Public Employee Press

Back on track

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

A new group of activists is playing a key role in shaping the future of College Assistants Local 2054, which DC 37’s parent union took over six months ago after an audit uncovered financial improprieties.

“We want to rebuild the local, which means getting more people involved and improving communications,” said Administrator Jim Cullen.

“Our goal is to get the local back on track with sound fiscal practices and membership involvement,” said Cullen, who is also the New York area director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, DC 37’s parent union.

Under the administratorship, the local has adopted the prudent fiscal practices required by AFSCME’s financial standards. The audit found that the local’s investment fund assets had plummeted from $1.8 million to $743, 418 in 14 months, largely due to risky stock investments; the administratorship has moved the funds into more secure accounts. In January, the AFSCME Judicial Panel expelled former President Colleen Carew-Rogers for the unauthorized purchase of a car as a retirement gift for her predecessor.

“I was really outraged about how wasteful the spending was,” said Celia Bracy, a College Assistant at Bronx Community College. She said she decided to get involved with the union because she felt greater participation would guarantee more prudent fiscal practices.

Improved fiscal practices

“The fiscal safeguards were worse than lax,” Bracy said. “If you want to enhance and increase your membership, there has to be trust, integrity, honesty and communication.”

Bracy was among nine members elected in December to represent Local 2054 at DC 37’s Delegates Council. The other Delegates are Elba Pena-Amadiz, Aurelia Harrison, Yolanda Clark, Dishunta Meredith, Ronee Skipworth, Sharon Sessing, Frances Baugh and Tomas Ramos.

The term of the Local 2054 Executive Board expired at the end of 2009, and a new board will not be elected until late in the administratorship. The new delegates will meet monthly, and in addition to regular campus meetings at the 25 colleges throughout the city, the local will conduct regular membership and shop steward meetings, which were seldom held prior to the administratorship.

As the administratorship continues its outreach, it expects additional members to emerge as activists and hopes to train a new generation of stewards and other grassroots leaders with interests ranging from politics to membership mobilization and contract negotiations.

“When I saw what was going on I said, ‘That’s not right,’ and when I saw the opportunity, I jumped at it,” said one of the new activists, Delegate Ronee Skipworth, 24, a College Assistant at CUNY’s central office. “A lot of younger people have to get involved. We really need a new generation.”

Recruiting new activists and members

The delegate election provided an opportunity for the administratorship to expand the membership by encouraging all CUNY College Assistants, both members and agency-fee payers, to participate. Agency-fee payers have union dues deducted from their paychecks to cover DC 37 services, but they don’t have the right to participate in contract votes or union elections because they are not members.

“I was not an activist before,” said College Assistant Tamara Smart. “Being a member of the Election Committee was very enlightening. It let me see how the union works. As the union rebuilds and holds more meetings, I will be one of the people asking questions. I hope a lot of the problems that existed will be solved.”

Everyone was notified of the election, and the union provided green membership cards so fee payers who showed up at the polls could join and vote. Under the administratorship, Local 2054 has signed up hundreds of agency-fee payers, and it is planning a stepped-up recruitment drive.

“We want to increase participation,” said Deputy Administrator Chris Wilgenkamp, the assistant director of the DC 37 White Collar Division.

The administratorship has made a priority of representing members more aggressively, educating them about their right to benefits and filing grievances against contract violations. For instance, the union helped get José Arrocha $5,700 for vacation time he accrued over 10 years that Medgar Evers College had refused to recognize.

“We are going to try to work together as a family,” said Delegate Dishunta Meredith, reflecting the optimism of the new leaders. “We are not in this for personal gain. In the upcoming months, we all will be getting a lot of training. We got fresh blood and we are on the right track.”