Public Employee Press

Union bolsters staff of the Research Department

Three new staffers are strengthening the ability of the Research and Negotiations Dept. to help DC 37 and locals fight for members' needs, Director Evelyn Seinfeld said.

Assistant Director Lisa Riccio serves as a negotiator and as the union's liaison with the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services on civil service issues. "It's like a research project with many varied problems," she said.

Riccio became a Council Rep in 2000 after 14 years working in a lab for the New York Police Dept., where she analyzed narcotics, and testified at trials while serving Local 375 as a shop steward, chapter and safety chair and board member.

Riccio's mother was a School Lunch Helper and Local 372 member. Riccio learned about her first professional job at the Police lab in her mother's Public Employee Press.

Assistant Director Mark Heron works as a negotiator with bargaining teams from Hospital Employees Local 420 and Natural History Museum Local 1306. "I'm happy to be able to use my skills on behalf of working people," he said. "I always wanted to do advocacy work and fight for others."

Heron was a Local 154 member for eight years, working at the city Commission on Human Rights. As a law student he interned at
DC 37's Municipal Employees Legal Services.

His family immigrated to the Bronx from Jamaica, and he attended Baruch College and graduated from New York Law School. He has two daughters, Kahlin, 2, and Elyssa, 6 months.

Research Librarian Chris Maisano worked for the Brooklyn Public Library for five years, starting as a Library Associate and becoming a Librarian after studying at Drexel University. He was active in Brooklyn Library Guild Local 1482's battles against budget cuts and layoffs. Maisano majored in history and political science at Rutgers University and has worked as a union organizer.

"It's great to participate in negotiations at this particularly challenging time for public-sector unions and for labor in general. Despite the attacks on labor, it's a good time to be involved," said Maisano, who calls himself a "data and information nerd."