DC 37 OUT TO LUNCH

DC 37 Out to Lunch

When a Public Health Sanitarian recently became a target for tabloid ridicule as "dumb" for failing to close a rat-infested Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell restaurant in Greenwich Village, she was defended not by her union, Local 768 of District Council 37, but by Fitz Reid, an activist in the local who subsequently was elected a vice president to fill a vacancy.

The explanation given by a DC 37 spokesman for its not speaking up on her behalf was that, "We haven't received any notice of disciplinary action being taken against the member."

Imagine that stance being taken by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association or the United Federation of Teachers - or, for that matter, any other union worth the dues its members pay - if they believed one of their members was being unfairly hung out to dry in the media.

We guess DC 37 figures that just having a slogan of "Members First" removes the need to actually live up to it.