b'Up to the time of the vote, it looked like Local 237 would win the aides, but at the last minute the vote went to D.C. 37.It was a hard defeat, said Dyer-Woodson. Bill Lewis was president at that time.Lewis died in 1967 and was succeeded by Barry Feinstein, who asked Dyer-Woodson to join the Local 237 staff. Bythat time, Dyer-Woodson had become an electrocardiograph technician at Cumberlands out-patient clinic, having gainedcertification at Manhattans Medical and Dental School. She was chairwoman of the unions EKG section and representedthem on the collective bargaining committee.She accepted Feinsteins offer and became the locals first woman business agent. She was joined soon after byLois Lundy from Kings County Hospital. Shortly later, she was named trustee, and in 1970, recording-secretary. She wasthen 44, the mother of four children, and thegrandmother of one.By the time Dyer-Woodson retired in 1997,she had represented at various times mainte-nance workers, the stores division, special offi-cers in the hospitals and the Health Department,cooks, food service supervisors, tailors, seam-stresses, EKG/EEG/ X-ray technicians.The highlight of her years at the union,Dyer-Woodson said, was the successful organiz-ing drive among the special officers in the 1970s. She recalled a phone call from organizers at Bronx Municipal whoreported that there was hanky panky going on and they were having trouble getting the officers out to vote. I dontknow how I did it, Dyer-Woodson said, but I squeezed ten guys into the car and drove them down to vote. I said, Thehell with the car, were going to win, and we did.Asked if she has a message for Local 237 women for Womens History Month, Dyer-Woodson said, Women workersshould be in a union and always fight for a better life.\x02Julian FriedmanHHC, Maintenance Worker, United Public Workers, Early Local 237 MemberThe following is an edited version of Julian Friedmans oral history interview from 1999.Friedman, went to work as a laborer for the New York City Housing Authority in1949. In 1951 he passed the maintenance man test and was hired at Bellevue Hospital, where he remained until he retired in 1984, serving a brief stint as shop steward.18 '