By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

David Diaz picked up his paycheck and 3-year-old daughter and headed downtown. They navigated a maze of walkways near Ground Zero Feb. 28 to get to Local 983's first membership meeting for City Seasonal Aides.

"I came because I don't want to lose a job I love," said Mr. Diaz, a former welfare recipient who earned about $19,000 over the last 50 weeks working for the Parks Dept. "In two months I could lose everything. I've made a lot of changes in my life, and I don't want to go back to the streets. How can they ask us to change and then take away the only opportunity we have?"

Mr. Diaz is not alone. Around 3,500 former welfare recipients in the Parks Opportunity Program saw their union jobs as a path to self-sufficiency. The city pulled a fast one - again, they say - when it gave the program's payroll to the Tempforce agency, which slashed their wages to $7.95 an hour and eliminated benefits.

Unemployment
With no options but unemployment or welfare, 500 POP workers came to the union to ask: "What is DC 37 doing to save our jobs?"

They got answers as Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal recounted how DC 37 took the issue to the streets with rallies and lawsuits to stop the city's misuse of WEP workers. Now, he and local presidents Michael Hood of Local 1505 and Edna Williams of Local 1597 are battling the city in a race against time to save the program. City agencies began terminating the welfare-to-work participants in February and by April, POP will end.

Saving the jobs is a matter of social justice, say union leaders.

New York's emergency since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack has stolen precious time - and the city's focus - from the pressing issue of welfare reform. The attack has robbed the city of more than 100,000 jobs and spiked its unemployment rate to 7.2 percent - higher than any other city in the nation. The mayor has announced citywide cutbacks and a hiring freeze.

Exploitation
"The tremendous loss of life September 11 is being exploited by politicians who wrap themselves up in the American flag and chase photo-ops, but refuse to take care of their own," Mr. Rosenthal said. "These members are viewed as nobodies. But to this union, they are somebody."

Local 983 held a union fair to introduce the new members to DC 37's benefits. Representatives from the union's Municipal Employees Legal Services, Political Action Department, Personal Service Unit, Education Fund and other services were there with information and answers.

Rosenthal also met with City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller, who "wants to save the program." DC 37, the advocacy group Community Voices Heard and their political allies are pressing the mayor to develop a viable jobs program for the thousands of people leaving welfare roles.

"The city cannot balance its budget on the backs of women and children and people of color," said City Council member Helen Foster. She introduced a resolution to extend the jobs program. "You are willing to work. If the city cuts your jobs what kind of message is being sent?"

Moratorium
At a City Council hearing March 11, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts called for all New York legislators to request a moratorium on the five-year limit for benefits under the 1996 welfare reform act "in light of the negative impact the tragedy has had on the job market."

Meanwhile Mr. Rosenthal said he wants the mayor to keep his campaign promise and show concern for the city's poor. He called Giuliani's Tempforce deal an "immoral contract that should be broken because it inflicts pain on 3,500 single parents and 10,000 kids."

At the Feb. 28 meeting, Mr. Rosenthal talked to members, heard their plight and offered hope.
The future is uncertain as time runs out for thousands in the jobs opportunity program. With 12 percent of its participants at their five-year limit for public assistance, Rosenthal said, "We're doing all we can, but we need a miracle from Mayor Mike."