Letters to the Editor
DC 37 Not Run for Members

To the Editor:

An unidentified former District Council 37 official called the union "weak and ineffectual" in last week's paper, and I must regretfully agree. Our Council's loss of influence in the city and the state has come as our leaders enriched themselves more and more.

From 2005 to 2006, Federal filings show, our Executive Director, Lillian Roberts, saw an increase in her compensation of 100 percent, from $209,368 to $418,029. Our Treasurer, Maf Misbah Uddin, saw a jump in pay over the same period of 65 percent, from $169,544 to $280,283. And this does not reflect Brother Uddin's true compensation, for he also received full city-paid release time as well as another payment for serving as President of his own local.

Many of DC 37's executive board members receive multiple payments for their concurrent positions - as many as four "stipends" at one time.

Over the same period, our members got a 3-percent raise - not equal to the pace of inflation, especially with skyrocketing fuel, food, water and mortgage costs.

I am not against generous compensation for a job well done, but I question what Sister Roberts and her team have done to justify these ample paychecks, which come directly from the members' dues money. Most importantly, creativity and resourcefulness are needed in contract negotiations, not just to find new opportunities, but to address past inequities.

In my own local, I have seen eight years of inaction on overtime pay for Public Health Sanitarians, who have been ordered to bring heavy equipment home on their own time without compensation. As a result of this inaction, our Sanitarians have been forced to seek redress in Federal District Court on their own, even as they pay dues for representation. Posted salary maximums in our contract bear no relationship to actual pay rates. Pest Control workers and many others have embarrassingly low salaries.

The City of New York can provide much to workers without depleting the treasury, such as grants of land and housing stock, which could be used to build affordable homes for city workers, backed by investor bonds. Another constructive idea would be to seek ways to support worker purchases of "green energy" and greater use of mass transit, to fight global warming. Scratch any group of union workers and you will find good ideas that should be considered.

The way to a good contract is through member organizing and empowerment, but our District Council rewards the opposite. In Local 372, President Veronica Montgomery-Costa sees no problem with an election for a 14,000-member chapter in which only 27 persons show up to vote. Her mission must be to organize - not to disenfranchise. The scandal of denying the right to vote to union members is now the greatest blot on DC 37's reputation apart from its lack of energy in our contract fight. If any worker affirms that they have signed a membership card, this should be accepted as proof - and cards should be offered to all at every union event and mailed to those who have not yet signed them.

DC 37 must have an organizing plan to enlist members in the cause of bringing the importance of a good contract home to every agency head and every public official. While our leadership enjoys the perks of office and lavishly doles out patronage, our members are losing ground daily.

FITZ REID, Executive Vice-President Local 768, Delegate DC 37, AFSCME