By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

With cities and states facing their worst fiscal crises since the Great Depression of the 1930s, public workers and public services are under attack from California to New York. Instead of raising revenues with progressive tax policies to make business and the wealthy pay their fair share, gutless governors and mean-minded mayors are taking it out on government employees with layoffs, privatization, pay cuts and reductions in benefits and pensions.

Our 1.6-million-member union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is pressing for federal action to help states and municipalities weather the crisis and leading local battles nationwide to save jobs and protect education and health care, libraries and social services.

I just returned from the epicenter of the fightback, AFSCME’s national convention in Boston, where DC 37 locals joined the 4,000 delegates who took up the battle cry of "Ready to Fight, Ready to Lead." Participants answered the challenge of mobilizing a coast-to-coast campaign against the cruel and destructive policies of the "Cut, cut, cut" politicians. I am proud of the fighting spirit we showed and proud of the momentous decision the convention made to strengthen our national leadership.

AFSCME is fortunate to have at its helm the tough, smart Gerald W. McEntee — a national figure who has battled governors and mayors, led 40,000 union volunteers who helped win the 2008 election for President Barack Obama and played a key role in passing national health care legislation in March.

At the convention, we added a battle-hardened warrior to our leadership team by electing Lee Saunders as Secretary-Treasurer. Many members and rank-and-file leaders of DC 37 know firsthand that Lee has the skill, experience and dedication to move a large union ahead, even in the toughest of times.

Lee Saunders: Always on the job for DC 37

The son of two union members, a Cleveland bus driver and a college teacher, Lee was an Ohio AFSCME member before he joined the national staff as a labor economist and then played leadership roles in the bargaining, community action and organizing departments.

In DC 37’s darkest days, Lee came to New York as our Administrator and worked with a new Executive Board to return our union to fiscal solvency, rebuild our strength and restore our good name. He protected members’ benefits and union services and installed systems to ensure that their hard-earned dues money is used appropriately.

Under his leadership, we improved pensions and mobilized members, stewards and local leaders in successful contract negotiations. When the 9/11 attack closed our headquarters, Lee led the way as we quickly set up operations at alternate sites and maintained the strength to stop Mayor Giuliani from privatizing essential public services. He supported our campaign against contracting out and marched with us June 16 as we fought Mayor Bloomberg’s cuts in jobs and services.

I will always be grateful to Lee for steering DC 37 through a turbulent storm and returning the union to its members with honest leadership and integrity. He has what it takes to be a great Secretary-Treasurer of AFSCME, and I was proud to second his nomination in Boston.

The convention said farewell to Bill Lucy, who has retired after 57 years in AFSCME and 38 years as Secretary-Treasurer. A video tribute highlighted Lucy’s work with Memphis sanitation workers and his collaboration with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was killed supporting their 1968 strike. Lucy was also a founder of the Free South Africa movement that launched the successful anti-apartheid campaign of the mid-1980s and a founder and the only President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

As we face the battles of the future, I know Lee Saunders will be a tremendous partner to McEntee in leading the fight to protect our jobs, our pensions and the vital public services we provide and in keeping AFSCME on its progressive course of fighting for social, racial and economic justice for all working Americans. These are the qualities that matter deeply to me and to the members of DC 37.