Public Employee Press

Election Day volunteers petition for Hillary and union’s DNC delegates

The first wave of activism to get Hillary Clinton — endorsed by AFSCME and by the DC 37 Executive Board — on the Democratic ticket for president of the United States and send a slate of DC 37 leaders as delegates to the 2008 Democratic convention got underway Nov. 6 as union volunteers fanned out across the city with ballot petitions.

The DC 37 political Green Machine took its Election Day message to the people at high-traffic zones outside supermarkets, subway and bus stops and the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in Manhattan.

The volunteers combed the streets in search of registered Democrats willing to sign petitions for Clinton and the union’s Democratic National Convention delegate hopefuls.

On petitions to become delegates to the 2008 DNC in Denver are union leaders from five congressional districts: Lillian Roberts, executive director; Maf Misbah Uddin, treasurer and Local 1407 president; Lenny Allen, Local 2021 president and Political Action Committee chair; Wanda Williams, political director; and Local 1549 member and community activist Belinda Dixon. DNC delegates can be elected, appointed or selected.

“I support the Democratic Party and I want our candidates to win,” said Renee Davis, a Local 768 retiree who worked the 8th Congressional District on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for signatures for Roberts and Sen. Clinton.

At least 1,250 signatures of New York State registered Democrats are needed for a candidate’s name to appear on the primary ballot. The petition process ends Dec. 3, and for those who get on the ballot, the primary vote will be on Feb. 5.

“I volunteered because I want to see Hillary Clinton on the ballot and I want to see that our leaders are sent to the convention,” said Local 1549 member Jeanese Jackson, a 21-year veteran of the Dept. of Social Services. As she passed out flyers at a busy downtown subway stop, Jackson said, “I support my union and I want to make sure workers’ rights are protected.”