By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

By refusing to hold a simple, democratic yes-or-no vote on Intro. 452, the City Council is blocking the doorway to equal residency rights for rank-and-file city workers. Intro. 452 would implement the agreement we negotiated in our current contract and give our members equity with the other major unions of New York City employees.

All we are asking for is fairness — equal treatment compared with other city employees, economic justice for our members in a city that tilts ­toward the very rich, and the same freedom to choose that other city workers have.

We love New York. Based on our experience so far, I do not actually expect many members to move anywhere else.

Members of many of our locals are already exempt from the residency requirements, and solid evidence shows that about 90 percent of these workers still live within the five boroughs. I believe most of the members we are talking about want to stay close to their jobs and continue living in the communities they are familiar with.

But I am urging the City Council to get real about correcting the economic discrimination this city has tolerated for too long. The average pay of DC 37 members is $31,000 a year, and in many cases the workers subject to the residency ­restrictions are single moms earning from $17,000 to $23,000 a year.

City Teachers, Police, Firefighters, Corrections and Sanitation workers, who average three times our members’ pay, are among the 240,000 city employees not subject to the residency requirement. But the 45,000 DC 37 members currently under the residency rule are deprived of equal rights. Intro. 452 would correct this injustice.

The tough truth is that more and more of our members, the people who keep New York City running, cannot afford to live here. It’s no secret that hundreds of city workers have been living in homeless shelters and that 15,000 of our members live in Housing Authority projects. Too many loyal, hard-working city employees are squeezed painfully between their modest pay and the outrageous cost of living in New York City. I see tall cranes and high-rise housing going up all around our union hall — not far from tens of thousands of municipal jobs — but you can’t even buy a closet in one of these new apartment towers for less than a million bucks.

By decontrolling vacant apartments, eliminating Section 8 assistance, privatizing Mitchell-Lama developments and failing to build moderately priced housing for the last 30 years, the city, state and federal governments have stripped New York City of affordable housing. We are desperate for another option.

Decision time for the City Council
This City Council will define itself for labor by its decision on Intro. 452. Consigning 45,000 workers to second-class citizenship would mark the council as unprincipled politicians. Giving our members equal opportunity would identify council members as progressive, democratic leaders who care about the needs of working families.

Intro. 452 has been in the council’s hands for a year. We have told Speaker Christine Quinn the time for action is now. We are urging Joseph Addabbo Jr., who chairs the Civil Service and Labor Committee, to step up and show leadership on this critical issue for city employees.

Now I am asking you to make your voice heard on this crucial issue. You can make a difference: Just fill out the coupon. Send it to the DC 37 Political Action Department, 125 Barclay Street, New York, NY 10007. I will forward your messages to Speaker Quinn and the City Council.

When they see how voters like you feel, I hope they will decide to get out of the way of equal rights for city employees.