Charles Jenkins

Area President

Coalition of Black Trade Unionists

Charles Jenkins is an elected officer of the Transport Worker Union Local 100 and President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) NY Chapter. Jenkins has always had an interest in the Civil Rights movement; though he was too young to participate during its height, that did not change the impact of the period. Growing up in the Civil Rights period would inspire a professional career in workers’ rights advocacy. A South Bronx native raised by a strong single mother, Jenkins experienced many trials in his youth, but always kept away from trouble. Upon joining the private sector, Jenkins witnessed and experienced numerous occasions when the workforce was treated unfairly. As a result, he became highly active in the labor movement and community. Jenkins became a powerful advocate for workers everywhere and a leader of fight-back actions in the streets of New York and nationwide.

In 1988; Jenkins joined the Turnstile Department, bringing his craft as a Machinist with him from Private Industrial to repair mechanical machines; he quickly became active within his Union as a Shop Steward. After working in the private industry, Jenkins joined the public sector with New York City Transit Authority. He was elected as an Officer in Line Equipment/Signals in 1994. Since then, he has been re-elected to many positions in his 28 years and currently is the 2nd Vice-Chair in TA’s most extensive department, Maintenance of Way. As an Officer, Jenkins and his Union advocated training co-workers as new electronic equipment replaced old mechanical equipment. Jenkins impressed the value of training to keep up with new technology, and the whole department was successfully retrained. Today Jenkins continues to serve as the first advocate of worker’ rights in his community and beyond.