As treasurer, my job is to make sure your dues are properly spent. Together with our annual audit (see page 14 of PEP, Oct. issue), I thought it would be appropriate to explain in everyday language how your dues are used.

The lion's share of your dues—over 50 percent—goes toward DC 37's operating budget—$34.1 million in 2002.

Building and general expenses constitute the greatest share of our budget. These expenditures—including maintenance, security, telephone services, data processing, payroll taxes, benefits and insurance- make it possible for union locals and DC 37 staff to do their job for you.

From grievances to contracts
Over a fifth of the budget goes for our six field divisions. Union reps in the divisions handle the grievances and job-related problems of our school, hospital, clerical-administrative, blue-collar, white-collar and professional members.

The executive office, led by DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, constitutes 13 percent of the budget. Ms. Roberts and her staff work closely with your chief elected officers (president, secretary and myself, the treasurer) and your local leaders to make sure members are serviced aggressively. They craft strategy to win contracts, strengthen our involvement with community allies and forge political ties.

As public employees, our jobs depend on elected officials and legislators who are committed to healthy government. Your Political Action and Legislation Dept. mobilizes members to help elect sympathetic politicians, fights for funding of government programs and promotes the passage of pro-worker legislation, such as the historic pension cost-of-living adjustments we won recently.

Staff in the Research and Negotiations Dept. does critical policy analysis and works closely with unit bargaining committees to shape the contracts that determine the pay and working conditions of our 125,000 members.

The Public Employee Press is mailed to the home of every DC 37 family to keep you informed about union news and activities. PEP and the union's Web site, radio show, media outreach and public relations campaigns put a positive face on the work of the union and its members, promote our political agenda, expose abuses at job sites and instill pride among members for the vital work they do.

Our Legal Dept. makes up 6.4 percent of the budget. Your lawyers handle grievance arbitrations, draft proposed legislation and take on important legal battles, such as the fight to protect members from being displaced by workfare. Health and Safety staff inspect job sites, develop educational material and press government to enforce safety regulations.

Other budget areas include Quality of Work Life, Human Resources, printing, mailing, accounting and immigration.

Some 16.5 percent of your dues go to AFSCME, our parent union, which represents us in Washington and organizes public employees nationwide to strengthen us politically. In New York, AFSCME's six councils with 400,000 members work together on a common political agenda to ensure funding for government programs. The remaining one third of dues goes to your local for lobbying and other member services.

So, next time you're scrutinizing the deductions from your paycheck, I hope you will agree with me that your dues represent a good investment. Coupled with the DC 37 Health and Security Plan's independent budget, which is based upon city contributions that the union wins at the bargaining table - your dues fund a range of services that have set the gold standard for unions across the country.