Public Employee Press

Fight for fairness

HENRY GARRIDO
Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

I hope all of you were able to grab some time to relax and rejuvenate this summer.

Recent events remind us of the challenges ahead for all working men and women in New York City and throughout the United States.

In Washington, the U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear a case this fall that threatens public employee collective bargaining rights and our ability to function as a union.

Across the country, too many of the candidates for the highest office in the land have tried to out-do each other with regressive, sometimes racist, views about the future of our great nation.

But as the summer draws to a close, there are signs of hope as well.

According to a recent Gallup poll, a large majority of Americans would like unions to have greater influence or at least maintain the influence they have. Public support for unions has grown from 48 percent in 2009 to 55 percent today, with women and young people between the ages of 18-34 most strongly in favor of the labor movement.

At DC 37, we expect to be very busy in the months ahead as we demand greater economic fairness for workers employed by the City of New York.

Our DC 37/AFSCME Strong campaign to increase member activism is moving ahead at full steam.

Union reps are busy meeting with members individually and in groups. We have signed up thousands of new active members. And so far, we have done 8,000 one-on-one meetings and hope to complete 50,000 by March 2016.

Soon, the DC 37/AFSCME Strong army of activists will be mobilized to help the thousands of members working under expired contracts who have - for complicated reasons that should be rendered moot by the city and state's current favorable economic condition - gone without raises for several years.

Economic hardship

About 10,000 DC 37 members at the City University of New York have not seen a pay increase in nearly six years. This is an outrage.

Contract talks remain stalled as the CUNY administration, led by a chancellor who makes $600,000 per year, fails to put a wage offer on the table. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who controls a signifi cant portion of the CUNY purse strings, apparently continues to insist the union accept the model for state workers, which includes a three-year pay freeze.

But that freeze occurred during a time of national economic crisis - a time that has passed. Now the economic crisis is the one facing employees of CUNY.

In yet another dispute, this one with the city, approximately 1,000 "prevailing-rate" members still haven't received the two raises in the DC 37 collective bargaining agreement that preceded the current 2011-17 contract - and they are currently still without a contract. The affected workers include more than 700 sewage treatment employees, about 200 Highway Supervisors and a smaller number of Radio Repair Mechanics, Locksmiths and Clock Repairers.

Part of the blame lies with the Bloomberg administration, which tied these workers' 2008-10 contract negotiations up in knots that have yet to be undone. What's more, the teachers union went to arbitration over the contract, and its members' retroactive pay increases are being spread out until 2020, a pattern the city wants to impose on our locals.

The economy has improved and the city is in a strong financial state, therefore the fiscal climate exists for a fair settlement that our hardworking public service workers deserve.

We urge you to join us as we pump up the volume and work to resolve the CUNY and prevailing-rate contract fights. Join us in the fight for economic fairness.