Public Employee Press

At forum, Liu calls for retro pay raises, "fair share" taxes

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Addressing almost 1,000 DC 37 members May 16 at the union's mayoral forum, City Comptroller John Liu sharply attacked Mayor Michael Bloomberg for favoring the wealthy 1 percent and hurting working families by cutting day care and refusing to provide retroactive raises for city workers.

With DC 1707, the Civil Service Employees' Association and 13 community organizations cosponsoring, WGBO's Bob Hennelly moderated the discussion at Borough of Manhattan Community College in Tribeca.

"For eight years Bloomberg has put off negotiating contracts and retroactive pay," said Liu, a longtime union ally who received DC 37's endorsement for mayor on May 28. Announcing the decision on behalf of the union's 121,000 members and 50,000 retirees, Executive Director Lillian Roberts pledged that union volunteers would get out the vote for Liu in the Sept. 10 primary election.

"People can't afford to live in this city," said Liu, citing an "out-of-control wealth gap" under Bloomberg, with the city's richest 1 percent getting 33 percent of the income while workers struggle to pay sky-high rents and as they face shuttered day care centers, shrinking library and health services and declining job opportunities.

Greeted like a rock star by the crowd at the forum, Liu showed great familiarity with DC 37 members' issues and greeted many local leaders personally. He outlined his platform, which includes new contracts with retroactive pay raises for city employees, tax reforms so corporations and the rich pay their fair share, fixing mayoral "control without accountability" at the Education Dept., reining in wasteful contracting out, as he has done during his term as comptroller, and abolishing "stop-and-frisk" policing, which he said erodes trust between the Police Dept. and the community and simply "doesn't work." "The city has paid nearly $1 billion to resolve police brutality claims since Bloomberg took office,'' Liu pointed out.

"They've thrown the kitchen sink at me, but I am ready for the stove," said Liu, long targeted by investigations that produced not one charge against him.

"I will take care of the workers who have dedicated their lives to this city," he told union members whose needs for secure jobs, pay increases, safer communities, affordable housing, and quality public schools have been ignored by a three-term mayor, despite their hard work providing vital public services and selfless response in disasters from the 9/11 terrorists attack to Hurricane Sandy.