Public Employee Press

Members trek to Albany
HRA Commissioner and Union vow to work together

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Union members, joined community activists and elected officials in Albany for the 44th annual weekend caucus that began on Feb.13.

The theme for this year's caucus, sponsored by the New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislators, was "United We Stand: Labor, Civil Rights and Social Justice."

Saturday featured several workshops and panel discussions on education, affordable housing, health care, reforming the criminal justice system and the governor's budget.

DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido and Steven Banks, the newly appointed commissioner of the Human Resources Administration, presented a panel discussion on the notorious Work Experience Program, which requires welfare recipients to work at city agencies without getting paid or receiving any training or benefits. The WEP program was initiated during the administration of Rudolph Giuliani.

Last year, Banks announced that HRA would begin phasing out the WEP program over two years. "We believe that there is a better way to address this issue," Garrido said during the discussion.

Banks said HRA has already eliminated 500 work/study slots at the City University of New York and plans to do better assessments of the unemployed.

The new commissioner also announced that HRA will do a better job of partnering with DC 37 to help the unemployed connect with entry level jobs in city agencies, something that did not happen under the previous administration. "HRA never took advantage of city resources," Banks explained.

With a better relationship between HRA and DC 37, Garrido said that it is now time to "seize the moment and move people to traditional jobs."

During the Bloomberg years, HRA spent $44 million on temporary workers instead of hiring entry level civil service employees, Garrido said.

The traditional labor luncheon was hosted by state Sen. José Peralta and Terrence L. Melvin, secretary-treasurer of the New York State AFL-CIO. Several awards were presented to union activists for their work. Among the recipients were Local 299 president Jackie Rowe-Adams, Local 1549 Recording Secretary Carmen Flores and Local 372 President Shaun D. Francois I.

The newly elected Speaker of the Assembly and former DC 37 member Carl Heastie made a brief appearance at the luncheon and vowed to fight to increase the minimum wage and to fight for all New Yorkers. "I really want to make a difference for the working families in New York," said Heastie, a former Local 1407 member.

DC 37 hosted a reception in the evening that was attended by the union's Green Machine volunteers, local presidents and City Council member Inez Barron, her husband, State Assembly member Charles Barron, state Assembly member Sam Roberts, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson and Assembly member Walter Mosley.

"DC 37 needs to be engaged in the discussion on improving public services," DiNapoli said. Garrido promised that this spring the union will "hit the streets, running in a way we've never done before."

Wanda Williams, director of the Political Action and Legislative Dept., closed the reception with a summary of the union's budgetary priorities which include fighting for a cap on charter schools, a larger share for education with the money from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court decision; support for a living wage; and more funding for SAPIS drug counselors, libraries, and hospitals.