Delegates Elect Two Public Employee Union Leaders to Fill Executive Board Vacancies

South Bay Labor Council delegates have elected ATU 265 President Raj Singh and San Jose Firefighters Union Local 230 President Jerry May to fill vacant positions on the Council’s Executive Board.

Raj Singh (left) and Jerry May (right)

 

Raj Singh joined ATU Local 265 in 2008 and worked as a bus operator prior to his election as the union’s president earlier this year.

His union activity began early on when he started to attend Local 265 meetings, he says.

“I got hired right around the time of the financial crisis. Our contract expired, there was a big fight over classification issues, seniority and other things. I decided that I was going to get active and try to implement changes, so I got elected as a steward.”

While he says he never planned to get elected as the nearly 1700-member union’s president, when his predecessor retired, he was told that it was “time for me to step up,” he says.

Local 265’s contract expires in March and Raj anticipates a difficult fight not only over wages, benefits and work rules, but the “ongoing battle” over serious safety issues.

With respect to his willingness to serve on the Labor Council’s executive board, he says it was an easy decision.

“Our union is a big part of the community, and we have a long history of pushing labor values that go beyond just the needs of Local 265 members.”

While he says he doesn’t have a lot of spare time, Raj enjoys sports, including those that his kids, ages 5 and 7, are involved with.

 

Jerry May, a fourteen-year veteran with the San Jose Fire Department, is a Fire Caption for the City’s downtown Battalion. Prior to coming to San Jose, he served with CalFire for four years.

Jerry’s union activity began early on, he says, when he learned from his Steward and “asked a lot of questions”.

“The union’s executive board and leadership was dominated by middle managers who in the opinion of many of us, were not in tune with the workplace issues of rank-and-file firefighters,” he recalls. “When the old guard left it was clear that we needed leaders who understand the plight of working families.”

Jerry became a “member rep” and board member four years ago and was elected president in June.

While the schedule of a firefighter makes it feasible to live elsewhere, the freedom comes with a price to the union, Jerry explains.

“Our engagement in the union, our charity work, and our political activity has declined because so many of our members don’t live in the community due to the cost of living.”

Jerry, who lives in Sacramento, wants to rebuild the engagement and looks forward to mentoring future union leaders. He sees great value to involvement in the Labor Council, particularly for public employee unions.

“I truly feel like our strength lies in our numbers. If we can work together across unions, we can create more change and opportunities,” he says.

Jerry and his wife have three children, ages 2, 4, and 6. On his off time he enjoys surfing, golf and other sports.