PEP, March 2007: A lifetime of achievement

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

The popular 1950s television show “This is Your Life” came to life Feb. 1 at DC 37, and Executive Director Lillian Roberts was the star.

Friends and relatives from around the country came to the union for Local 1655’s Black History Month celebration to honor Roberts, who like the guests of the TV show, was taken by surprise.

“Lillian Roberts, this is your life!” boomed Kevin D. Smith, president of Metropolitan Transportation Authority Clerical Employees Local 1655 as he kicked off the show and welcomed Roberts’ friends and family.

Master of Ceremonies Carolyn McClary, a Local 1655 shop steward, welcomed the audience, and DC 37 Executive Board member Jackie Rowe-Adams sang the national anthem.

Smith announced “A great salute to a great union woman,” as the auditorium’s screen rolled down, decorated with a large portrait of Roberts.

A true trade unionist
Stage lights lit the center of the room, and the voice of Lee Saunders, executive assistant to the president at DC 37’s parent union, AFSCME, seemed to come out of nowhere. Before Roberts became executive director in 2002, Saunders headed DC 37 during a four-year trusteeship.

“Lillian is a true trade unionist,” Saunders said. “Thank you for speaking truth to power. Thank you for being a friend.”

Special tributes to Roberts came from former state Comptroller Carl McCall and Hazel Dukes, former head of the New York City NAACP chapter.

In the “This is your life” tradition, Roberts’ brother, Leon Davis, came from Chicago and her best friend, Catherine Nicholson, flew in from Florida. Nephew Carl Smith spoke warmly about Roberts as he led his younger brothers Ivan and Ralonzo to greet her.

AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy paid tribute to Roberts in a video message. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn sent a proclamation and DC 37 Vice President James Tucciarelli, the president of Local 1320, read a proclamation from Mayor Bloomberg declaring Feb. 1, 2007, “Lillian Roberts Day.”

A love for the union
Also on hand in Roberts’ honor were DC 37 and Local 372 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa, DC 37 Associate Director Oliver Gray and her longtime administrative assistant, Colleen Detroy, who played a key role in contacting Roberts’ family and friends for the event without spilling the beans.

“Lillian did not have to come back here,” Montgomery-Costa said, noting that Roberts returned to lead DC 37 after a separation of more than two decades. “She came back because of her love for this union.”

Starting as a Nurse’s Aide in Chicago, Roberts came to the union with former DC 37 leader Victor Gotbaum in the 1960s. She headed the hospital organizing drive that establishedDC 37 as the leading union of city workers.

In 1969, she spent two weeks in jail fororganizing a strike in three state hospitals. She left the union in 1981 to become state labor commissioner, the first black woman to hold the post.

“I have smiled and I have cried tonight,” Roberts said as the event closed. “This is not just my life. It is all of your lives.”