Lana Cheung

Lana Cheung has worked at Local 23-25, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, now the New York Metropolitan Area Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU, for the past 35 years.

She holds various positions with the Union and oversees numerous programs. As a union representative, Ms. Cheung works to ensure that members are treated fairly and that employers adhere to fair labor standards and practices. Additionally, Ms. Cheung served as Education Director, running an English language and citizenship preparation program for thousands of garment workers and their families, and training shop representatives on workers’ rights, immigration issues, and how to access health benefits.

She oversaw an extensive voter registration program, coordinated the enrollment of the Garment Industry Day Care Center of Chinatown, and organized the Union’s Textbook Scholarship program for members’ college-age children. Ms. Cheung also coordinates the Chinese Retirees Club, which holds events for more than 500 members.

Ms. Cheung regularly oversees volunteer efforts in the community and has been active in coalitions working for affordable health care, accessible child care, and education. She coordinated efforts with the United Federation of Teachers and the Summer Youth Employment Program for the Brooklyn Beacon Summer Camp. This involved advertising the program in the community, recruiting children to attend the camp, and finding summer interns to work with the students.

Ms. Cheung presently holds the role of Political Director at the New York Metropolitan Area Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU. Additionally, she fulfills the position of Treasurer at Homecrest Community Services, serves as a Board member for the New York Chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), and is a delegate of the New York City Central Labor Council.

In her previous engagements, she acted as Community Liaison for New York State Senator Daniel Squadron from 2008 to 2017 and for Senator Brian Kavanagh from 2018 to 2023. Furthermore, she served as Vice President of the New York Chapter of the Chinese Section of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (Chinese CLUW), contributed as a committee member of the New York Union Child Care Coalition, and held the Treasurer position at the Parent Teacher Association of Brooklyn’s Telecommunications High School.

Before she immigrated to the United States in 1986, Ms. Cheung graduated from Hong Kong’s Polytechnic Institute, where she majored in Social Work, and worked in an orphanage for seven years. She currently lives in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn with her husband and has two adult children.