Public Employee Press

DC 37 celebrates Puerto Rican Heritage week

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Los Artesanos de la Plena, a folkloric troupe led by Local 375 member Franky Velez and Local 420 member Carmelo Santos, kicked off the union's annual Puerto Rican Heritage Week celebration Nov. 17 with traditional Puerto Rican music at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"Preserving our heritage and cultivating our future, is the theme for our celebration this week," said Latino Heritage Committee Chair and Grievance Rep Carmen Flores, as she cut the ribbon with DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido.

At the opening Garrido pointed out the important economic ties between New York City and Puerto Rico and praised the many DC 37 volunteers who played a decisive role in the successful organizing drive in Puerto Rico by DC 37's national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"We should be proud of the role we played in winning collective bargaining for those workers in Puerto Rico," Garrrido said. Servidores Publicos Unidos, AFSCME's Council 95, represents more than 20,000 government employees.

The Latino Heritage Committee also organized a presentation by Jaime Estades, executive director of the Latino Leadership Institute. Estades spoke about the influence of Puerto Rican and Latin American political exiles who lived in New York City during the late 1800s and gathered support for the independence of Puerto Rico and against Spanish rule in Cuba.

Estades told participants that those activists designed the Puerto Rican flag and that New York State's first unemployment insurance and minimum wage legislation was introduced by labor activist Oscar Garcia Rivera, the first Puerto Rican elected public official in the United States, who served in the state Assembly from 1937 to 1940.

The week also included a forum on mental health issues in the Latino community led by Local 299 member and mental health activist Sigfrido Benitez. He urged members to overcome the reluctance that many people have in seeking mental health services, which can be very helpful in dealing with the stress of family and work obligations. Many mental health issues also go undiagnosed, added Benitez, who works as an Activity Therapist at Harlem Hospital.

The week-long celebration concluded with the salsa sounds of Angelo y su Conjunto Modelo at the Nov. 21 grand finale, where keynote speaker Marcos Crespo, a Bronx state Assembly member, acknowledged the debt of gratitude that he owes to the Puerto Rican elected officials who came before him and inspired him.

"Herman Badillo and José Serrano were pioneers who provided leadership and an example to follow," Crespo said. "And now it's time for a new generation to follow in their footsteps."