Roberts, Ensley Fight for Control
DC 37 Board Key Battleground

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

The contentious race for District Council 37 officers is coming down to the wire, with the battle for control of the union's executive board generating more heat than the race for executive director.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow MAKING HER CASE: While reformers in District Council 37 argue that the union's method of having delegates elect its officers gives too much weight to the largest locals, Executive Director Lillian Roberts claims the real inequity lies in giving all locals the same strength on the executive board. She favors weighted voting that would make the votes by representatives count based on the number of members they represent.

The Jan. 23 election, which will be decided by DC 37 delegates, once again pits Local 371 President Charles Ensley against Executive Director Lillian Roberts for the union's top post. Mr. Ensley's team decided not to contest the three other main positions and is focusing instead on control of the executive board.

Ensley a Longshot

Candidates on both sides say the odds are stacked against Mr. Ensley, who narrowly missed in a 2004 bid to unseat Ms. Roberts, but full slates from both factions are battling for the 20 executive board seats that are up for grabs.

Ms. Roberts's Members First candidates say they are running on the current administration's record of accomplishments. Mr. Ensley's Unity slate contends that the executive board, where it wields considerable power, shares the credit for many of the most important victories, but that the union's practices need vast improvement.

The election debate revolves around what the union has delivered to its members and its internal decision-making structure. It echoes the contest three years ago when Ms. Roberts prevailed in her election but Mr. Ensley's slate gained a clear advantage on the executive board that has since been diminished.

"Our challenge is based on the contention that the Council is moving in the wrong direction," said Mr. Ensley. "Ms. Roberts is repeatedly misleading the membership by over-hyping alleged successes."

Roberts: 'We've Stabilized'

'GOING THE WRONG WAY': Charles Ensley says he is opposing Lillian Roberts for the second consecutive District Council 37 election because she has the union 'moving in the wrong direction.' He accused her of 'over-hyping alleged successes,' including the most recent DC 37 contract.

Ms. Roberts, who was chosen to lead the union in early 2002 in the wake of a series of high-profile scandals that led to criminal convictions of some of the union's leaders, disagrees. "The union has stabilized itself after five years," she said in a Jan. 9 interview. "It has not been easy, but now we have the best contract we've had in 20 years."

Some of the Unity slate candidates supported the current contract, which was approved by 97 percent of the membership. But Mr. Ensley says members deserved higher raises, given the concessions in the previous contract and the multi-billion dollar surplus the city had last year.

"Members' expectations have been systematically lowered," said Mr. Ensley. "If you can't negotiate a significant increase when there's that kind of money around, you never will."

The current contract provides for 9.42 percent in raises over 32 months. The previous one gave raises of 6 percent over three years but significantly reduced starting salaries. The average salary at DC 37 is approximately $30,000. The lower-skilled titles average about $25,000, while some professional employees represented by the union make more than $60,000.

Ms. Roberts said she had many things she wanted to accomplish in the next three years, such as making day care more accessible and promotion policies more equitable. Mr. Ensley said that Ms. Roberts's "incompetence and lack of effectiveness" would hinder the union's efforts, and as proof pointed to the delay in getting the union's newly negotiated residency break approved by the City Council.

The current contract includes a residency provision to allow DC 37 members to live in 6 state counties outside the city, similar to Teachers, Firefighters and Police Officers. The City Council has balked at approving the measure, however, with some Council Members fearful it will make it more difficult for their constituents to get city jobs.

Ms. Roberts said that the union followed the proper procedure, bargaining with the city first before lining up support in the Council. "The City Council was a little huffed," she said, "because they never really like it to come after the fact, because they want political mileage for it, perhaps." She added that she believed the provision would pass the Council, but that it might take longer because of the need to "educate" Council members.

In addition to disagreeing over union strategy, the two slates differ on how the union's leadership should be elected.

Roberts Straddles Issue

PAT BAHNKEN: Decries Roberts 'power grab.'

Currently, most of the union's 29-member executive board is elected by delegates. Mr. Ensley and the Unity slate members want all board members including the executive director to be directly elected by the rank and file.

Most Members First slate members voted against direct elections when the delegate body defeated the measure in 2005. Although Ms. Roberts wrote an article in this newspaper in 2003 supporting direct elections, she now says that either process is acceptable to her and that the decision should be made by the delegates.

Ms. Roberts also said that she believes that the executive board should be proportionally weighted in the same way as the delegate body. Currently, local unions get their number of delegates based on their membership, giving larger locals with more members more votes.

The executive board is made up of the top officers, plus one representative from each of the five locals that represent more than 5 percent of the union's 121,000 members, with the other 20 board members elected at large by the delegates from DC 37's remaining 51 locals. Those at-large seats are expected to provide the greatest suspense next Tuesday.

Disproportionate Strength

JAMES J. TUCCIARELLI: Infighting hurts union.

"With the board, you have one person voting regardless of how many members they have," said Ms. Roberts. "If they have 25,000 members, they've got one vote, if they have 50 members they have one vote. I think that's where the problem is."

Members of the Unity slate reacted strongly against Ms. Roberts's proposal, saying it would disenfranchise the smaller locals, which represent about 50 percent of the membership. "It's a power grab," said Patrick J. Bahnken, the president of Local 2507 who is running for re-election as a DC 37 vice president. "It would be a step back to 10 years ago when the daily business of the Council was controlled by a core group of the large locals and smaller locals had no voice."

Mr. Bahnken added that while he had a good working relationship with members of the opposing slate on the executive board, it was important to have "checks and balances" at the board.

'Need Opposing Views'

"Having opposing views and spirited debate strengthens the union," he said. "I would say that the current executive board shares much of the credit for what the union has accomplished." He pointed to the union's health fund, which was nearing bankruptcy when it was taken over by the executive board and is now in the black.

Members First slate members said that while they are not against debate, the contentiousness at the board has hurt the union.

"It has been a major problem," said James J. Tucciarelli, the president of Local 1320, who is also running for re-election as a union VP. "Recently, a lot of the rhetoric has calmed down. But the main issue in this election is restoring a working relationship with the executive director."

Because Ms. Roberts's supporters control the delegate votes in the four of the five largest locals, Ms. Roberts is expected to defeat Mr. Ensley. Those five locals have already elected their board members.

"People need to consider where they want to see themselves three years from now," said Mr. Bahnken, "and vote for who they think can carry them to that place."