Public Employee Press

Residency:
Keeping the pressure on

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

District Council 37 local leaders and members gathered on the steps of City Hall Jan. 30 to lobby the City Council to pass Intro. 452, the bill that would lift residency requirements on DC 37 members.

The day of action was followed by a private meeting on Jan. 31 betweeen Executive Director Lillian Roberts and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

“There has been some discussion that has resulted in a positive meeting,” said Roberts. “We are optimistic that we can move forward, and we reasonably expect to achieve our goal of having the City Council enact the residency legislation.”

For months Roberts has led the union’s campaign to keep the pressure on lawmakers to lift the requirement that DC 37 members live in the five boroughs as a condition of employment.

Intro. 452 would allow some 45,000 DC 37 members now covered by the restriction to live in the surrounding counties of Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnan, Suffolk, and Nassau. Passing the bill would give DC 37 members parity with other city employees who do not have this restriction.

Equity and options
“We need residency now. It’s about equity and options for our members,” said Michael DeMarco, president of Traffic Employees Local 1455. “This is a matter of fairness. It’s unfair that DC 37 members who work at city agencies are not allowed to live in the six surrounding counties while other city employees like Teachers, Police, Sanitation workers and Firefighters at the same agencies can.”

In recent months the union launched a letter-writing campaign, held press conferences at City Hall, lobbied Council members, and placed thousands of phone calls from its computerized phone banks to get the bill passed. The union gained support from a majority of Council members and is pressing Quinn to call for a vote on the legislation.

“My co-worker is weighing giving up her two-bedroom apartment to rent a one-bedroom that she and her child can afford,” said Alma Roper, a member of Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 who joined with DC 37 activists at City Hall during her lunch hour Jan. 31.

The lack of affordable housing in the Big Apple takes a huge bite out of the paychecks of DC 37 members, who earn an average of about $31,000 a year. With two-bedroom apartments in Manhattan renting at about $4,500 a month and similar-sized co-ops in the borough and parts of Brooklyn and Queens selling for around $1 million, the employees who keep New York City running say they can no longer afford to live where they work.

“We are having to choose between rent and food. I see too many of us having to face these decisions,” Roper added.

“I should have the option to live where it’s comfortable for my pocket and not sacrifice my job,” said DC 37 member Karen Hunter. “This city has become for the extremely rich and the very poor. New York is no longer affordable to working-class and middle-class people. We need to stand up. Passing Intro. 452 would be worthwhile to us all.”