Montgomery-Costa An AFSCME VP; '1549' Head Gets 3rd Term
By DAVID SIMS

Veronica Montgomery-Costa, president of Board of Education Employees Local 372 of District Council 37, was elected as an International Vice President to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on July 31 at the AFSCME Convention in San Francisco, California.

VERONICA MONTGOMERY COSTA: An international figure.

Ms. Montgomery-Costa was elected to her first term, filling a vacancy caused by the death of Joan Reed. In accepting, she responded to recent state and city budget cuts by saying that "serving as AFSCME IVP offers a forum from which to build support for my DC 37 brothers and sisters and to ensure that our needs are addressed on a local, state and national level."

Eddie Rodriguez, president of DC 37's Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549, was re-elected to a third term as an IVP. Lillian Roberts, executive director of DC 37, issued a statement of congratulation, praising them as "two forceful leaders [who] will be a strong, unified voice for District Council 37's 125,000 members and 50,000 retirees."

The AFSCME convention, which was attended by 6,000 delegates, took place between July 28 and Aug. 1, and featured speeches from former Vice President Al Gore, presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama, and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.