Public Employee Press


DC 37 speaks out at
Residency hearing

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

On Oct. 6, two years after Mayor Bloomberg and DC 37 agreed on a contract that eased residency restrictions on union members, the City Council Civil Service and Labor Committee held its first hearing on Intro. 452-A. DC 37 and local leaders strongly urged the Council to pass the bill, which would let city workers live in the six counties surrounding New York City.

“For our members this hearing is long overdue,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “Many of our members subject to the residency rule work at the bottom of the pay scale and will probably continue to live in the city, but the right to live where they choose is a matter of equity and justice.”

DC 37 urged the committee to pass Intro. 452-A, which would put 45,000 DC 37 members on a par with city Teachers, Firefighters, Police Officers, Sanitation workers and Corrections Officers, who can live where they choose in New York and keep their jobs. Another bill, Intro. 837, which requires residency for two years, was discussed briefly.

Amending the residency rules has been “a priority of this union for a long time and is a major component of our contract,” said Roberts. The plan would address inequities faced by DC 37 members, who earn an average of $31,000 annually. The union and city Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley agreed that Intro. 452-A would not lead to an exodus of city workers.

“My members can no longer afford to live in the city they love and work in,” said Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez. “Not passing Intro. 452-A would deny them the right to explore more affordable housing.”

“The concept that it is permissible for people to come in from other places to police us and educate us, but it is not permissible for people who choose other public service careers to live where they choose is unfair and unacceptable,” said SSEU Local 371 President Faye Moore.

Other local leaders who attended the hearing Oct. 6 and testified for lifting the resi­dency requirement included Michael DeMarco (Local 1455), Juan Fernandez (Local 154), Jon Forster (Local 375), Mark Rosenthal (Local 983) and James Tucciarelli (Local 1320).

“We’ve done a terrible job regarding affordable housing,” said City Council member Helen Sears, “When the rules punish those on a lower economic level and prohibit where they live and how they feed their families, it’s just plain wrong.”