Public Employee Press

Now on display
DC 37's history

An eight-year labor of love culminated in a celebration Dec. 8 as the District Council 37 Archives opened at New York University.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, Cornell University Professor Lois Gray and Dr. Michael Nash, head of the NYU's Wagner Labor Archives, addressed the gathering.

With the mission of preserving the union's records for history, the project began in 2002, when both Nash and DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts were new to their positions.

"It took Lillian Roberts only a few seconds to see the importance of preserving these records. We spent so much time and effort because this is an important union," said Nash. "At a time when public sector unions are under attack, this publicly accessible collection presents a counternarrative."

The records had been dispersed and stored in various places, including an open-air warehouse in Newark. Nash presented Roberts with the Finding Aid, a guide to the collection, and said he hopes union members, staff, officers, and researchers will use it.

Records provide lessons

Dr. Gray said her 50-year association with the union began in the 1950s when former AFSCME President Jerry Wurf was organizing Parks Dept. workers and challenging Mayor Robert Wagner with huge demonstrations that amounted to one-day strikes. "Then Victor Gotbaum and Lillian Roberts came to New York from Chicago - a duo that shook up the city," she said.

Dr. Gray said that with "the labor movement almost back to square one and political figures calling for dismantling public-sector unions," DC 37's history could provide insight into important issues. She said researchers should study questions such as "how to organize against tremendous odds, challenge the rules when things are going against you, build political clout by getting members involved and exercise leadership in a crisis."

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts called the union "almost religious for me. I feel like I was born in this union, and I've been in the struggle for 50 years. I'm really happy to have our history preserved."

She described her first organizing efforts among Chicago hospital workers. "The union gave us dignity," she said, "and I knew I had to learn as much as I could." Roberts passed on her passion for self-improvement to the members, who have benefited from the unique opportunities for education and career advancement that she initiated at DC 37. "I have always thought that, given the opportunity, you can do whatever you want," she said.

Senior Assistant Director David Paskin of the union's Research and Negotiations Dept. was Nash's partner in tracking down the documents of DC 37's history. "Without him, none of this would have happened," Nash said. PEP Editor Bill Schleicher performed a corresponding role in preserving the photo collection, said Nash. "The photos are one of the great gems of the union's archive," he said.

Nash noted that there are still gaps in the DC 37 collection. If members have records in their homes or offices, or if DC 37 locals want to preserve their papers, they should contact him at 212-998-2428 or michael.nash@nyu.edu

—Jane LaTour