Public Employee Press

DC 37 Celebrates our Lady of Steel
Well-wishers honor Lillian Roberts

Roberts was instrumental in one of DC 37’s greatest victories — the organizing of thousands of city hospital workers in 1965.

By MIKE LEE

Several hundred well-wishers, including dignitaries, labor leaders, city and state politicians, bid a warm farewell to labor's "lady of steel," retired DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts at a gala honoring her at union headquarters in Manhattan on May 8.

Roberts, also known to the New York labor movement as the city's "First Lady of Labor," committed her lifetime to fighting and building union power, beginning as an organizer in
Chicago in the 1950s, before moving to New York in 1965 to serve 17 years as associate director under the late Victor Gotbaum.

Roberts was instrumental in one of DC 37's greatest victories - the organizing of thousands of city hospital workers in 1965 - and played a key role in growing the membership of the union to more than 120,000 members in less than a decade.

After a stint in the 1980s as New York State Labor Commissioner, Roberts returned to DC 37 as executive director in 2002, and she served until her retirement at the end of last year.

Roberts navigated the union through years of constant struggle with an unsympathetic mayor hell-bent on privatizing civil service work and the economic crisis and Great Recession of 2008.

To quote Mayor Bill de Blasio from the evening's journal, "I am delighted to add my voice to that chorus commending your tremendous efforts to fight for equality, amplify marginalized voices and empower the vital workforces that keep our residents safe, healthy and inspired."

That long career of commitment and sacrifice was honored at the celebration, which further commemorated her life and work by launching a permanent exhibit at DC 37 headquarters, "Lillian Roberts: A Legacy of Grace, Honor and Power." Proceeds from the event also went to the union's "Help Our Own" fund, which is set aside for members facing sudden financial crises, as was the case recently during Superstorm Sandy that affected tens of thousands of DC 37 members and their families.