Courtney Jenkins
Courtney Jenkins is a native son of Central Maryland. At the age of 19, he began his career at the United States Postal Service as a mail processing clerk at the Linthicum Incoming Mail Facility. He is a member and representative of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Baltimore Francis “Stu” Filbey Area Local #181.
There he spent over ten years in service to his local union as shop steward, chief shop steward, Constitution Committee Chairperson, Recording Secretary/Editor, and Director of Organization/Legislation. He also helped organize the first-ever APWU National Young Members Committee; its mission was to organize, educate, and mobilize the next generation of labor unionists to continue the fights for working people for generations to come. He credits his growth and development as a unionist to his time spent with the membership and leadership of APWU #181.
Courtney has also sat on the National AFL-CIO Young Workers Advisory Council as a representative of the APWU and the 2016 AFL-CIO Commission on Racial & Economic Justice. In 2016, Courtney was also elected President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) Baltimore Chapter and spent two terms as presiding officer of CBTU Baltimore. He views the work done within organized labor as transformative in the lives of the most marginalized among us.
In 2020, Courtney saw the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on working people and, like many others, was motivated to do more. After his time with the APWU, Courtney went on to serve as Staff Representative & Organizer for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 67 under the leadership of Executive Director Glen Middleton. There, he represented public & private sector workers, including school board, hospital support staff, and public works employees. During his time with AFSCME, Courtney helped negotiate six collective bargaining agreements that impacted thousands of workers in the central Maryland region.
In 2022, at the age of 34, Courtney was elected President of the Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO, where he leads the region’s coalition of labor unions––responsible for advocating for strong workers’ rights in seven jurisdictions, including Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford and Howard counties, and Baltimore City. He has centered his work around ensuring access to strong middle-class careers through the power of labor unions, which provide stability through economic security for all working people. Courtney has firsthand experience with the power of organized labor and works every day to pay it forward. He believes the communities we serve and the organizations we represent are all part of the virtuous cycle that uplifts our neighborhoods, workplaces, and homes. To Courtney, it's not enough to have a seat at the table, the table we sit at must be a bountiful one that creates space for all who wish to advance the just causes of working families.