At the September 2013 General Membership meeting, Business Manager Christopher Erikson recommended the appointment of Rick Rollins as Business Representative. The membership unanimously ratified his nomination. At the time of his appointment, he was a shop steward on the MTA’s number 7 line, CBTC project.
Rick was initiated into Local 3 in 1982. He completed his apprentice training and became an “A” journeyperson in 1989. From the start of his career he has been active in the affairs of the union, serving on the “A” Apprentice Advisory Committee. He received an associate degree in labor studies from the SUNY Empire State College Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies in 1985.
Prior to joining the union, he attended Cheyney University in Pennsylvania for two years. He is a second-generation member of Local 3. His father, Dave Rollins, was the first African-American member of the Executive Board.
A longtime member of the Lewis Howard Latimer Progressive Association and now its club advisor, he has served as a trustee of the Association since 2008 and in 2010 he became vice president of the Association’s Scholarship Board. He is a Trustee to the Joint Apprentice Committee, Joint Industry Board, Building and Construction Trades Council and Manhattan Board of Business Representatives. He is a member of the Local 3 Wage and Policy Committee, the Allied Union Club, Bedsole Kingsboro Club, and Sportsmen’s Club.
Rick was co-chair of the Moving Our Industry Forward Committee, which published “The Blueprint” to highlight the contributions by minority members of Local 3 to the electrical industry and the union. In addition, he is a mentor and one of the founding members of the MIJ Boot Camp.
Active in both his union and community, Rick has attended the IBEW’s annual Electrical Workers Minority Caucus for the past 15 years and served on its Sergeant at Arms Committee. He has served the Electchester Community in numerous capacities, volunteering to assist in the annual Electchester Street Fair, the National Night Out Against Crime and the Auxiliary Police of the NYPD 107th Police Precinct. He is a volunteer at the Greater Allen Cathedral and a mason of Lodge 154 in Jamaica, Queens.
