DC 37 BLOG
- DC 37 NEWS, EVENTS and SERVICES YOU CAN USE in MARCH 2024 February 26, 2024DC 37 NEWS, EVENTS and SERVICES YOU CAN USE in MARCH 2024: The DC 37 Women’s Committee invites you to celebrate Women’s History Month with your union! Please save the date for our annual celebration on Friday, Mar. 22, 2024.
- DC 37 NEWS, EVENTS and SERVICES YOU CAN USE in FEBRUARY 2024 January 31, 2024DC 37 NEWS, EVENTS and SERVICES YOU CAN USE in FEBRUARY 2024: The DC 37 Black History Committee invites you to celebrate Black History Month during the following in-person and virtual events.
- DC 37 NEWS, EVENTS and SERVICES YOU CAN USE in JANUARY 2024 December 28, 2023DC 37 NEWS, EVENTS and SERVICES YOU CAN USE in JANUARY 2024: From all of us at DC 37, we wish you a happy holiday season and a safe, healthy New Year. Thank you for reading, and see you in 2024!
- The Time Has Come to Rise Up December 20, 2023I want to wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday and a joyous new year. We have much to celebrate and reflect on with the major contract wins we secured this year with your support. There is also much at stake in our battles on the horizon. In November, the Adams administration […]
- Filing A Grievance: The Process of Protecting Your Rights December 20, 2023By MIKE LEE When a DC 37 member faces injustice, whether it be working out-of-title, unfair treatment by management in the workplace, disciplinary action, or a termination, the union provides full representation through the grievance filing process. A grievance is a dispute between the employee and the employer over whether a collective bargaining contract or […]
- Have You Signed Your White Card? December 20, 2023Eligible Members Unlock Union Benefits by Submitting their Health& Security Enrollment Form By ACACIA RODRIGUEZ Being a part of DC 37 is more than just membership in one of New York City's largest unions that negotiates contracts and raises. It's also about added benefits that, while non-economic, definitely impact working families' wallets. With the increasing […]
- Welcoming New Members With Help From a Rising Generation of Activists December 20, 2023By MIKE LEE The union’s Field Operations team is busy executing worksite visits at the city’s agencies, cultural institutions, and non-profit and private sector facilities to sign up non-members and encourage them to enroll for their Health & Security benefits. At dozens of lunchtime meetings and Union Halls held throughout New York City and upstate […]
- Flash Flood: Union Members Assist in Evacuating Patients From Woodhull Hospital December 20, 2023By MIKE LEE Major flooding triggered by torrential rains on Sept. 29 created havoc with impassable roads, flooded basements and subway stations, and sudden power outages across New York City. In Brooklyn’s Bedford–Stuyvesant community, a power failure caused Woodhull Hospital to close, forcing an evacuation of 120 patients from the Health+Hospitals facility. Con Edison informed […]
- Local 420 Member Reinstated After Wrongful Termination December 20, 2023By MIKE LEE Imagine sending a simple request for additional family leave to be with your newborn child and two other children and receiving a response coldly informing you that your position is terminated. Shari Levy, a Patient Care Associate at Woodhull Hospital, experienced just this. Levy, a hard-working Municipal Hospital Employees Union Local 420 […]
- Queens Library Workers, Management Settle Contract December 20, 2023By MIKE LEE After nearly two years of negotiations, partially due to the third wave of COVID-19 in late 2021, Queens Library Guild Local 1321 and the Queens Public Library agreed to a contract that members ratified by a record 99.9% in November. Unlike DC 37 members working for City agencies, other bargaining units must […]
- Motor Vehicle Operators Win Big in Improper Practice Case December 20, 2023By MIKE LEE Cutting budgets has unforeseen and emotionally damaging consequences, as was the case for several Local 983 Motor Vehicle Operators (MVOs) and Traffic Enforcement Agents Level IIIs (TEA IIIs) working at the New York City Police Department. After the NYPD budget was cut by $1 billion in June 2020 to make up for […]
- Met Art Techs Win Back Hours December 20, 2023By JUSTINA RAMLAKHAN In a testament to the strength of collective bargaining, Local 1503 and District Council 37 successfully pursued four grievances under the bargaining agreement between The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Union. The grievances were filed on behalf of Departmental Technicians who were not appropriately granted time off upon completion of extended […]
- Snapshots December 20, 2023SSEU 371’s Hatcher Honored as a Hero of Labor At a ceremony in downtown Manhattan on Oct. 11, Labor Press and EmblemHealth honored Tanya Hatcher (center), SSEU Local 371’s Vice President for Publicity and Community Relations, as a Hero of Labor. In 2002, Hatcher began her public service career as a Child Evaluation Specialist at […]
- A Dynamic Vision: Meet Fareed Michelen DC 37’s Organizing Director December 20, 2023By MIKE LEE As part of the ongoing effort to expand the union’s power base, District Council 37 hired long-time union leader and activist Fareed Michelen in September to head the union’s Organizing Department.Michelen brings more than two decades of experience and dynamic leadership in labor to the department, which has recently secured new waves […]
- Beloved School Crossing Guard Mourned December 20, 2023Story and Photos by MIKE LEE It happened in seconds Krystyna Naprawa, a veteran Local 372 School Crossing Guard, was struck and killed by a privately operated dump truck on Friday, Oct. 20. She died in the line of duty just after safely helping several people cross a busy intersection in Woodhaven, Queens. As a […]
- Breaking Ground Workers Rally for Contract December 20, 2023All photos by Julian DeJesus By MIKE LEE and JULIAN DEJESUS In the summer of 2020, workers at homelessness support organization Breaking Ground began their campaign to join District Council 37. They filed for recognition on Aug. 27, 2021, and Breaking Ground management recognized their intention to unionize two months later. That was just the […]
- Union Celebrates Italian Heritage December 20, 2023DC 37 Executive Director Henry GarridoLocal 1455 President Michael DeMarco, Chair of the DC 37 Italian Heritage Committee Story and Photos by MIKE LEE DC 37 members and activists joined union leaders to celebrate the history and heritage of Italian-Americans and rejoice in being together in the first Italian Heritage Committee-sponsored public event since the […]
- Elections 2023: Union Support Key in Important City Council Races December 20, 2023By MIKE LEE Hard-fought campaigns, a significant victory for a Brooklyn City Council member, and an upset in the Bronx were the key storylines of the New York City General Elections on Nov. 7. In the thick of it were DC 37’s election Volunteer Member Organizers (VMOs), known for decades as the “Green Machine,” who […]
- Fighting to Protect Your Jobs December 13, 2023DC 37 Family, This morning, we filed a lawsuit against the City of New York to prevent the elimination of nearly 3,000 Job Training Participants (JTPs) in the Parks and Sanitation departments, and to preserve other city jobs under Local Law 63. The budget cuts proposed on Nov. 16 attempt to transition work from our members to […]
- DC 37 NEWS, EVENTS and SERVICES YOU CAN USE in DECEMBER 2023 November 30, 2023DC 37 NEWS, EVENTS and SERVICES YOU CAN USE in DECEMBER 2023 Are you thinking of buying your first home but don’t know where to begin? The DC 37 Municipal Employees Housing Program is pleased to announce the return of First Time Homebuyer Seminars. Join us as we discuss the mortgage process, how to prepare application materials, […]