By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

We at District Council 37 put a lot into the recent election, and we emerged proud and strong, ready for the coming battles to protect the vital services we provide for the public amid the harshest economic conditions in 75 years.

Wherever you went on Election Day, all across the city, you saw activists in green jackets handing out election material and getting out the vote. More members than ever before came to understand the importance of political action to their jobs, their families and their communities, and a record 1,500 volunteered Nov. 3. This was the first time many of these activists got involved.

I want to extend the union’s congratulations and thanks to all the members, local leaders and staff who participated in our election drive. Because of your hard work, because you volunteered on weekends and before and after work, we were able to campaign for months instead of just at election time and to operate satellite offices in every borough.

Your activism had a major impact on the election. We supported John Liu for Comptroller and Bill de Blasio for Public Advocate, and they both won landslide victories with over 70 percent of the vote. Of the candidates we backed for City Council, 98 percent won their races. We are counting on these elected leaders to play a strong role in keeping city government fair and avoiding vast waste in this time of need.

In the end, the mayor’s millions outpaced our candidate, but Bill Thompson came out of the election with widespread respect for his decency, his integrity and his strength in coming far closer to victory than any pundits or pollsters predicted. The media and inflated opinion polls that left out many minority and other working-class people spread the myth that the mayor was unbeatable, manipulating the electorate by discouraging many voters.

The mayor won with 50.6 percent of the citywide vote, a total that should encourage him to reach out and pay attention to the needs of all the people of this great and diverse city. As the city and state grapple with huge budget gaps, we will rge him to avoid self-defeating solutions that would put productive, taxpaying workers on the unemployment rolls. And we will continue to press him to cut the waste in the $9 billion that the city hands the private sector by contracting out work our members can do at lower cost.

Mayors come and go

DC 37’s anniversary this year reminded me that over our 65 years of dedicated public service, elected officials have come and gone, while this union and its members have been the strong, stable core of city government. And whoever sits in City Hall, the laws and regulations requiring good faith collective bargaining remain in place. We will enforce those rules and use the options they offer to make sure our members’ needs are not overlooked.

I have enjoyed the year of anniversary events, capped by the proud gathering of more than 1,000 members on Oct. 23 for our Green Jubilee celebration and the Green Gala party afterwards, and I was fascinated by the museum display on our history (pages 12, 13). I want to thank the planning committee, the staff and the Platinum Sponsors who made it all possible — Empire BlueCross BlueShield, Emblem Health and AFSCME, our national union.

As we enter December, DC 37 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa, Treasurer Maf Misbah Uddin and Secretary Cliff Koppelman join me in wishing our members, our retirees and their loved ones a happy holiday season and a healthy and peaceful New Year. And I urge you to find your own personal way to help those who are less fortunate.