Public Employee Press

Part 3 in a series on the attacks on government and public employees
WAR on WORKERS
DC 37 fights back

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

The epic showdown between Wisconsin public employees and Republican Gov. Scott Walker over collective bargaining rights made the state Ground Zero in the nationwide war against workers.

That war is heating up in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have proposed deadly budgets that would wipe out 20,000 jobs.

DC 37 is gearing up for battles to save civil service protections and pensions, preparing for tough contract bargaining and continuing its long battle to rein in the city's $10.5 billion in contracting out.

"At home and across the nation, they are escalating the assault on the living standard of the middle class that Ronald Reagan unleashed three decades ago when he crushed the air traffic controllers' strike," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. "We can't take this attack lying down," she said on Feb.17 at a news conference called by the Central Labor Council to support the Wisconsin workers.

At the February meeting of the DC 37 Delegates Council, Roberts, Associate Director Henry Garrido and Political Director Wanda Williams laid out the union's fi ght-back plans, which include a key role for shop stewards and activists in mobilizing members.

Part of the mobilization includes supporting the "Stop the Lies" campaign of DC 37's national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders has twice visited union headquarters to fi re up local leaders and members for the campaign, which is focusing a dozen "battleground" states where the union faces its gravest threats, all led by Republicans except New York.

AFSCME is pouring extensive resources into the nationwide effort to counter right-wing interests that are scapegoating public employees for budget crises actually caused by tax giveaways to the rich, Wall Street corruption and the Great Recession.

You can sign up for the campaign at the afscme.org Web site or by calling the DC 37 Political Action Dept. at 212- 815-1550.

In addition to the Public Employee Press and www.DC37.net, DC 37's fi ght-back campaign aims to add thousands of members to its e-activist network and use social media tools, including a new Facebook page, to mobilize members.

The union held a hearing on contracting out Feb. 25 (see Massive waste and fraud in contracting out) and will hold another hearing in April to examine revenue sources that could plug budget gaps without layoffs or tax increases. The DC 37 Negotiating Committee was scheduled to meet in March on bargaining strategy for a new economic agreement and the union has begun planning for a massive fi ght-back demonstration in June.