After 31 years, Pitkin Barn Chair Adelina Carson-Leath Retires

SEPTEMBER 12 -- For 31 years, Adelina “Lena” Carson-Leath called transit her home.

First Carson-Leath performed the grunt work of terminal cleaning, handling what’s left on the trains after they reach the last stop, then she got under the trains — working with equipment that was already old when she was born and needed to be pampered. She rose from CTA to Car Inspector when women in that title comprised less than one percent of the CED workforce. Understanding how unions level the playing field and contribute to positive change, she ran for the TWU Local 100 Executive Board and won, and then was voted chair of Pitkin Barn by her co-workers, holding that position for 13 years.

On her birthday, August 1, she retired at 55 with the distinction of having been a trailblazer in the transit system, hailed by co-workers for her decades of service.

During a celebration for her birthday and retirement, Carson-Leath was presented with a silver union jacket personalized with her name by Syed Husain, the new Pitkin Barn Chair. Also on hand was Local 100 Recording Secretary Shirley Martin, another trailblazer from Car Equipment, and a former VP. Longtime CED activist and officer Joe Campbell, who now works as an educator in the Union Hall, congratulated her on her transit and union career. Division Chair Roberto Ruiz and former VP Rodney Glenn were also present.

Coming to Transit in her 20s, Carson-Leath was comfortable around machines and in a sterotypically male world.

“At a young age I worked at my uncle’s maintenance shop. He taught me and my three brothers how to repair cars and other machines," she remembered.

Carson-Leath credits the union with providding the education necessary to further her career.

“TWU paid for me to go to Apex for technical training, to learn about electrical systems and how to maintain them. That got me where I needed to be,” she said.

After more than ten years as a CTA, she took the test for Car Inspector, studying at Apex at the same time to have “a second road to my destination” through the union’s apprenticeship program even before she knew the test results. She passed, and found an opportunity not only to fix New York’s aging subway fleet but to support her brothers and sisters on the shop floor.

“She stepped into a non-traditional role as barn chair,” said Campbell, decribing Carson-Leath as a true leader. “Not only did she excel as a Car Inspector, but also as chair. Our members trusted her — that her call would be the right one in a given situation,” he said.

“She was tough, but compassionate — decisive, and very competent.”

Safety Director Celeste Kirkland, herself a pioneering woman in the Power Division, says Carson-Leath has made it easier for women to continue making gains in transit.

“The gains may be slow in some departments,” she said, “but they will endure.”

Carson-Leath has been a mentor to other female transit workers, she notes, including Nicole Reese, who became a union chair with her support, and Aimie Thomas from Livonia Shop.

“I try to encourage individuals coming in as Car Inspectors, especially females. We need more females involved.”

Carson-Leath’s plans for retirement may surprise those who expect someone who has dealt with the stress of transit work and union leadership to grab a deck chair and find a place in the sun. In addition to everything else going on in her busy life she has been honing her skills as a currency trader on the foreign exchange market, an activity she plans on continuing.

Her son, Quasim Leath, 29, just got hired by NYCT as a Transit Electrical Maintainer in the Signals Division. Her daughter, Aiesha, 34, is a nurse in Virginia. They’ll have their work cut out if they hope to catch up with their mom’s accomplishments.

As much as Carson-Leath gave to Local 100, she says the favor was returned.

“I’ve gotten so much from the union,” she said, “because I was able to go back to school in my 40s after my kids were grown, and they helped me to pay for my tuition. I didn’t have to pay a dime out of my pocket. And when it’s time to fight, the union is there for you to fight. They’re here for support.”