President Rahim Biography

Syed A. Rahim is currently the President of CWA Local 1182. Syed lives on the Upper West Side of New York City. He is a husband and father of two children, Christina Rahim and Shantanu Rahim. His journey began in Pabna, Bangladesh where he was born and raised. In 1983, Syed studied at Rajshahi University in Bangladesh where he earned a B.S. degree (with honors) and a Master’s degree in chemistry. His first experience in a leadership role came when he was elected Vice President and General Secretary of the Chemistry Department at Rajshahi University in Bangladesh. There he closely represented over four thousand honors and master’s degree students as a university elected student president. Syed also served as a President of Rajshahi University Alumni Association of North America. In the year 1990 Syed earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Rajshahi University. After obtaining his law degree Syed became an active part of national politics in Bangladesh until his immigration to the United States. After immigrating to the United States, he spent the next 20 years of his life building notable rapport with multiple organizations. He was able to accomplish this while working as a chemist for various companies in the United States, including L’Oréal Cosmetics in New Jersey, Amgen bio-pharmaceutical company in Rhode Island, LabMetrics in Los Angeles, California, and Walker and White Inc. in New York.

Syed has also served as a Bengali, Hindi, and Urdu language interpreter for the New York City Police Department. In 2005, Syed became a Traffic Enforcement Agent in the New York City Police Department and was promoted to a TEA Level II in 2006. During his time as a TEA, Syed was named agent of the month six times and awarded a perfect attendance certificate from the Police Commissioner on seven occasions. In 2011 Syed was elected Vice President of CWA Local 1182. He was then elected President of Local 1182 in 2015. Syed was re-elected to that position in July of 2018 for a second term. President Rahim’s re-election to the position of President came after numerous significant accomplishments while in office. These accomplishments included building a strong relationship with the NYPD, City Hall and with Albany legislators. He played a pivotal role in contract bargaining that won traffic agents a step plan and top pay. He also negotiated with the City of New York to achieved an annuity for his members and ensured a route for all newly hired traffic agents to being appointed to Level II. During Syed’s term as President of Local 1182 he further fought to increase the prescription cap, obtained dental benefits that would cover braces for children and assured that windbreaker raincoats were replaced for associates. Syed takes great pride in having achieved these accomplishments and how they have positively impacted the lives of the members of Local 1182 and their families. Syed intends to continue using his decades of experience in the Traffic Enforcement family to be a positive influence while supporting those around him during his professional career.

Recently Syed was overwhelmingly elected for a third time as President of CWA Local 1182. He is one of the first persons of South Asian nation origin to lead a prestigious law enforcement labor union and he will continue his efforts to work unstintingly on behalf of his members.