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

I was a young Nurse’s Aide in Chicago when I started voting in the late 1940s. Even then I understood that in our political system, the people we elect allocate the economic resources. They decide who gets what. And I had learned from my mother that voting is the way working people have a say in these decisions.

Now, as we approach Election Day, Tuesday, November 4, I want to remind all DC 37 members of the tremendous importance of voting.

For the last 20 years we have suffered under city administrations that didn’t care about us as people and didn’t value our work providing the services that keep this city running for its eight million people. We saw our tax dollars wasted and city agencies mismanaged, with public responsibilities contracted out to private sector profiteers — but no pay raises for our members.

We worked hard and voted in a new mayor, and in his first year in City Hall, Bill de Blasio has canceled layoffs the previous administration had scheduled, protected services that were going to be closed and negotiated a fair contract for our members.

Vote for a better life and a better future

We still have a long way to go. By voting for candidates who care about the needs of working people, we can build toward a better life for ourselves and our communities and a better future for our children. Not voting Nov. 4th could lead to disastrous consequences for our pensions and benefits.

This year our statewide elected officials — Governor, Comptroller and Attorney General — are up for re-election, and so are our U.S. Congress members and state Assembly and Senate members. The union has studied the candidates’ records carefully. On the next page of this special election issue of the Public Employee Press is the list of candidates the union has endorsed. On Election Day, please use this list as your guide for supporting these friends of DC 37 members and all working families.

Our longtime friend, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, has been successful at safeguarding public employees’ pensions and fighting contracting-out waste. We need to make sure Comptroller DiNapoli is resoundingly returned to office.

The former chair of the City Council Finance Committee, Domenic M. Recchia Jr., is in a tough race for Congress in the 11th Congressional District (Staten Island and southern Brooklyn). In the City Council, he helped us save 650 School Aides from layoffs, showed deep concern for working people and battled on our behalf for adequate funding for libraries, cultural institutions, Lifeguards and social services.

Now he is in a battle of his own, and he needs our help. Let’s stand up for him as he so fiercely and fearlessly did for us. Please join me in helping elect Domenic Recchia to Congress, where we need a strong advocate instead of the incumbent, who has voted consistently against the needs of working families.

Important yes or no votes

This year’s ballot will also include three referendum proposals for yes or no votes — and they are important. Proposal 1 is an amendment on revising redistricting procedures in a way that could cut the strength of working communities’ representation in the state Legislature. Proposal 2, electronic distribution of state legislative bills, could let legislation be rushed through the Senate and Assembly without our representatives being able to examine it adequately. Please vote NO on 1 and 2.

Proposal 3, the Smart Schools Bond Act of 2014, would provide funds for computers for our schoolchildren so they can succeed in the global economy. Please vote YES on 3.

I am asking each member who reads this column to play an active role in our democratic process, help educate your coworkers and family about the coming election and persuade them to vote for our candidates and our positions on the ballot proposals on Election Day.

Together we can make a big difference.

DISCLAIMER: This portion of the website was paid for by AFSCME’s Political Action Committee, PEOPLE, with voluntary contributions from AFSCME members and their families, and is not authorized by any candidate of candidate’s committee.