Public Employee Press

HHC names Lillian Roberts Person of Year

At a special recognition ceremony Dec. 18, the Health and Hospitals Corp. named DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts Person of the Year for 2014 in honor of her retirement and longstanding advocacy for public health care.

"The modern test of good government is how it treats those at life's dawn, the newborn, and those in the shadows, the sick and the needy," said HHC President Dr. Ram Raju. "After six decades in the labor movement, including leadership in DC 37 since 1965, we owe Lillian Roberts a special thank you on behalf of HHC's 40,000 employees and all who have benefited from her compassion and hard work. Lillian Roberts has a long, proud history of fighting for the union's 15,000 members at HHC, and for social justice and dignity for all workers."

Roberts rose from the tenements of Chicago's South Side to become the first African-American Nurse's Aide at a major Chicago hospital, built five locals of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees there, and in New York organized city hospital workers into Locals 420 and 1549 in a do-or-die drive for representation by DC 37. In 2002 she became the first woman chief executive of the largest municipal labor union in New York City."

"Because of Lillian Roberts we still have public hospitals in New York City," said health care advocate Judy Wessler, who recalled Republican mayors' decades-long attempts to privatize HHC hospitals and services. "She put 10,000 members in the street and shut down the Brooklyn Bridge to demand better wages and working conditions for public employees."

Roberts received a standing ovation from HHC executives, health advocates and union leaders and said, "I wanted to help and to serve where I could to make a difference in the lives of others.

"Our members have handled major emergencies - Ebola, Hurricane Sandy - with grace and professionalism," Roberts said. "I am proud of where HHC is now and extremely proud of the work we've done together. Your challenge is to keep the system working."

— Diane S. Williams