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Unions Must Work Together

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

Thank you for your excellent coverage of the continuing campaign by the 90 Church Street Labor Coalition to protect all workers at 90 Church Street from airborne contamination caused by demolition and construction around Ground Zero (Nov. 18 issue).

It should be pointed out that the Civil Service Employees' Association (CSEA) and the New York State Public Employees' Federation (PEF) worked in close collaboration to convince New York State to provide double windows for our four floors of the building before we moved in. Without this labor solidarity, we could not have succeeded.

Federal, state, and city unions have now joined together to obtain these double windows from the United States Postal Service, the New York City Housing Authority, and landlord/building manager Boston Properties for the other eleven floors of 90 Church Street.

Close cooperation among unions is not nearly as common as it should be, but it is the only path to labor victories in multi-union shops and multi-union buildings. And, we believe that the links we are forging at the local level will lead to greater cooperation among our unions on the city, state, and national levels. This kind of union solidarity is essential for the labor movement to once again thrive.

PAUL STEIN Council Leader and Health & Safety Chair, PEF Division 199