By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

We are gaining ground as we press on aggressively with our major struggles to save the jobs of 1,500 OTB workers and to lift the residency restriction that traps 45,000 of our members in one of the nation’s most costly housing markets.

If District Council 37 succeeds in taking care of the needs of our membership in these areas, the victories will belong to the activist spirit among so many members that has given the union the power to fight against tough odds and persevere no matter how long it takes.

I want to be very clear that as I write, we do not have solutions in hand, but we are certainly nearing resolution of the issues and seeing clear signs of progress.

Winning legislation to save OTB from a threatened June shutdown and to protect our members there is one of DC 37’s highest priorities as we plan for a huge Lobby Day in Albany on Tuesday, May 6.

The City Council has just unanimously passed a resolution in favor of saving OTB. In Albany the “Big Three” — the governor and the leaders of the Senate and Assembly — have told us they are committed to finding a solution that works to avert a shutdown.

On the residency issue, I am hoping for a hearing in May before the City Council’s Civil Service and Labor Committee and possibly even a vote on giving our members the right to live in the six counties adjoining New York City.

The membership of DC 37 has been a mighty force to be reckoned with in these struggles — demonstrating, rallying, educating city and state legislators, lobbying for their support, making phone calls, writing letters and postcards, sending E-mails through the union’s Web site — and filling the gallery at the City Council with green shirts and hats over and over again.

We are fighting for our jobs, we are fighting to keep the revenue we generate in our communities, and we are fighting for our rights and our future. We are known as a politically active union, and the thousands of members who are constantly involved in grassroots politics are the source of our power.

In order to get justice in the residency and OTB campaigns, we have to do no less than rewrite the laws of New York City and New York State. And I believe we will accomplish just that.

We also have to turn our political attention to the national scene, where the November election will be a classic contest between the pro-war, anti-labor, anti-women, anti-minority Republicans, who have been in control of the White House for over seven years, and the pro-change, pro-people principles of the Democratic Party.

We can take back the White House
While the Republicans want to make Bush’s massive tax cuts for the wealthy permanent and continue to starve the service sector where we work, the Democrats stand for quality education, quality health care, affordable housing and bringing the troops home from Iraq.

The Democrats are fighting to regulate the mortgage and loan industry to prevent fraudulent sub-prime lending and save middle-income and poor people from foreclosure. The Republicans are so out of touch with average folks that their leaders claim our economy is fundamentally strong while all around them families are losing their homes.

While labor fights for universal health coverage, the Republican plan would make workers pay taxes on employer-provided health benefits.

As we battle a party that stands for less jobs and more war, we have a historic opportunity to take back the White House for working people, minorities, women and the communities we live in.

We will have to mobilize and get involved like never before to win this one, but one member at a time, we can do it. Each one of us can start the process right now by making sure we and our families and our neighbors are registered to vote.