By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

I want to offer District Council 37’s appreciation and my personal thanks to all our union members who voted to bring back Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for another term.

And I want to give special thanks to the political action volunteers of our DC 37 Green Machine. You sacrificed your own time, before the vote and on Election Day, Nov. 8, to knock on doors, hand out fliers and make the phone calls that helped the mayor win re-election. Together, you made 300,000 calls from our computerized phone banks. Your union is very proud of you.

I know it was hard for many of our members to vote for a Republican candidate after spending many years, sometimes whole lifetimes, as party-line Democrats. But it was clear on the local level that this was the right thing to do for the city and for DC 37. More and more people are coming to understand that if we want to get the best, we have to learn to look at the person and not the party.

We helped achieve a tremendous victory on Election Day, and now it’s our turn.

The mayor has listened to us and been fair with us up to now. And that is what we will be insisting on as we start our contract negotiations this month. Our proposals are quite reasonable, and we have every right to expect reasonable responses that answer our members’ needs without undue delay.

And we will expect him to work productively with us on other issues that go beyond the bargaining table. Our Municipal Employees Housing Program already has more than 70 members close to going to contract on new homes. In the coming year, we hope to expand the affordable housing program into new areas. And our members need more day care slots.

We will also press to continue and expand a positive approach toward hospital funding, reducing contracting out, and putting civilian workers in civilian jobs at the Police Dept. and other uniformed agencies.

The rest of the candidates we supported were Democrats, and I’m happy to say that they all won their election races. Our volunteers and our union voters did DC 37 and the city a great service by helping re-elect Comptroller Bill Thompson, elect former DC 37 legal service attorney Sylvia Ash as Brooklyn Civil Court Judge, and put four new members into the City Council: Darlene Mealy in Brooklyn, Jimmy Vacca in the Bronx, and Rosie Mendez and Dan Garodnick in Manhattan.

As we move into the holiday season, I would like to ask each member to take a break from the hustle and bustle to offer a silent moment of thanks that we are in a position to give rather than needing to take. You, the members of DC 37, have responded magnificently to the needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the survivors of the recent devastating earthquake in India and Pakistan, and the students and schools of the United Negro College Fund.

Remember, when you open your hand to give, you also receive. I feel blessed that thanks in part to your UNCF contributions, Xavier University in New Orleans will be reopening in January. That means thousands of students — many the first in their families to attend college — will be back in class building a better future.

Members respond to need
You may know that I am this year’s labor chair for the New York City UNCF drive. I am proud to announce that with contributions from individual members, DC 37 locals and others, we have met our $100,000 goal for this year.

As the New Year approaches, I want to urge all our members to read the Public Employee Press carefully. It not only provides the news you need on contracts, benefits and grievances, but also offers articles about how members and the union respond to the crises of our times — articles that strengthen our sense of sisterhood and brotherhood.

In my prayers, I also give thanks for all the shop stewards, local officers and DC 37 staff who have worked so hard with me to make life better for our members. They are one of the many blessings of this great union.

DC 37 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa, Treasurer Maf Misbah Uddin, Secretary Cliff Koppelman and I join in wishing our members, our retirees and their families a happy holiday season and a healthy and peaceful New Year.