By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Led by their president, Veronica Montgomery-Costa, over 300 shop stewards from Dept. of Education Local 372 gathered April 25-27 for a weekend conference. Their theme was “Support Services in Action — Making the Difference.”

The weekend stewards’ summit was filled with workshops covering topics such as handling grievances and the responsibilities of the many job titles the 25,000-member local represents in the school system, as well as speeches from union and political leaders.

Since members of Local 372 stand to be hardest hit by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s budget cuts, the conference was also an opportunity to inspire the stewards to organize against the layoffs.

“We need you to fight like you’ve never fought before,” urged Ms. Montgomery-Costa, who is also president of DC 37. “This administration does not view the support services we provide as important to the system. Nowhere in his plan does the mayor mention school support services.”

The turnout at DC 37’s massive rally against job and service cuts on April 29 showed that the local and the stewards did a tremendous job: Local 372’s contingent of 10,000 was by far the largest at the demonstration.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts and the two top leaders of DC 37’s national union, the 1.5-million-strong American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, attended the conference, met with stewards and addressed the gathering.

AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee and Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy urged the stewards to stay united during the difficult times that lay ahead. “This is no time to have division or internal arguments,” said Mr. McEntee. “Let’s take a look at who the real enemy is and stop fighting among ourselves,” advised Mr. Lucy.

During a breakfast meeting Mr. Lucy also stressed the essential role played by the shop stewards. “You are the backbone of this union, the heart and soul of this union,” said Mr. Lucy. “The rank-and-file members place
responsibility on you. You have an obligation to build the strongest union that you can.”

For Herminia Galazar, a School Aide, the weekend conference was an eye-opener. “The information was awesome,” said Ms. Galazar, who works at IS 187 in Manhattan. “It’s good for new shop stewards like me. I had no clue before.”
School Crossing Guard Rosaid Eslava is also a new steward.

“I learned a lot, especially the responsibilities of the different titles like the School Aides and SAPIS,” said Ms. Eslava, as she looked through her brand new AFSCME Steward Handbook. “We want to make the best shop stewards that the labor movement has ever seen,” said Local 372 Vice President Santos Crespo.

City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and Council members Robert Jackson and Bill de Blasio were adamant in their support of the school workers in their struggle against the layoffs. “The City Council is with you,” said Mr. Miller on the final day of the conference. “It takes people to educate kids. It takes people like you to make this city work.”

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts let the stewards know that she will not stop fighting against the layoffs and for a fair contract. “I’m not getting off their case until we get a raise,” she said. “I know the money is there.”

The DC 37 Education Fund, the Schools Division and Local 372 organized the three-day conference. “Everyone pitched in and did an incredible job to make sure the conference went well,” said Schools Division Director Luis R. Ithier.

“I’m so glad I came,” said Ms. Eslava. “That is just what I needed.”