Clive Bascombe

Housekeeper / Interfaith Hospital / Brooklyn, NY

Each September hundreds of 1199SEIU members bring their summer to a rousing close by assembling on Brooklyn’s famed Eastern Parkway to march in — or just watch — the Labor Day West Indian American Parade and Carnival.

No member contributes more to the success of what has grown into New York’s largest parade than Clive Bascombe, a Brooklyn Interfaith Hospital housekeeper. Bascombe trades in his cleaning paraphernalia for that of a designer to produce the elaborate, colorful costumes that 1199SEIU members don each year.

“I started designing even before I got my job at Interfaith in 1979,” says Bascombe. “But I didn’t begin designing costumes for 1199SEIU until 2003 when I volunteered my services at the mas camp.” The ‘mas camp’ is the headquarters where the carnival committees hold meetings, plan events and produce costumes.

Members of the 1199SEIU Social and Cultural Committee were so impressed with Bascombe’s work in 2004 that they asked him to assume the duties of chief designer.

“I try to think out of the box,” Bascombe says. “Creating a good design is not just about who has the most plumage. It’s more about realizing a concept. For example, I like to work with wire to create my framework.”

In February, Bascombe will head for his native Trinidad to take part in the Caribbean nation’s annual carnival, perhaps the most celebrated of all the West Indian festivals. He says he hopes to return with ideas for this year’s costumes. “I look forward to the parade,” he says. “Each year we come together to lift each other’s spirit.”

Tens of thousands of West Indian Americans in the New York metropolitan region are healthcare workers and a large percentage of them are 1199SEIU members. In the past, 1199ers have chosen themes for the costumes that reflect their heritage as well as their professions and union affiliation. Bascombe’s work brings those themes to life.