Public Employee Press

Other Voices

Caryle-Linda Rosenblatt
Victor Gotbaum's legacy to DC 37 members

When I was a young Caseworker for the Dept. of Social Services I understood that I could never work and save enough money to match what the pension plan would yield in my retirement. I stayed the course and retired with over thirty-three years of service.

I could not even begin to envision the good life that I enjoy residing in sunny Florida. Along with the thousands of retirees, I am living testimony to the achievement of the dream that the late DC 37 Executive Director Victor Gotbaum had for all the city workers. He wanted us to have dignity on the job and have an economically secure life in retirement.

When he reached an agreement with the city to create a new pension plan, Victor reportedly turned to two local union officials who were on the citywide bargaining committee and gave them the task of reducing his brilliant broad stroke agreement to implementing personnel language.

Joe Collins and Stu Leibowitz were responsible for the language that created Plan A and Plan B.

When we retire, we are also so very fortunate to be able to take our health and welfare fund benefits with us. As part of Victor Gotbaum's efforts to save the city from bankruptcy, he agreed to allow the city to deduct a day's wages from our paychecks every pay period for ten pay cycles.

However, upon retirement, each worker who had given up ten days of pay was then to be given an extra paycheck as a way of reimbursing the worker for the money that was involuntarily deducted years before.

Stu Leibowitz, the former president of the Retirees Association, who passed away in 2012, frequently referred to Victor as a colossus amongst union leaders. I am grateful for the way of life my former coworkers and I have been privileged to have and thankful to Victor Gotbaum for all his efforts on our behalf.

Caryle-Linda Rosenblatt is the Florida Area Coordinator of the DC 37 Retirees Association, and Chair of the Central Florida Chapter.