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Public Employee Press
Union studies mayors
green city plan Two months ago, when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
unveiled PlaNYC 2030, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts noted that, this
is a commendable step in the right direction to help safeguard our environment.
But she cautioned that the reality of the plan would be seen in its implementation.
Roberts
held meetings on the plan June 13 and 14 for Executive Board members and local
presidents; Central Labor Council Executive Director Ed Ott addressed the second
session. Participants expressed sharp concerns over specific proposals, especially
the congestion pricing plan a tax on cars and trucks entering Manhattan
south of 86th Street.
Of the many concerns voiced at the meetings, a top
priority was the need to ensure that the jobs resulting from the plan are filled
by union members and that the vast array of projects to be undertaken are not
contracted out.
Local 1320 President James Tucciarelli had attended a presentation
on PlanNYC 2030 by Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff for members of the Municipal
Labor Committee. He emphasized that the job now is for everybody to get
up to speed. We need to make sure our members are educated about what is happening.
Ott participated in the discussion with the DC 37 leadership on June 14.
The reality is, there are tens of thousands of jobs in both the public and
private sector. If you look at all the detail, its going to be a struggle.
Local
375 Vice President Jon Forster observed that this is a real concern of the Civil
Service Technical Guild. There are a lot of initiatives among the 127 in
the plan that can generate jobs. The struggle will be to make sure they stay in-house.
DC
37s next step will involve thorough study of the plan and continuing discussions
with the administration about implementation.
We have to look closely
at how the plan will be funded, said Tucciarelli. As head of a local that
represents Sewage Treatment Workers, his immediate focus is on the program for
the collection, storage and treatment of wastewater.
We just had
an 11 percent increase in water rates, he said. Typically this is
how these things are funded.
Talking about 2030 is fine, but
there are still parts of the city sewer system that arent even up to 20th
century standards, he said.
Parts of Queens and Staten Island
are still not tied in to the city sewer system. Their waste goes into septic tanks,
he pointed out. There is a tremendous amount of information to absorb in
the plan, said Forster. For DC 37the question for us is how
do we get on board to make sure these jobs are union. | |