"Don't talk about
cutting public
services and
public jobs until
you eliminate
contracting out."

  • By LILLIAN ROBERTS
    Executive Director
    District Council 37, AFSCME

    I was disappointed that our candidate, Carl McCall, did not win the governorship, because he is one of the most decent people in public life. We should all be proud that we stood up for our principles, supported a real friend of public employees and fought the good fight.

    And the tremendous political power we showed in the November election will add to our strength as we negotiate a new contract and fight to protect our jobs in a city and state that are facing monumental budget gaps.

    I want to thank all the political action volunteers and staff who contributed to our accomplishments:

  • Our "Green Machine" attained record strength. Thousands of members and retirees staffed our phone banks in the pre-election weeks, and over 1,100 volunteers turned out on Election Day.

  • Ninety-five percent of the candidates we supported won their races for the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress. Despite nationwide Republican gains, 17 of the 18 Democratic candidates we endorsed for Congress won their seats.

  • Attorney General Eliot Spitzer won statewide, as did Comptroller Alan Hevesi (in a race so close he said DC 37 put him over the line).

  • Working with a small group of progressive unions, we helped Mr. McCall win a majority within New York City, where most of our members live and work and campaign.

    This is strength the City Council and the mayor must listen to, and we will need every ounce of it as we cope with the city's fiscal crisis.

    In the white paper I issued earlier this year, DC 37 pressed for revenue increases to close the city's growing fiscal shortfall without cutting public services or laying off union members. By focusing his November budget plan on sharing the pain through tax increases, Mayor Bloomberg has achieved some credibility with labor.

    But his proposals for "productivity savings" and the ominous moves toward eliminating hundreds of union jobs in the new Department of Education tell me that he has not yet absorbed the message we have been sending:

  • Don't talk about cutting public services and public jobs until you cut outside contracting.

  • Don't talk about laying off low-paid and middle class public
    employees—whose wages are the economic bedrock of entire communities—until you eliminate the waste at the top.

  • Don't talk about reducing public safety when you can save millions of dollars by replacing uniformed officers with civilian workers in thousands of non-law enforcement jobs, freeing the uniformed forces to protect the public.

    This union stands ready to work with Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council to achieve all the savings that are necessary to get the city back on its feet financially. But we need the mayor to make it a priority to work with us to find mutually acceptable cost-saving measures.
Eliminate outside contracts to save jobs

Our children are in desperate need of new schools, but in the Education Department, 600 jobs have been put at risk in the units that design schools. The School Construction Authority has serious problems, but these come from the top. The Engineers, Architects and other technical workers we represent have shown that their work consistently costs less than consultants.

We all want a cost-efficient operation. So we invite management to sit down with us, review the costs of the outside contracts and listen to the people who know best - the dedicated school construction staff in DC 37.

If we work together in good faith, we can reach solutions that save money and protect dedicated employees who are doing a good job for the school children of New York City. A mutually agreed cost-saving plan could even be a model for dealing with the larger budget gap looming in 2003. That would be a hopeful message for the New Year.

Let me close by wishing Season's Greetings and a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year from the Executive Board, staff and leadership of District Council 37 to our members and their loved ones.