Public Employee Press


DC 37/AFSCME Strong: Engage & Educate
Campaign reaches out to members in Harlem

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

The DC 37/AFSCME Strong campaign headed uptown to Harlem Hospital to deliver the union message to members on Feb. 11 during one of its many lunch-time meetings.

The schedule for February was packed with more than a dozen meetings throughout the city. Union activists visited New Dorp High School in Staten Island, One Police Plaza in downtown Manhattan and the Dept. of Education office at Fordham Plaza in the Bronx.

At Harlem Hospital union activists sat down with employees in the lobby to get them to fill out a survey and sign their union green card.

In the theater employees also watched the short documentary, "War on the Workers," which highlights the drastic measures elected officials like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are taking to deny public sector employees their basic right to collective bargaining and deny them a voice on the job.

Local 1549 2nd Vice President Ralph Palladino addressed the employees after the film and reminded them of the battles fought over attempts by the city to close the hospital.

"If it weren't for our union and Local 420 there would be no Harlem Hospital today," he said. "What you would have here instead of this hospital is luxury condos."

Lidia Alexis, a member of Local 1549 and chapter chair at Woodhull Hospital came all the way from the Bronx on her day off to attend the Harlem meeting.

Alexis has spent a lot of time encouraging her members to come to meetings and get involved with the union. She's noticed the members are extremely worried about losing their jobs.

"They're terrified," Alexis said. "They're afraid of losing their jobs and their benefits. The solution to that is to get involved."

The goal of the DC 37/AFSCME Strong campaign is to reach out to 50,000 members by conducting one-on-one interviews to encourage members to become more active in the union. As of Feb. 15, union activists had conducted 21, 825 interviews, according to Barbara Terrelonge, the union's director of organizing.

"What we keep telling the members is all of us, whether we work in the schools, the hospitals or the libraries, we are all part of this union and we are all fighting together for the same thing," Terrelonge said.

Locals interested in scheduling a lunch-time meeting for their members can contact Terrelonge at 212-815-1221 or send an email inquiry to DC 37Strong@dc37.net. To check for a meeting near you, go the union website at www.dc37.net.