Union Label and Service Trades Department Executive Council

Photo of Debby Szeredy

Debby Szeredy

Executive Vice President APWU

Biography

Debby Szeredy was elected in October of 2013 to the position of Executive Vice President of the APWU. She is proud to be the first woman elected to this executive position in the history of the APWU and now works in DC at the APWU Headquarters. She is very proud to be a part of a great inspiring team of leaders that want to make a difference in this movement and to be a part of the people’s revolution. Prior to her leadership move she was the first woman president for Mid-Hudson Area Local in Newburgh, NY for three terms. She was also the Vice President of the Hudson Valley Area Federation, AFL-CIO and New York State Research and Education Director and actively involved in the three Central Labor Councils in the three counties where she represented a plant and over 124 Associate Offices of APWU Members.
A union activist since she graduated from high school, Debby was active in the Retail Clerks Union in Southern California and later tried to organize a union at a school for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Arizona, eventually being fired for the attempt.
Debby was hired by the USPS in 1977. She met and was inspired by Moe Biller (then NY Metro President, later APWU President) on a picket line for a fired president in Phoenix Metro Area Local. Moe Biller had her sign on that day to become a union steward, the first of her numerous and invaluable union activities. She later met and was inspired by Joyce B Robinson, Research & Education Director of APWU during the founding years of APWU/POWER (Post Office Women for Equal Rights). Debby became the APWU/POWER Western Region Coordinator and she helped to bring women into the movement, encouraging women to reach for leadership roles. She spent 17 years in Arizona where she held the position of State President of Arizona as well as the first woman Local President of Phoenix Metro one of the larger APWU locals in the country. She was a delegate to the Phoenix Central Labor Council and was involved with the CLUW, OSHA, Arbitration, Negotiations, EEO, OWCP, and labor law. Debby left Arizona and transferred to Newburgh, NY in 1992. While in NY she again became heavily involved in the APWU union movement. In 2009 National APWU Union President Bill Burrus awarded her the 2009 Leadership Award as she had been elected and displayed great leadership in two different parts of the country. Debby has a beautiful son Matthew who grew up sharing her union inspiration at hundreds of union meetings, rallies, and conventions and is her heart and joy.

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