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Public Employee Press
Union mourns hospital workers
leader James Butler
Residents of Coney Island have probably never heard of James
Butler, but thousands of them depend on Coney Island Hospital. As head
of Local 420, Butler together with DC 37, elected officials and
community activists played a major role in keeping the Brooklyn
hospital open as Mayor Rudy Guiliani fought to shut it down. Today the
hospital boasts the citys finest ambulatory surgery facility, and
a new Inpatient Tower Pavilion.
Butler, who in his 30 years as local president also led battles to save
Brooklyn Central Laundry and other HHC facilities, passed away in the
week of Nov. 18.
Jim Butler is responsible for my being a union leader, said
Carmen Charles, who defeated him in an election for the presidency of
Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 in 2002. The first time I
went to one of his union meetings, it lit a fire in me.
Butler inspired his membership with fiery speeches at rallies where members
arrived on the locals Freedom Bus and marched with his
trademark coffin and cross to symbolize suffering that would result from
the death of hospital services.
All of us knew Jim as fighter for union members in
general and Local 420 members in particular, said Bill Lucy, secretary-treasurer
of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees at
the funeral service on Nov. 22 at Flushings Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Union members joined Carmen Charles, the Rev. Al Sharpton and members
of the City Council and state Legislature at the funeral.
Butlers latter years as president were marked by controversy about
his salary, the locals spending and a dues increase. During the
mid-90s he won a dues hike to refurbish a Harlem building as a new
local headquarters, but the work was never done. When Charles became president
she moved the local back into DC 37 headquarters. In a lawsuit filed by
the local, the court found Butler liable for $1.6 million in improper
spending.
Overall, said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, He was in
many ways a remarkable man and a dedicated leader who fought hard for
his members and championed the cause of civil rights.
Alfredo Alvarado
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