Public Employee Press

Leaders rally at City Hall for School Crossing Guards

City Council members joined DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido and Local 372 President Shaun D. Francois I on the steps of City Hall to demand that Mayor Bill de Blasio improve the working conditions of the city's School Crossing Guards.

Once the school year is over, the Local 372 members lose their health insurance and have to pay for it out of their own pocket. "They have to make a difficult choice between putting food on the table for their families and paying for their health insurance," Garrido said at the May 26 press conference.

In addition to providing year-round health benefits and an end to seasonal furloughs, Francois also recommended the 20- hour per week cap be lifted and that the city initiate a recruitment drive to address the shortage of guards.

"Our members work only 10 months and are forced to pay for their health insurance over the summer; this is unacceptable," Francois said.

Vanessa L. Gibson, chair of the City Council Committee on Public Safety, is firmly behind DC 37. "School Crossing Guards are the lifeblood of our students' safety," she said.

"School Crossing Guards play a vital role in keeping our schoolchildren safe," said Council member Vincent Gentile. "They don't deserve to be furloughed for two months, having to pay for their own insurance."

Local 372 has called for an additional 236 positions to be filled, with the goal of having one School Crossing Guard for every school.

Also joining the union at the press conference were Council members Brad Lander, Daniel Dromm, Fernando Cabrera, Rory Lancman, Mathieu Eugene, Corey Johnson and Mark Levine, as well as Manhattan Borough President Gayle Brewer.