May Chen

     May Y. Chen is the Manager of Local 23-25 UNITE HERE, which represents thousands of immigrant garment workers in New York City.  She is also Secretary of the New York Metropolitan Area Joint Board and International Vice President of UNITE HERE.

     Starting in 1984, Chen worked with the ILGWU Immigration Project—the first union-initiated advocacy and legal service department for immigrant workers.  The Immigration Project represented thousands of union members in application for U.S. citizenship, relative petitions, and legalization under the “amnesty “provision of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.  Chen has participated in hundreds of workshops, hearings, and conferences on issues related to immigrant workers’ rights.

     In 1989, Chen moved into a full-time position with the Education Department of Local 23-25, coordinating labor education programs, English and Civics classes, voter registration and political action projects, as well as numerous other union and community activities for Local 23-25 members.  She became active in the Coalition of Labor Union Women, serving on its National Executive Board from 1984 to 1993.  She was a founding member of the Asian Labor Committee under the NYC Central Labor Council, and a founding member and officer of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance under the AFL-CIO.

     Since 1995, Chen has assisted UNITE HERE Executive Vice President Edgar Romney and other leaders of Local 23-25 and UNITE HERE to respond to the growing problems and challenges facing garment workers.  The re-emergence of sweatshop conditions in non-union factories in New York has had a terrible impact on the lives of union members struggling in the garment industry.  She brings a deep commitment to women workers and immigrants to her current duties as a local union leader.

     Born in Boston, Massachusetts, where she attended public schools, Chen received her A.B degree from Radcliffe College and M. Ed. From UCLA.  She worked for many years as a high school and adult education teacher, and in community service programs devoted to employment training and multi-cultural education.  She also worked as an organizer for HERE in New York.  Married, with two adult children, she lives in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.