By LEE SAUNDERS
Administrator, District Council 37, AFSCME

By the time you receive this newspaper, you should have your ballot to vote on the new proposed economic agreement. This is one of the most important votes you can cast.

The tentative agreement we succeeded in negotiating improves your wages substantially and provides job security. It gives you a fair share of the city’s economic prosperity — prosperity you helped create.

Negotiating this contract was the most important test this institution, its leaders and its members have faced. I believe DC 37 has passed the test.

The union passed the test by listening to the membership.

We surveyed members in PEP, and we based the union’s demands and priorities on your needs and issues. We restructured the bargaining process so the concerns of the rank-and-file would be heard. For the first time, our Negotiating Committee consisted of every local president, and the new Bargaining Caucus of 300 activists helped bring your voice to the negotiating table.

Solid gains for union members

Your negotiators passed the test by meeting members’ needs. They worked hard, stayed focused and brought home the bacon.

• Despite the city’s insistence that there would be no union-wide raises in this contract — only “merit” increases for management favorites — we negotiated across-the-board raises.
  
• We won fair and equitable raises that will put DC 37 members ahead of the rising cost of living. Everyone covered by the contract will get more than?9 percent in wage increases. And the majority of our members — those who have at least 10 years in pension tiers 3 and 4 — will get over 12 percent, because their basic 3 percent pension contribution is eliminated.
  
• The proposed contract acknowledges the city’s present right to grant performance compensation. There is give and take in all bargaining, and this trade-off helped move the talks toward the final settlement.
  
• Despite widespread signs of an economic downturn, which could create pressure for cutting the workforce, we expanded the contract’s “no layoff” job security protection.

Union members passed the test by getting involved.

You stuck it out through 13 arduous months of bargaining, even when the going was slow and tough. By participating in marches, parades and union meetings, you kept the pressure on and played a central role in winning this contract.

The most important test of all

But before this agreement can put a penny in anyone’s pocket, it has to pass the most important test of all: It has to be ratified by the membership.

The Negotiating Committee and the Delegates Council have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the contract.

But this decision is yours. Voting on this contract is a democratic right of DC 37 members. It’s your vote that counts, and every member’s vote will be counted properly.

Please remember: Your ballot must be received at the American Arbitration Association by 9:00 a.m. on May 14.

Only members can vote. If you are an agency fee payer, now is the time to join the union and have a say on the contract. If you sign a green card before the deadline, your vote will count.

I am urging you to use your democratic right by voting “yes.” The contract’s gains cap a triple victory for DC 37 that includes solid benefit improvements and historic pension advances. But for members to receive the wage increases, the contract must be ratified.

Please send your ballot in now. Your “yes” vote is a vote for nine percent raises and no layoffs, a vote for a strong DC 37 and a vote for your economic future.