Click the links below to contact our Commitee leads directly.
Organizing Committee – This standing committee reaches out to potential members via emails and/or phone calls to encourage our fellow ED employees to join the Union.
Communications Committee – This standing committee communicates to the bargaining unit or members to inform them of important events, request survey responses, etc.
Stewards Committee – This standing committee consists of all stewards appointed by the Local and represents fellow bargaining unit employees in workplace matters as allowed by law, regulation, and our collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This committee is chaired by the National Shop Steward.
Election Committee – This committee is constituted for elections for executive board and/or delegates to District Caucus and National Convention, to ensure they run properly and comply with our bylaws, AFGE requirements, and Department of Labor standards.
Audit Committee – This committee annually evaluates the assets and liabilities of the Local to audit the Local’s finances and complete required forms for AFGE, the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service.
REACH Committee – This committee meets periodically to discuss issues with REACH metrics to help ensure ED employees are evaluated fairly for their performance throughout the fiscal year. The committee is currently chaired by Executive Vice President Edward James.
Negotiations Committee – This committee is constituted for CBA negotiations to help the team research contract language (as needed), think through proposals, and help the negotiations team draft language and responses.
Committee Chairs
Kwame Amoateng, Co-Chair, Organizing Committee
Kwame is a senior attorney with the Office for Civil Rights in Seattle, where he has worked since 2007. Before joining OCR, Kwame worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, and as a Legal Benefits Attorney with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
Kwame was born in Ghana, where he attended journalism school and worked as a political reporter for a regional newspaper before moving to the United States in 1995. He graduated from Central Washington University and Seattle University School of Law. Kwame has been a member of AFGE since 2007 and believes the foundation of a strong workforce is an equally strong union. Kwame views it as a privilege and honor to volunteer in a leadership role for an an entity that advocates for better working conditions for all employees, including better wages, pay equity, benefits, safety, and advocacy for socio-economic justice.
Genevie Gallegos, Co-Chair, Communications Committee
Genevie’s biography is coming soon.
Diane Riddick
Diane works as an investigator for the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in Region 3, which is located in Philadelphia, Pa. Diane has worked for the Department of Education for 25 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and serving others is her ministry. She joined AFGE in 1998. Diane has held previous positions of Regional Vice President – East for Local 252, as well as steward and area vice president for the former Local 2607. She joined the union because she saw firsthand how the union fought for employees in the 1199C Union which benefited her mother when she was laid off from working at the hospital for almost 30 years. Diane believes that people deserve to be treated fairly and that is why she has served in union positions for over 12 years. She strives to find the right resolutions for her complainants as an investigator in OCR and employees as a union official.
AFGE Local 252 