Public Employee Press

The Puerto Rico crisis

Four busloads of DC 37 activists traveled to Washington, D.C., to appeal to Congress to help the Island deal with its severe economic downturn.

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

We are all Puerto Ricans.

That is DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido's rallying cry as the union supports a national effort to help Puerto Rico, which is struggling to meet a $70 billion debt and cope with a 10-year economic meltdown.

DC 37 members traveled to Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, to appeal for Congressional help. Four buses packed with members left union headquarters for the nation's capital early in the morning that day. There, they lobbied three Congress members, received a briefing on the crisis and joined Garrido at a news conference, in which he and several politicians called for the federal government's assistance.

"I really enjoyed lobbying in Washington," said Sr. Police Administrative Aide Crystal Armstrong, a Local 1549 member. "I hope we will have an impact."

The union has thousands of Puerto Rican and Latino members, and they and many others are outraged about the attack on the public sector there.

Mass layoffs

Years ago, DC 37 helped its parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, organize tens of thousands of public service workers in Puerto Rico. But the union's work is being undone as the government has cut its workforce by 21 percent since 2008 while implementing austerity measures, including pension and pay cuts, as well as deep service reductions.

Activists met with Democratic Congress member Joseph Crowley of Queens and aides of Congress members Peter King of Long Island and Daniel Donovan Jr. of Staten Island.

"What's happening in Puerto Rico is part of a global attack on workers," said Secretary-Treasurer Juan Ortiz of Local 371.

Ortiz said he was struck by the diversity of the local's contingent, a sign of how the island's crisis resonates with activists of all backgrounds.

Many members are greatly worried about what's at stake politically as the government in Puerto Rico faces tremendous pressure from financial institutions, including hedge funds, which are calling for a reduction of the minimum wage, the closing of public schools, and a continuation of austere economic policies.

At the news conference, Garrido expressed his outrage that hedge funds are profiting from the economic crisis while demanding austere policies that harm working families.

As the prices of Puerto Rico's bonds dropped, hedge funds swooped in like vultures to profit from the island's misery. As a public employee pension trustee, Garrido has criticized hedge funds for their excessive administrative fees and support of anti-worker policies.

The Hispanic Federation coordinated the Dec. 2 initiative, the National Day of Action for Puerto Rico. Participants called upon Congress to support the Obama administration's proposal to address the crisis.

The reforms include granting Puerto Rico bankruptcy protection, eliminating a cap that keeps assistance for Medicare and Medicaid below what states receive, and extending the child tax credit for islanders and allowing them to be covered by the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The lost decade

"We are united in calling on Congress to act to alleviate the debt and health care crisis in Puerto Rico," New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said.

Puerto Ricans have gone through a decade of falling living standards. Since 2006, the economy has tanked by 10 percent and employment grew to 14 percent. More than 45 percent of the people live in poverty. Median household income is $19,630, half that of Mississippi, the poorest state in the United States.

The crisis has led to mass migration. Since 2005, 300,000 islanders have migrated to the United States. The government has delayed and cancelled compensation increases of public workers and reduced pensions.

"This is yet another attack on workers by the banks," said Supervising Maintainer Ralph Ramos, a Local 1501 shop steward and DC 37 delegate. "The people of Puerto Rico are our families, brothers and sisters and U.S. citizens. We need to make sure the government protects its citizens."

Local 1549 Recording Secretary Carmen Flores, who chairs the union's Latino Heritage Committee, was one of DC 37's coordinators of the lobbying trip. Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez, DC 37 Treasurer and Local 1407 President Maf Misbah Uddin and Local 1501 President Jeremy Sanders also took part in the lobbying effort.

"They have lost 30,000 public employees in Puerto Rico," said Flores, expressing her concern about the attack on AFSCME and other unionized public service workers in Puerto Rico. "The bleeding of the public sector must stop."