By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

I want to thank all the District Council 37 members who voted to ratify our new contract. By mailing in your ballots, you showed your conviction that DC 37 is a truly democratic union where your vote counts.

And by voting yes — by an overwhelming 89 percent — you expressed your confidence in the agreement as a fair deal that puts money in members’ pockets, raises wages and gives us a solid base to build on in next year’s negotiations.

Your union fought hard to win a contract that meets members’ needs. We went all out to publicize the pact and explain the facts to members so they could vote as well informed citizens of DC 37. And we have been working hard to get the money to members quickly. Each of these efforts met with success. The first $1,000 payment — or a pro-rated share of that for part-time workers — will be in the hands of most covered members this month.

We all owe a vote of appreciation to the local presidents who made up the Negotiating Committee and the union staff who worked closely with them for fighting off the city’s demands for givebacks that would have hit every member. They stood strong through 17 tough bargaining sessions to win real gains for our members.

And we owe a huge vote of gratitude to the members of DC 37. Your patience gave our negotiators flexibility, your faith gave them strength, and your tremendous yes vote validated their magnificent achievement.

Winning a fair contract for our members has been my number one goal since I was elected executive director over two years ago, and especially since I was re-elected in January. I am proud that we have reached this milestone together — but this is no time to rest.

We must move quickly to make use of a unique opportunity that we negotiated into the new contract. In addition to the $1,000 payment, the 3 percent wage hike retroactive to July 1, 2003, and the 2 percent increase effective July 1, the agreement includes another potential 1 percent raise that we can get through a new Joint Labor-Management Committee on Productivity Initiatives.

Deputy Mayor Marc V. Shaw and I will co-chair the committee, which is to report in October on the funding sources it can identify. Among the possibilities the agreement specifically points to is contracting IN. This is the first time in any wage contract that the city has agreed to give the union credit toward a raise for the savings generated by reducing contracting out. We can also use the funds to ameliorate the benefit modifications for employees hired after July 1.

The fight is on for 1 percent more

I intend to fight for that additional money, and I am getting the process under way immediately. I am hopeful about the possibility, because increasing attention has been paid to our White Papers on how the city can save money by eliminating the waste of contracting out and consultants.

Without fanfare, legislative bodies have launched investigations based on our proposals. In the last year, the city itself has quietly canceled a number of its contracts with computer consultants, temporary employment agencies and food vendors. Many of the ideas in the original White Papers came from union members. Once again, I am asking members to give us input about waste in their agencies, the use of high-priced consultants instead of union workers, and contracting out of work that city employees could do.

Send your suggestions to Joint Labor-Management Committee on Productivity Initiatives, c/o Lillian Roberts, Room 525, 125 Barclay St., New York, NY 10007.

Sisters and brothers, now is our chance to turn our complaints into cash by showing the city how it can save money. The new contract has opened the door. All we have to do is walk through it.