PEP, December 2005: 30 years of grassroots politicking

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

District Council 37’s 30th annual Grassroots Legislative Conference proved that DC 37 members want to get involved in passing legislation to improve their quality of life. More than 300 active members and retirees spent Saturday, Oct. 22, at the union, strategizing on DC 37’s 2006 political agenda.

“Your activism and participation are critical to our success,” DC 37 Political Director Wanda Williams told the participants. “You are the voice of the membership.”

The daylong legislative conference allowed members to have their say in planning legislation for the City Council, state Legislature and U.S. Congress. The DC 37 Political Action Dept. organized the event with Political Action Committee Chair Lenny Allen, who is also president of OTB Employees Local 2021, as emcee.

“By involving city workers and retirees in setting the agenda, DC 37 achieves the most for its entire membership,” said Williams. “This conference lets members be part of labor’s vigilant effort to protect public service jobs, protest tax cuts for the wealthy and budget cuts in vital programs like Medicaid.”

Activists at the conference heard from AFSCME economist Sally Tyler, state AFL-CIO Director of Legislation Ed Donnelly, health care activist Judy Wessler, Chris Fox, an AFSCME fiscal policy analyst, and Deputy Mayor for Policy Dennis Walcott, the keynote speaker.

Save Medicaid, save jobs
“Medicaid provides health services for 51 million low-income residents through state, federal and local funding,” said Tyler. “Medicaid cutbacks could impact many members’ jobs directly and can create pressure to take funds from other budget lines, potentially hurting all civil service jobs.” And Medicaid fuels New York City’s economic engine. For every $100 million the state invests, twice that amount circulates within the local economy, creating additional jobs, she explained.

Despite the financial costs of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the war in Iraq, President Bush aims to go ahead with a proposed $70 billion tax cut for the wealthy. “The White House and Republicans have us in their sights and are going after us,” Tyler said, starting with a $10 billion slash in Medicaid in 2006.

DC 37 and AFSCME, its parent union, worked with advocacy groups on a phone campaign to tell Washington legislators, “No cuts in domestic spending and no more tax cuts for the wealthy.”

“In New York State, DC 37 and community forces have joined to move health care cuts off the table,” said Judy Wessler, director of the Commission on Public’s Health System, a watchdog group that closely monitors Gov. George E. Pataki’s commission on closing local hospitals.

The governor is determined to “close hospitals in New York’s medically underserved, low-income areas and communities of color like North Shore in Staten Island and Crown Heights in Brooklyn,” she said.
“Katrina illustrated what it means to be poor. We could face a manmade Katrina in New York unless we act! When we save the institutions, we are saving jobs. And the safety net is Medicaid,” Wexler added.

“States and cities are being held hostage by corporations insisting on tax breaks promised by politicians,” said Ed Donnelly, the NYS AFL-CIO director of legislation. Donnelly said what’s needed is accountability from corporations that receive huge tax breaks. A “claw back clause” would recover tax funds from companies that fail to create jobs or provide health benefits, he said. Labor is also fighting for a minimum wage increase and creation of more middle class jobs.

By mid-morning, the audience broke for workshops on health care and health and safety legislation, led by DC 37’s Lee Clarke and Moira Dolan of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept., education, led by Local 372 Vice President Santos Crespo; pension proposals, with Local 1320 President Jim Tucciarelli and Dennis Deahn, and retirement, with DC 37 Retirees Association President Stuart Leibowitz, who said he was proud that so many retirees were involved.

Many local leaders participated, including Juan Fernandez of Local 154, Ed Hysyk of Local 2627, Mickey McFarland of Local 1157, Anthony Wells of Local 371 and Ralph Carbone of Local 1359.

“The city and your union are in partnership. We have established several creative programs together that show Mayor Bloomberg’s commitment and accessibility to DC 37 members,” said keynote speaker Dennis Walcott, deputy mayor for policy.

A brighter future
In the near future, Walcott said, the benefits from the mayor’s initiatives would include more available slots for day care, expanded after-school programs, additional Parent Coordinators in the Dept. of Education, increased civilianization in the Police Dept., and more affordable housing for city workers through the set-aside program that DC 37 Executive DirectorLillian Roberts initiated.

A question-and-answer session highlighted members’ concerns about Mitchell Lama, rent-stabilized and affordable housing, subsidies for college education, pension buybacks and more.

“We are asking you to do for your union what your union has done for you,” said DC 37 Political Director Wanda Williams. “By voting for union-endorsed candidates you help us help you.”