Eddie Reed
September 15, 1958 – December 12, 2013
Eddie Reed served as President of SEIU Local 99 for four years. He was first elected to the union’s presidency in 2009 and re-elected to a second three-year term in 2012. His leadership of SEIU Local 99 culminated a life-long passion for justice and workers’ rights that began as a young child when his family moved from his birthplace of Louisville, Kentucky to Los Angeles in search of a better life. The youngest of seven children, Eddie was profoundly inspired by his mother, Rosa, who raised the family working long hours as a Domestic Worker.
Eddie never let it be forgotten that he was first and foremost a rank-and–file member of SEIU Local 99. He was proud of his 34-year career as a Bus Driver with the Los Angeles
Unified School District. His took on union leadership roles almost immediately after joining LAUSD as a Heavy Bus Driver in 1979. Throughout his career, he served as a Union
Steward, on the Transportation Labor Management Committee, and on various Contract Bargaining Teams.
A graduate of LAUSD schools himself, Eddie connected with and cared deeply about the students who shared his bus routes. For many, he was not only the man who drove them to school every day, he was a friend and a mentor, always encouraging students to work hard and do their best.
He took the helm as President of SEIU Local 99 as school districts and other education employers faced drastic budget cuts. He steered the union through these difficult economic times fighting to retain state funding for home-to-school transportation and rallying custodians, cafeteria workers, and many more school workers to protect funding for student services.
Most recently, he led SEIU Local 99’s efforts to save the Breakfast in the Classroom program at LAUSD, improve services for special education students, defend full time bus driver
positions, and organize child care providers into the union. He also helped launch efforts to begin the process of changing state unemployment insurance legislation to ensure school
workers do not have to struggle during the summer months when they are off of work.
Eddie Reed was a deeply private man who was fueled to action and leadership by the basic belief that every human being deserves respect, fair treatment, and just wages.
In the days following his passing, the outpouring of stories about his generosity, genuine friendship, and determination to make a difference in the lives of others, give testimony to
a life lived with values and great purpose.
Above all, Eddie Reed was a loving husband, father, son, and brother. We express our gratitude to his wife, Michelle, his four children, and to his loving extended family for
sharing his kind spirit with so many.
Thank you, Brother Eddie. You will be missed.
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Letter from SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Courtni Pugh to Union Members:
December 13, 2013
Dear SEIU Local 99 Family,
It is with deep sadness that I share with you the passing of SEIU Local 99 President Edward Reed. He served as our President for four years, proudly leading the 45,000 members of our union. Our Local 99 family mourns his sudden loss and extends our sincere condolences to his family.
For those of us who worked closely with Eddie in our worksites, on the Executive Board, and on staff in our union hall, his absence is already profoundly felt. Most of us don’t really believe it yet.
Up to his last day working alongside us, Eddie was—as usual—purposeful, tuned-in, everywhere-at-once, and above all, caring. Wednesday, the day he fell ill, he made it a point to visit everyone at the Local 99 office. He often did that. If Eddie saw you walk by, even if you were in the next room or hallway, he always called out your name and said hello. If he didn’t get a chance to greet you that day, he’d go find you to see how you were doing. If you simply glanced at his lunch, Eddie would offer you at least a third of it. In a conversation with one staff member on Wednesday, he mentioned his love for his wife and family. Again, that was typical of Eddie. Then he went to the Retired Members Committee Holiday Luncheon at the Proud Bird and told the group “you never know when you’ll be going home.”
Eddie managed to pack a lot of encouragement, inspiration, generosity, and simple strength into Wednesday. It was a usual day for him. For someone so full of energy and focus, I know I’m not the only one thinking “Eddie, how can you be gone?”
And yet even as we are overwhelmed by his absence, it’s clear that Eddie would want us to remain strong, united, and active. He loved SEIU Local 99. For him, the union was hope and promise and possibility of what we could accomplish together. He often said our challenges in our worksites and in our communities were too great for one person to fight them alone. “We can only win when we stick together as one,” he told us.
Please check our website in the coming days as we get information on services for Eddie. We also invite you to share your thoughts and memories of Eddie on Facebook.com/SEIU99.
In Solidarity,
Courtni Pugh
SEIU Local 99 Executive Director
Tributes to Eddie
- Statement from the Office of LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy
- Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas adjourned the December 17, 2013 Board of Supervisors meeting in memory of Eddie Reed
- Press Statement from SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Courtni Pugh on the Passing of President Reed
- Capital & Main Blogpost: “Eddie Reed: The Passing of a Hero”
