Raises Not Enough

To the Editor:

As a District Council 37 member, I am very dissatisfied with our union's idea of a decent raise. What happened to the fight for a cost-of-living adjustment? And why do we need another committee to look at what the salaries are when we all know we are underpaid due to the previous zeroes in our contracts?

We have given so many things back and really haven't received anything in return. We finally got back the right to live outside the five boroughs, but the taxes are so high now, we can't afford to do that.

We wait so long to settle a contract that by the time we get it, members just need more money to meet their increase living costs and can't afford to vote it down in hope of doing better.

Tell me, DC 37, will we ever be able to live comfortably off our salaries without struggling? The city just beats us every which way but the right way. Living here, you are either rich or poor - there is no in-between.

THERESA POWELL