By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

On Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, I will vote with pride to re-elect Mayor Michael Bloomberg, because I know he is the best candidate for our members and for the working families, middle-class and poor people of our city.

People fought and died for our right to vote — our most important way of making our feelings known in the political arena. I would like to see every District Council 37 member honor the sacrifices that generations before us made for this precious right by voting on November 8.

As city employees, we cannot afford to waste this tremendous opportunity to elect our boss — especially as we prepare to negotiate a new contract.

I want our bargaining to begin shortly after the election and proceed quickly to a contract. We are evaluating the surveys you have returned, and your views will help guide the Negotiating Committee, which includes every local president. The looming budget gaps will make these negotiations tough. Yet with unity and strong rank-and-file support for your committee, I believe we will win a decent contract that responds to the needs of our members.

I know that if he is re-elected, Mayor Bloomberg will take our proposals seriously and respond reasonably. We have seen him do just that by cutting outside contracts and giving the jobs to our members and by rewarding our productivity with the recent additional 1 percent raise.

In dealing with the mayor face-to-face, I have seen that he respects us, our work and our need for job security. He has proved by his actions that he cares deeply about improving education, providing quality health care, and bridging the city’s affordable housing gap. He has invested more funds in improving the hospitals where our members work than any mayor before and has initiated the largest affordable housing program in the city’s history.

Housing for members: Thinking “outside the box”
Our own new housing program, which is now in full swing, came about because Mayor Bloomberg is open-minded and willing to think “outside the box.” After I explained our members’ housing needs to him in January, the union and the city put together the Municipal Employees Housing Program.

The MEHP helps city workers get grants of up to $20,000 toward down payments and closing costs and provides them with a preference for 5 percent of the new affordable housing — rentals and ownership units — that the city is making available. Some DC 37 members are already on the verge of getting their homes.

I am tremendously encouraged by being able to freely discuss members’ needs and concerns with the mayor, whether the solutions lie within the scope of contract bargaining or require broad policy changes to improve our quality of life.

Recently we discussed DC 37 members’ need for safe, educational, affordable day care. The mayor indicated clearly that he is willing to work with us to meet this need. At our Legislative Conference Oct. 22, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott announced a major city commitment to doubling the size of the city’s pre-K and day care programs and including slots for our members.

A better contract, a better city, a better life
And once we settle our basic contract, the mayor has agreed that management and the union should jointly undertake a wide-ranging review of municipal jobs with an eye to recognizing the valuable and cost-effective contributions our members make as they keep the city running.

If you want to see more initiatives like these for union members, be sure to vote to re-elect Mike Bloomberg November 8.

And if you can, take it to the next level and join the campaign. Volunteer for a few hours with your union so we can all have a better contract, a better city and a better life. Call our Political Action Dept. (212-815-1550) or show up at one of our mobilization sites listed on page 5.

If we use our right to vote to the fullest November 8, we can elect a city government committed to a fair deal for retirees, working people and families.