and fight for the union, stating, “We will continue growing in union power. Unity is the future.”

Local 384 represents workers at the City University of New York and at educational opportunity centers.

Members play and important role in building the union’s power by setting an example and encouraging colleagues in the workplace. Isa Clarke, an accounting assistant at BMCC and a member of Local 1407, recognizes that in her interactions with fellow workers.

Local 1407 represents a number of job titles, including Accountants, Actuaries, Statisticians, Analysts, Auditors, Economists and Bookkeepers.

“I enjoy excellent medical benefits, paid holidays, accrued vacation and sick leave,” she told the newspaper, all thanks to her union. She said she recognizes the importance of supporting the union by being active members and regularly attending and participating in Local 1407 meetings.