Public Employee Press

DC 37 celebrates Puerto Rican heritage
One flag, one people

By ALFREDO ALVARADO
DC 37 celebrated Puerto Rican Heritage Week this year with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 15 and a cultural and political program Nov. 19. The union's Latino Heritage Committee coordinated the events with the theme of "One flag, one people" and honored the memory of the late Puerto Rican nationalist, socialist and feminist leader Lolita Lebron, who died Aug. 1.

To bring attention to the island's colonial condition, Lebron and three other members of the Nationalist Party led a 1954 attack on the U.S. House of Representatives that wounded five members of Congress. They went to prison until international protests convinced President Jimmy Carter to issue pardons in 1981. Huge celebrations greeted Lebron when she returned to Puerto Rico, where she was later arrested twice for civil disobedience in the campaign that in 2003 convinced the U.S. Navy to stop using the Puerto Rican island of Vieques for bombing practice.

"We honored Lolita Lebron for her commitment to the independence of Puerto Rico - although some found her methods controversial - as well as her many humanitarian efforts," said Committee Chair Santos Crespo, who is the executive vice president of Local 372.

Co-chair Carmen Flores, Local 1549's recording secretary, welcomed almost 500 participants to the Nov. 19 celebration, where community activist and radio reporter Hector Ramos was the keynote speaker. Ramos, who arrived in New York during the 1950s and is still active at 92, recalled the brutal conditions that faced members of his family who did backbreaking work in the sugar cane fields of Puerto Rico.


Speaking on behalf of DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, Associate Director Oliver Gray updated the members on the union's battles to save members' jobs by bringing in revenue owed to the city and reducing spending on outside contracts. "We have no intention of watching people get laid off while other people get rich," he said.

Before participants enjoyed the salsa sounds of Orquesta Maña, the committee honored Sonia Ivany, president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, and two DC 37 activists, SSEU Local 371 Executive Vice President Yolanda Pumarejo and former DC 37 Rep Isabel Santos, who recently retired after 43 years of service.