Hundreds of grassroots lobbyists hone their skills at DC 37 and bring public workers’ needs to Albany

By JOHN FUNICIELLO

Almost 1,400 AFSCME members — including 300 from DC 37 — gathered in Albany April 3 to tell their legislators about issues of importance to all 430,000 New York members of AFSCME, DC 37’s parent union.

“You are the experts on our issues,” Eliot Seide, DC 37 deputy administrator, told the Lobby Day participants. “Be self-assured, be confident when you speak with your legislators today.”

Before they fanned out to meet with individual legislators and their top aides, the grassroots lobbyists heard from union and political leaders.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Sen. Nick Spano, who worked to win the huge pension gains of 2000, were among the elected officials who addressed the activists from all over the state. “By lobbying, you tell us your priorities and make our jobs easier,” said Mr. Bruno.

State Comptroller H. Carl McCall was cheered when he told of his own role in pressing for the pension COLA.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver assured the AFSCME members, “Your agenda is our agenda. Your priorities have always been our priorities.” He noted that despite a $3 billion budget surplus, “New York State leads the nation in childhood poverty,” and he said the state is “shorting the people who care for the elderly, the disabled, the children.” New York’s priorities, he said, like those in Washington, are “way out of line … and the challenges are only getting bigger.”

AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said the ?administration of President George W. Bush “is already worse than the Reagan administration.” He also attacked Bush’s brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, for “trying to break our union,” with attacks on civil service, seniority and job security protections for public employees.

Most of the DC 37 members who went to Albany April 3 sharpened their skills March 10 at the union’s Grassroots Lobbying Institute. The daylong training program organized by the DC 37 Political Action Dept. included workshops led by Ramone Martinez, who was a top campaign staffer for Sen. Hillary Clinton, and former state legislators Karen Burstein and Patrick Halpin. Participants learned more about lobbying in an address by Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields.

“Legislators want your members’ votes. Your job is to make it clear that they have to respond to your members’ needs,” said Ms. Fields.