Public Employee Press

RESIDENCY VICTORY
Relief for 45,000 members becomes law as City Council overrides mayor’s veto 47-0

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

The City Council voted unanimously Feb. 11 to override Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s veto of the bill that lifts residency restrictions for 45,000 members of District Council 37.

With the 47–0 override vote, Intro. 837 became city law, capping the union’s two-and-a-half-year campaign for justice with victory.

“Lifting the residency requirement for our members has always been an equity issue and, after such a long struggle, this is definitely good news,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

The major legislative triumph — achieved through years of demonstrating and lobbying at City Hall — immediately gives DC 37 members whose locals have entered collective bargaining agreements or consent determinations and who have completed two years of city service the right to live within the six counties surrounding New York City—Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Putnam and Rockland.

Employees who were on the payroll when the bill was introduced are covered immediately; newly hired city workers will have to live in the city’s five boroughs for their first two years on the job.

A fight for fairness
“The magnitude of the city's housing shortage meant that more needed to be done,” Roberts said. The residency restriction had posed a hardship for workers searching for affordable housing in one of the country’s most expensive housing markets. In 2006, the mayor agreed in the union’s citywide contract to support expanding residency rules.

“The City Council has taken a major step in addressing a very important problem faced by the hardworking men and women who devote their lives to making sure this city runs smoothly,” Roberts said.

Since the residency restrictions were put in place in 1986, DC 37 has fought for members to enjoy the same rights and choices as other city employees, such as Police, Teachers, Firefighters and Sanitation workers.

“This is a significant victory in DC 37’s battle for fairness and justice,” said DC 37 Associate Director Oliver Gray. More than 85 percent of DC 37 members currently live in the city. While the new law gives them the option of moving to the surrounding counties, that number is not likely to change much.

The City Council passed the legislation 50–1 on Dec. 18, and the mayor vetoed the bill just before the Jan. 18 deadline. By then DC 37 had gained enough support in the City Council to override the veto, which required a minimum of 34 votes, said Political Action Director Wanda Williams.

Council member Robert Jackson and 44 others sponsored Intro. 837, which differs slightly from the original Intro. 452-A that former Council member Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. sponsored. Williams said the union thanks Speaker Christine Quinn and the members of City Council for their votes to override the veto.