Public Employee Press

Local fights for more funds


A busload of members from Local 372 traveled to the state capitol in Albany on Feb. 2 to lobby for additional funding to hire more substance abuse counselors in the schools and to restore funding for their severance fund.

The severance fund only affects part-time employees, such as School Crossing Guards, of the Dept. of Education. The increase in funding is sought to help stabilize the fund.

The union activists, who met with more than 30 elected officials, also lobbied for an additional $4 million to hire more substance abuse counselors to work in the schools. The increase in drug counselors is needed to combat the growth in heroin addiction, especially on Staten Island.

— Alfredo Alvarado