By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

DISTRICT COUNCIL 37 members stood tall in the worst crisis to hit the city in many years as Hurricane Sandy flooded our streets and subways, demolished homes and killed dozens. In every job title from Librarian to Sewage Treatment Worker, from 911 operators to School Lunch Worker and Hospital Aide, we answered the needs of city residents and agencies.
When disaster struck, we were all first responders:

• The Police Communications Technicians who worked endless hours answering the record volume of calls from the public
• The sewage treatment crews who risked their lives staying on duty at their flooding plants to prevent the pollution disasters that hit many New Jersey and Long Island towns
• The school employees who fed thousands driven from their homes and the Emergency Medical Technicians and other city workers who volunteered at shelters as soon as their families were safe from the raging floodwaters.

As the articles on these pages show, we gave our all to serve the public - because that's who we are and that's what we believe in.

But Mayor Bloomberg ignored our members' bravery, dedication and sacrifices as he announced his plan to penalize employees who could not make it to work through no fault of their own. Deducting flood-caused absences from city workers' leave balances is unreasonable and unconscionable, since Sandy's flooding closed public transportation as well as many city job sites. Were our members supposed to swim to work? I am confident that our grievances will reverse this mistaken policy.

Many of our members were among Sandy's victims, escaping flooded apartments with babies in arms and little more than the clothes on their backs. "Now I know what it means to be homeless," Local 1549 member Olivia Crum told a DC 37 reporter. Ms. Crum spoke a powerful truth when she added, "So many lost their lives. Everything I lost was just possessions."

Sandy left some 200 DC 37 families homeless, and the family of DC 37 responded quickly with a helping hand for those who were hit the hardest by tragedy. Members, locals and our national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, all pitched in to aid Sandy's victims (see Union and feds provide relief aid).

With massive flood damage to our headquarters and repairs expected to take from six to eight months, we succeeded in decentralizing quickly to keep providing services and benefits to our members from 18 far-flung locations (see Building damage is severe, Decentralized DC 37, Ed Fund and college classes in January, Benefits flowing to members: Walk-ins welcome).

In this New Year, as I wish our members peace and health, I look forward to announcing that we will soon bring key union functions together under one roof again, until our home is safe and ready for us. I know we will emerge from this challenging time stronger, more flexible and better able to serve our members.


Now I ask all our members to join me in keeping the children and teachers who were killed last month in Newtown, Connecticut, in your thoughts and prayers and to stand together in solidarity with our AFSCME union sisters and brothers who responded to the tragedy, including the local police dispatchers, the entire Newtown police force and the school nurses. And let us stand with President Barack Obama in supporting meaningful, commensense action to protect all children and communities from the terrible toll of gun violence.