Public Employee Press

Residency bill goes to City Council

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

On Oct. 11, two decades after New York City started making most city workers live in the five boroughs, a bill to modify the stringent rule was introduced at City Hall.

Intro. 452, as it is known, would implement a provision of the new contract between DC 37 and the city by letting municipal employees live in six surrounding counties — Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, Nassau and Westchester.

Intro. 452 was introduced by City Council member Joseph Addabbo of District 32, Queens. “This legislation has been a priority of this union for a very long time. It is a major component of our new economic contract,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

Local presidents at DC 37 are sending letters of support for the new bill, which has gained more than a dozen City Council members as co-sponsors. “Intro. 452 is another means to address the housing crunch our members face,” Roberts said.

Together with the Municipal Employees Housing Program (see page 8), the contract provision and the legislation are part of the union’s response to the city’s affordable housing crisis.

Exorbitant rents, housing deregulation and decontrol, privatization of Mitchell-Lama projects and the decline of federal assistance have locked the working class out of much of the city’s housing. Expanding the residency requirement to include six more counties would broaden the housing options for DC 37 members.

Waging the fight for more affordable housing, Roberts led a rally of 8,000 unionists in February 2005. DC 37 has made affordable housing a key issue at seminars, conferences, lobbying and the bargaining table.

The DC 37 Legal Dept. reminds members that the restrictions outlined in the city’s administrative code remain in effect until and unless they are changed by the passage of Intro. 452, which the full City Council will vote on in November.