Public Employee Press

The de Blasio transition
What's ahead for city labor?

By GREGORY N. HEIRES



Municipal unions look forward to a more sympathetic administration under Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, though they acknowledge the challenges ahead, particularly negotiating new contracts for the hundreds of thousands of city employees who have gone years without pay increases.

Besides stiffing labor, outgoing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg leaves behind a track record of privatizing city services, shrinking the municipal workforce, funneling public education funds to charter schools, attacking civil service, failing to collect revenues owed to the city and supporting tax breaks for real estate and other businesses.

De Blasio has pledged that his door will be open to city unions.

"We believe the mayor-elect is sincere about his willingness to hear from us," said DC 37 Associate Director Henry Garrido, who is a preparing a report on the union's priorities to present to the new administration. "We are more than willing to be partners in the effort to promote good government, a fair labor policy and responsible use of taxpayers' dollars."

On Nov. 17, a panel of New York City municipal union leaders and other trade unionists gathered in the Talking Transition tent on Canal Street in Manhattan to discuss the concerns of unionized city workers. The tent offers a grassroots forum for the public to address the de Blasio administration.

The participants on the panel, moderated by DC 37 communications and political consultant Robert Hennelly, included Communications Workers of America Local 1180 President Arthur Cheliotes, Central Labor Council Political Director Marco Carrion, Fire Officers President Al Hagan, Firefighters President Steve Cassidy and Bob Masters, a leader of the Working Families Party and political director of CWA Region 1.

"We are here because there is a tremendous excitement locally and nationally that Bill de Blasio ran a campaign that said trickle down didn't work," Masters said. He said organized labor should take advantage of the political opening for progressive change offered by de Blasio.

According to the panelists, a successful contract campaign must include an effort to counter the public perception of public employee unions as a self-interest group whose members enjoy excessive pay and benefits.

Responding to the pessimism of the panelists about whether the mainstream media will treat labor fairly, Local 2627 President Robert Ajaye said unions shouldn't shy away from aggressive media outreach, a position that was stressed at a recent conference of union communications workers held by DC 37's national union, AFSCME. Health Services Employees Local 768 President Fitz Reid said unions should exploit new media to ensure that their voice is heard.

"The administration needs to recognize that the people who drive the economy are working people," Cheliotes said. "You need to put money in their pockets to create demand."

"All of us who are in government look to civil service as a great conduit for the young to get great jobs and benefits," said Hagan, stressing that unions need to speak up as advocates for the middle class in general - and particularly for younger workers, who are disproportionately hit by the country's employment crisis. "Civil service is open to everyone."

The forum offered an opportunity for labor leaders to do some soul-searching, including about how unions can do a better of encouraging minority workers to move into top leadership posts. Building a more inclusive labor movement requires greater outreach at the grassroots level, said DC 37 Political Director Wanda Williams. Summing up, Cheliotes said, "Bill de Blasio has opened the door. The question is whether we will walk through it."


"Bill de Blasio has opened the door. The question is whether we will walk through it."— Arthur Cheliotes Pres. CWA Local 1180