Public Employee Press

CUNY Local 2054 comes out of trusteeship

After a hard-fought 18-month struggle to rebuild its strength and regain members' confidence, Local 2054 has won back the right to govern itself. In March, AFSCME, DC 37's national union, lifted the administratorship it had imposed to clean up corrupt practices.

Restoring the local of 5,200 City University of New York part-timers took education and activism, as the members learned about their rights, revised and ­updated their constitution and, in December, elected new leadership.

"We held meetings at every work location to get members involved," said Administrator Jim Cullen. "We took the union to the membership and now we have an assertive local."

Preparing the local to emerge from administratorship, AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, trained new local leaders in the importance and techniques of fiscal responsibility and conducting democratic meetings.

"The training helped us think beyond ourselves and focus on members' needs," said Yolanda Clark, a delegate and board member. "We are more confident about our ability to lead and get members excited about the union again."

The delegates and executive board showed their commitment to the members by attending treasurers' training in March. The local revised its constitution to include membership protections such as mailed-ballot elections and clear spending procedures and raised dues to AFSCME's minimum.

"We made hard decisions to cut expenses and balance the budget to restore the local's solvency," Cullen said.

As new leadership developed, Cullen and Deputy Administrator Chris Wilgenkamp, the assistant director of DC 37's White Collar Division, spearheaded a drive to enforce the contract. They worked cooperatively with CUNY management to win members $127,000 in owed wage increases, retroactive pay, and pensionable longevity payments.

Leaders, reps and stewards updated the local's website, put out newsletters with benefit information and used bulletin boards to spread the word that Local 2054 is back.

"They took pride in ownership, in rebuilding their local," Wilgenkamp said.

Pat Walsh, a board member who works at Hunter College said, "We can now give members the proper information and a better picture of the union. We can show we are here to protect job security and benefits."