Joe DeMarco, Chairman of the Bayonne  Sicilian Club  announced recently  that Bayonne  3rd Ward Councilman Ray Greaves will be this year’s “Man of the Yearâ€.
A Ceremony will be held on Saturday, October 26, 2013 at the elegant banquet hall, Ravello, located at 138 Eagle Rock Avenue, East Hanover, NJ 07936. Cocktail hour will begin at 6:30PM with a main course beginning at 7:30PM and a Venetian hour to follow.
Ray Greaves is a labor leader and Bayonne’s Third Ward Council Member. He serves as State Business Agent and Chairman of the New Jersey State Council of the Amalgamated Transit Union and Vice President to the New Jersey State AFL-CIO’s Executive Board and an affiliate to the Essex West-Hudson Labor Council. His previous leadership positions with the union included Recording Secretary, Legislative Director, Treasurer/Executive Officer of Division 819 Transit Employees Credit Union, and Shop Steward. He became a member of the Amalgamated Transit Union in 1985, when he went to work as a mechanic for NJ Transit.
As a union leader, Greaves has fought for legislation favorable to working families at both the state and federal levels. He is proud of his role in passing anti-crime legislation that that increased the penalty for assaults on bus operators.
A former resident of Jersey City, Greaves attended Saint Nicholas Roman Catholic Grammar School and Dickinson High School. He received steward leadership and grievance procedure training at Rutgers University, and studied contract negotiations at the George Meany Labor College. While he was a credit union officer, he gained his knowledge of Credit Unions and finances through financial strategy courses sponsored by the Empire Corporate Federal Credit Union and NJ Credit Union League.
Greaves is a former Commissioner of Bayonne’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. He was elected Third Ward Council Member in 2010. As a City Council Member, he serves on the Board of School Estimate and the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority.
The Third Ward Council Member is the Standard Bearer of the Ray Greaves Association. The group has supported several local civic and charitable projects. In 2011, the organization established the Jeffrey T. Farley Sports Clinic for the benefit of local youth that continually supports hundreds of children. The Greaves Association held a fundraiser to help the family of Cavan Perera offset his significant medical expenses. The group’s other civic efforts have included supporting several parent-teacher associations (PTA’s), local boys and girls athletic programs and participating in neighborhood clean-ups. Greaves is a member of the Sicilian Citizens Club and the Sons of Italy. In 2011, he co-chaired the Bayonne Sons of Italy chapter’s annual concert, “Salute to the Stars of Operaâ€. He has also served several years as a committeeman for the Hudson County Democratic Organization.
Ray Greaves and his wife, Ellen, are the proud parents of Raymond, Lea, and Kyle. The Council Member is the son of Theresa Chirico Greaves and the late Raymond Greaves.
