Brown
COMMACK — Newly elected Long Island Region President Jarvis T. Brown has been a proud CSEA member for more than 20 years, and an esteemed leader and advocate for workers’ rights for about the same number of years.
Leading with the motto “Communicate to Educate,” Brown is dedicated to building a stronger union and improving the lives of members across the CSEA Long Island Region.
Before being elected CSEA Long Island Region President, Brown served as CSEA Town of Oyster Bay Local President for 11 years. In this position, Brown used his experience and tenacity to retain CSEA union positions in the face of budget cuts and organizational changes. One such instance came when Brown persuaded town administrators to lift the tax cap to save the jobs of CSEA members.
Brown was elected CSEA Long Island Region 1st Vice President in 2020. During that time, he has used his leadership skills to help establish and grow the CSEA Long Island Region School Districts Committee, which was created to address specific issues impacting school district workers.
Brown has also helped get locals and units out of administratorship including the SUNY Farmingdale Local, which had been in administratorship for more than two years before Brown stepped in to help.
An outstanding union organizer, Brown has successfully brought more than 600 new members into the CSEA family, expanding our union’s influence and reach.
Among Brown’s most successful organizing accomplishments is his role in bringing 120 SCO Family of Services workers into our union. With the help from the workers’ organizing team, Brown successfully defeated one of the country’s largest union-busting law firms.
When beginning the group’s contract negotiations took longer than expected, Brown “stormed the SCO Family of Services Administrator’s office,” where he parked himself in the waiting room for about an hour until the administrator agreed to speak with him face-to-face. Contract negotiations began the next day.
“It was overwhelming when the organizing team and I got that victory,” said Brown. “There was a point when the organizing efforts were falling apart because SCO workers were starting to give up. I was able to get them to believe that we could get it done.”
“When we finally got that first contract, I was overwhelmed with excitement that we won one of the biggest organizing battles that Region One has ever had – that people believe in CSEA,” said Brown.
Brown is also a CSEA Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Program class 4 graduate, and serves as an executive board member of the Long Island Federation of Labor. He had also served on numerous committees on every level of our union.
“I really like being on committees because you get to be a part of developing a progressive plan that gives CSEA members what they need to be educated and informed,” said Brown.
As region president, Brown is committed to continuing educating and informing.
— Wendi Bowie
