Meet Norma Graziano
Senior Administrative Clerk, LAPD
Norma Graziano, a senior administrative clerk in the LAPD’s records and identification division, often finds herself arguing with co-workers over the importance of being a part of a union. “They say, ‘what does the union do for us?’”
To Graziano, the answer is obvious. “I’m a strong believer in unions because I think that the more we are, the more we can negotiate for ourselves,” she said. “Look what happened to the teachers—they all stuck together and they got what they wanted.”
Graziano has felt this way all her life, as union support literally runs in her blood. Her father and aunt were both members in Argentina, a country with a historically robust union tradition. “They’re stronger there than they are here,” she said.
As a result, she makes it a point to attend Local 3090 meetings. Her colleagues, despite their skepticism, rely on her to let them know what’s going on and to remind them when there’s an issue to vote on.
Graziano has been with the LAPD since 2001. Her duties include inputting police reports into the LAPD system, which means she ends up reading many of the city’s arrest reports. She quips that as a result she’s renamed Los Angeles “Gothic City.”
Fluent in four languages—English, Spanish, French and Italian—Graziano says her voice at one point was the one people heard on both the English- and Spanish-language recordings when they called the LAPD hotline to request a report.
Outside of work, Graziano is active with her cancer survivor support group at Cedars Sinai. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with stage 3 follicular lymphoma. During treatment the oncologist told her, “95 percent is in your head, you have to keep positive. The other 5 percent will cure you with medication.” After six rounds of chemotherapy, the cancer went into remission.
Graziano is also on the steering committee of Hispanics for LA Opera, which works with Placido Domingo to promote opera amongst Los Angeles’ Hispanic community. Last year she received their Volunteer of the Year award.
