By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

As an overworked Nurse's Aide caring for patients in Chicago, she endured a daily onslaught of abuse. But when understaffing became intolerable, she stood up to management in a battle that reclaimed dignity for herself and her co-workers. Forty years later, Lillian Roberts is still standing up for working people.

"The bug bit me, and it was like religion," Ms. Roberts recalled. Roberts preached unionism and organized more than 20,000 Chicago public hospital workers into the American Federation of State City and Municipal Employees.

Her tenacity eventually brought her to New York, where she helped build District Council 37 by signing up thousands of city hospital workers and tens of thousands of municipal employees.

As an AFSCME organizer, Ms. Roberts once spent a month in a cold and dank jail cell for calling a strike among state mental hospital workers against former Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

"Back then, women were used to organize, but they were not visible as leaders and decision makers," Ms. Roberts said. "Thankfully all that has changed and we have taken our place beside our brothers." "Organizing is labor's top priority," said AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson. And as a union leader, "Lillian's record as a brilliant organizer gives her a unique advantage."

Decades after she started organizing, Lillian Roberts' moment came Feb. 26 - on the cusp of Black History Month and Women's History Month - as she was sworn in as executive director of DC 37. In a monumental and historic achievement as an African American and a woman, Ms. Roberts stepped into the front line of labor's struggle. She is one of the most powerful leaders in the movement today.

"As a woman union leader of one of AFSCME's largest councils, I count Lillian Roberts among the pioneers of the labor movement," said Lois Gray, a professor of labor relations at Cornell University. "That both she and DC 37 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa are African American women represents encouraging growth in the pool from which future national leaders will come."

Women still lag far behind men in business and military leadership, but in politics, academia and labor they are gaining ground. In AFSCME, women comprise half the membership. DC 37 is over 60 percent women, and its top two officers, five Executive Board members and 12 local presidents are women.

"Lillian is an inspiration for women activists throughout the movement," Ms. Gray added. "She is an important influence in city and state politics, and a dynamic and charismatic leader on the forefront of social issues."

Ms. Roberts has set an agenda for DC 37 that starts with the traditional bread-and-butter and job security and includes welfare reform, protecting Social Security, improving eroded unemployment benefits and strengthening the communities where members live.
"In their wisdom, our members realize our concerns don't end when we leave the job," said Ms. Roberts. "You can't maintain your dignity if you have to kowtow to injustice."

Former Mayor David Dinkins calls her "an iron fist in a velvet glove." Ms. Roberts says, "I lead by con-sensus and I draw my strength from the members I serve."

As DC 37 enters difficult contract negotiations with a hard-hit New York City, Ms. Roberts braces herself for another fight. "With militancy comes sacrifice," she said. "We have to be strong, loud and proud. I always try to talk first. But when you run out of breath, then what? You have to be ready to demonstrate your power."