Public Employee Press

Poverty fighters

Part 1 of a series
exploring poverty in New York City and the front-line role in today’s war on poverty played by union members on their jobs and DC 37 in the political arena.

Along with the New Year comes old news — poverty in America has increased again. The poor are with us, on every street corner with all their belongings in shopping carts, lined up in the cold outside overburdened soup kitchens, crowding every public agency that can alleviate their misery.

A new study by the Women’s Center for Economic Advancement shows that “nearly half of New York City households do not earn enough to pay for their basic living costs.”

Nearly 36 million Americans live in a state of poverty, hunger and hardship, and 13 million of them are children. The number of working poor increases apace, with 30 years of stagnant or falling real wages outpaced by ever-rising costs. More than two-thirds of poor families include a person who is working.

DC 37 members, with an average salary of $29,000, are experts in the daily struggle to survive on their salaries. “For the cost of living, my salary is very low,” said Cynthia Deans, a member of Custodial Assistant Employees Local 1597. “Rent goes up, the price of food goes up, but our salaries don’t keep up.”

Piecemeal solutions
Thousands of DC 37 members in dozens of city programs are on the front lines of handling the problems of the poor. They are the poverty fighters who deal face-to-face with the homeless, the hungry, the undernourished children and the uninsured sick. They are the real experts who understand the inter­linked causes of poverty and see the effects up close. The largest single anti-poverty program is the millions of school lunches and breakfasts prepared and served by members of Local 372.

Antoinette Sanders of SSEU Local 371 is deeply distressed that child care isn’t more of a priority in the “reformed” welfare system. “Without child care, our clients cannot work,” she explained, “and under the new laws, if they are not working, they are not eligible for welfare money.” A new, harsher House bill would raise the hours per week that a single mother must spend in work-related activities, but little additional money is offered for child care.

The problems only get worse. “It’s unbelievable. Even working people are becoming homeless,” said Kevin Smith, the president of MTA Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1655. He was inspired to become an activist back in the days of President John F. Kennedy, who was deeply troubled when he read Michael Harrington’s classic book about the poor, “The Other America.” After Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson launched a “war on poverty.”

Now, we have an administration whose budgets slash what’s left of the safety net. The New York Times reported in December that: “More than one in 10 New Yorkers either face hunger or are on the brink of hunger. And in New York City, more than one in five residents — over 500,000 of them are children — live below the poverty line.” Yet the latest federal budget cuts would hit hardest at Medicaid, food stamps and subsidized child care.

From City Hall to the state Legislature to the U.S. Congress, DC 37 and its national union, AFSCME, are on the front lines of the political struggle to keep the safety net in place. Whether by fighting to save Social Security or forming a statewide coalition to stop Medicaid cuts and hospital closings, DC 37 stands out as a strong shield for the poor and the potentially poor.

This PEP series will show how city employees on their jobs and their union in the political arena are fighting today’s war on poverty.

— Jane LaTour