Public Employee Press

Blue-collar Shop Stewards say: “We are leaders”

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Eleven locals participated in the Blue Collar Division’s shop steward training conference Oct. 1-4 at the Split Rock Resort in Pennsylvania.

“The Blue Collar Division helped build this union 65 years ago, and the New York City labor movement owes a huge debt to the blue-collar workers of DC 37,” DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts told the stewards. “Whether we’re fighting to protect pensions, organizing new members, fighting contracting out or getting out the vote in critical elections, we can count on our blue-collar locals.”

The conference, which is held every two years, focused on the role of shop stewards as the eyes and ears of the union. Stewards, local leaders and board members from locals 983, 1062, 1087, 1320, 1322, 1455, 1505, 1508, 1597, and 1797 received information on a number of vital issues from union staff and attorneys. Council Rep Yesenia Villanueva took the lead in arranging the retreat.

Helping members

Local 1320 President Jim Tucciarelli and Dennis Deahn of the DC 37 Health & Security Plan explained retirement benefits and pensions, Guille Mejia of the Health and Safety Dept. spoke about workplace safety issues, and private attorneys discussed state workers’ compensation benefits.

DC 37 General Counsel Mary O’Connell led a workshop on grievance handling and staffers David Boyd and Eric Reid, respectively, explained what the Municipal Employees Legal Service and the Personal Service Unit do for members. Associate Administrator Viviana Tillman talked about the programs of the Education Fund.

Retired Rep and former Local 1455 President Bill Fenty presented a training session for the division’s staff of eight Council Reps, and East Region Education Coordinator Yolanda Medina of DC 37’s parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, gave the stewards a class on leadership.

Stirring accounts of the solidarity and achievements that forged DC 37 into a strong union came from former Local 1320 President and DC 37 Division Director John Toto.

Training future leaders

“The conference was excellent. I appreciated learning about the new Workers’ Comp rules and meeting the president of the local whose members supervise my members,” said Local 1505 President Dilcy Benn. “This was the first training our new executive board members received. It motivated eight of them to enroll in the shop steward classes offered at union headquarters.”

“The Blue Collar Division is unique because employees and their supervisors are members of locals that are part of the same union,” said Division Director José Sierra. “Conferences like this give everyone a chance to interact and collaborate with each other and that helps to reinforce mutual respect between workers and their supervisors, who have come up through the ranks.”