Francois seeks 5th term as Local 372 president

Shaun Francois could win his fifth term as president of NYC Board of Education Employees Local 372 in leadership elections June 16, where the longtime union leader faces a challenger who garnered just nine votes last time he ran. 

Francois has headed Local 372, the largest American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees’ and the largest DC 37 affiliate local in the five boroughs, since 2018. He has weathered spirited challengers who levied allegations of financial impropriety against Francois and sounded the alarm about the low number of voting sites in the past. 

The most recent election had to be rerun – the June 7, 2023 vote was thrown out by an AFSCME judicial panel that ruled the Canadian wildfire smoke that had descended on the city that day depressed turnout. But AFSCME mandated the union set up just five voting sites for the do-over elections in September 2023, less than the typical 11, leading to numerous complaints from two challengers.  

Just 455 members voted in that Sept. 12 election – less than 5 percent of membership – down from the over 2,300 who participated in the 2021 vote. Of those 455 voting members, just nine cast ballots for Larry Davis , a community coordinator who’s been a member of the union for 34 years.  

There are only five voting sites for the election this year, but Davis believes that he has a better shot this time around.

"I know I can do a better job. I know I can be a voice for members at the table,” Davis said. "I'm not too satisfied with how things are going in our union. And it's not getting better; it's only getting worse."   

Davis said that the longer Francois has reigned, the less time he spends interfacing with members and ensuring their concerns and problems are rectified. Union leadership has a difficult time reaching quorum at union meetings and often tries to quash dissent. 

"He hasn’t been around. He hasn't been doing much in our union,” Davis said of Francois. "He's not doing what he needs to do to help members understand how important the union is to them." 

Francois did not respond to a request for comment on his upcoming election.  

The union leader's profile has risen during his tenure as he's become president of DC 37 – serving alongside executive director Henry Garrido – and took an active role last year in supporting Mayor Zohran Mamdani's candidacy after the union ranked him second in its mayoral endorsement list for the Democratic Primary for Mayor. Francois spoke in support of Mamdani at a campaign rally inside of a Brooklyn concert venue last May.

Unseating the powerful president will be an uphill battle for Davis, formerly a union representative.

"I believe that members are so fed up that they will be able to mobilize and come out and vote," he said. "Most of the individuals I speak to are interested in change."