Public Employee Press

Political Action 2003
How members crushed 3 charter proposals
And helped pro-union friends win tough City Council races

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS
District Council 37 sent a powerful message to City Hall Nov. 4 as New Yorkers voted down City Charter changes and elected the full slate of union-endorsed candidates to City Council.

“We sent a message to City Hall when we crushed Question 3,” said Executive Director Lillian Roberts. She campaigned throughout the city alongside thousands of DC 37 volunteers and City Council candidates in opposition to ballot Question 3, which would have eliminated Democratic primaries.

“We showed that People Power trumps campaign dollars,” Ms. Roberts said, “and when it comes to Big Apple politics, labor is a force to be reckoned with. We have an organized army of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of registered voters whose voices are heard loud and clear in the voting booth.”

70 percent vote ‘No’
This year’s general election pitted working families against a charter reform campaign funded by millions of the mayor’s own dollars. Though Questions 3, 4 and 5 were labeled “nonpartisan,” DC 37 let New Yorkers know they were detrimental to New York City.

The proposals would have eliminated Democratic primaries, obscured how the city procures goods and services, increased mayoral authority and weakened government accountability.

Charter revision advocates appeared to count on record-low voter turnout and spent millions of dollars on phone calls and mailings to sway public opinion. But DC 37 and the Central Labor Council launched a massive — and successful — get-out-the-vote campaign aimed at the municipal workforce. Ultimately, labor trounced the Charter Revision Commission’s proposal by an overwhelming 70 percent margin.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, DC 37 educated members about the issues. Union volunteers organized by the Political Action and Legislation Dept. placed thousands of calls to members through computerized phone banks and leafleted at worksites, subways and bus stops.

Members received mailings, palm cards, posters and a special edition of PEP urging them to vote down the proposals. The union literature explained how their jobs would be affected — or possibly eliminated — if the charter changes passed.

Voters passed Ballot Proposal 1, which extends the 1963 law allowing municipalities to borrow for sewer system repairs without having to postpone building roads and schools, and voted down Proposals 2 through 5. Proposal 6 was withdrawn from the ballot at the last minute.

In close races such as those in Washington Heights, Staten Island and Brooklyn, City Council members Miguel Martinez of District 10, Michael McMahon of District 49, and Vincent Gentile of District 43 prevailed with the help of DC 37 volunteers who campaigned in those communities.

“The momentum from the union’s Fair Contract Now! rally Oct. 29 at City Hall,” attended by an estimated 20,000 DC 37 members, “was a catalyst for victory,” said Political Action Director Wanda Williams.

At the rally, DC 37 members, who have worked without a contract for 17 months, stood under a rainy night sky to demand from the mayor a new contract and pay increases to meet the ever-rising cost of living in the Big Apple.

Ms. Roberts said, “On Election Day, we used our voting power to put politicians on notice that the people always have the final say on the city’s future.”