Efrain Elias Secretary-Treasurer, SEIU Local 1

Efrain Elias has worked for SEIU Local 1 for more than 20 years, beginning as an organizer helping suburban commercial office janitors in the Chicagoland area unionize and strike to becoming the Director of the Residential Division — Efrain now serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU Local 1. Elias is committed to helping and organizing the unorganized, especially people of color, to use their voice and to ensure every working family can live the American Dream.

Elias has worked to protect and improve the livelihoods of thousands of residential engineers, doorstaff, maintenance workers, janitors and more. He also chairs the board for the SEIU Local 1 Training Fund with the Apartment Building Owners and Managers Association (ABOMA) that helps members get the skills they need to move up in the residential ranks, as well as the Local’s 401k retirement and savings fund.

The first Puerto Rican residential division director and vice president, Elias is a member of the steering committee for Vamos4PR, which advocates for a debt audit and an end to austerity policies on the island and chairs the Local 1 Environmental Justice Committee.  He was a founding member of the SEIU International Latino Caucus and currently serves as Secretary-Treasurer.