Year: 2016

  • DC 37 sets Lunch Time/Union Day meetings in July

    DC 37 sets Lunch Time/Union Day meetings in July

    The DC 37 Organizing Dept. will hold a Lunch Time Meeting and a Union Day in July to spread the word about union benefits and encourage members to become more involved in the union. “These events are part of an… Read more

  • Union, Library Advocates Rally At City Hall

    Union, Library Advocates Rally At City Hall

    By GREGORY N. HEIRES DC 37 is working with a coalition to secure an additional $65 million in operating funds for the city’s three public library systems in next year’s budget. The $65 million includes a… Read more

  • Climbers and Pruners Win Jobs

    Climbers and Pruners Win Jobs

    By DIANE S. WILLIAMS Four provisional Climbers and Pruners who were denied appointment to permanent status by the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services are now civil servants in the Parks Dept. thanks to DC 37’s successful… Read more

  • DC 37 Celebrates Asian Heritage, With a Nod Toward Politics

    DC 37 Celebrates Asian Heritage, With a Nod Toward Politics

    BY MIKE LEE With colorful dance, music and fanfare, the union’s Asian Heritage Committee kicked off its annual celebration at union headquarters before a packed house on May 20. The theme of the event was “Culture… Read more

  • Creating a Movement to Help Puerto Rican Workers Fight Debt Vultures and Austerity

    Creating a Movement to Help Puerto Rican Workers Fight Debt Vultures and Austerity

    By ALFREDO ALVARADO As Puerto Rico struggles with a staggering $70 billion debt owed to private investors and banks, union and community activists in New York City gathered at a teach-in to learn more about the… Read more

  • DC 37 Launches Office of Community Partnership

    DC 37 Launches Office of Community Partnership

    By ALFREDO ALVARADO Immigration reform, affordable housing and the city hospitals budget crisis are among the issues the union’s new Office of Community Partnership plans to address. DC 37 launched the OCP at union headquarters during… Read more

  • Unmasking the Gig Economy

    Unmasking the Gig Economy

    By GREGORY N. HEIRES What does the growth of the gig economy mean for American workers? Years from now, how many of us will earn our livelihood as online contingent workers without stable jobs? Those questions were addressed on May… Read more

  • Union Pushes For New Plan on Provisional Workforce

    Union Pushes For New Plan on Provisional Workforce

    BY GREGORY N. HEIRES The union is pushing for a new plan to reduce the ranks of provisional employees by moving thousands of them into permanent positions. A high-level union negotiating team is working with the… Read more

  • Asian Americans and the Labor Movement

    Asian Americans and the Labor Movement

    By MAF MISBAH UDDIN May is Asian Heritage Month, an opportunity to reflect upon Asian Americans’ growing contributions to the nation’s economy, politics, culture and the labor movement. The continent of Asia comprises 48 countries, including… Read more

  • Homeless

    Homeless

    By GREGORY N. HEIRES Employed and homeless. This is not supposed to occur in the United States, the self-described richest country in the world. But put together a little bad luck, a low-wage job and years… Read more

  • Trump: A Zero for Working People

    Trump: A Zero for Working People

    When an erratic billionaire and reality TV star known for bizarre, contradictory utterances, self-pitying victimization and overblown arrogance becomes a presidential candidate, you get a clown dressed as a prince while remaining a clown — a destructive… Read more

  • Bronx Book Lovers Organize

    Bronx Book Lovers Organize

    By ALFREDO ALVARADO Dr. Ilana Breslau, a Senior Psychologist at North Central Bronx Hospital, works with patients dealing with mental health issues. She also leads groups that meet weekly to discuss women’s and substance abuse issues. During… Read more

  • An Appeal For Unity

    An Appeal For Unity

    Hillary Clinton has virtually ensured her nomination as the Democratic candidate for president. The numbers tell the story: The delegate count after her recent victories in New York, Pennsylvania and other states make her a lock for… Read more

  • Fighting For Fair Budgets

    Fighting For Fair Budgets

    By HENRY GARRIDO Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO As part of a coalition we played an important role in stopping nearly $1 billion in combined cuts in the state budget to the City University… Read more

  • New York City Scraps Veolia Contract

    New York City Scraps Veolia Contract

    By DIANE S. WILLIAMS In a victory for providers and consumers of public services, city officials say a multi-million dollar contract with a private French conglomerate to manage the city’s 14 waste­water treatment plants will not… Read more

  • Juan Gonzalez: Iron Man of the News Room

    Juan Gonzalez: Iron Man of the News Room

    By TOM ROBBINS (Editor’s Note: After 29 years as a columnist for the New York Daily News, Juan Gonzalez retired from the paper in April to teach at Rutgers University. He will continue to write an occasional… Read more

  • Retiree Activist Loses Home in Fire

    Retiree Activist Loses Home in Fire

    By ALFREDO ALVARADO For 30 years, Sallie Robertson worked a busy Brooklyn intersection as a Local 372 School Crossing Guard helping the students from St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School cross Nostrand Avenue. Robertson, now a… Read more

  • Union Backs Mayor’s Call for $2 Billion Infusion of New Funds for the City’s Public Hospitals

    Union Backs Mayor’s Call for $2 Billion Infusion of New Funds for the City’s Public Hospitals

    By DIANE S. WILLIAMS In a show of commitment to NYC Health + Hospitals, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a $2 billion infusion of aid to stop a financial hemorrhage that for decades has plagued the… Read more

  • DC 37 Activists Help Clinton Win New York’s Democratic Presidential Primary

    DC 37 Activists Help Clinton Win New York’s Democratic Presidential Primary

    By ALFREDO ALVARADO Democratic Party presidential challenger Bernie Saunders filled Washington Square Park and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park with thousands of his supporters who were feeling the Bern, but it was Hillary Clinton who rocked the vote… Read more

  • Health Advocates Demand More State and Federal Funding for Public Hospitals

    Health Advocates Demand More State and Federal Funding for Public Hospitals

    By ALFREDO ALVARADO DC 37 leaders joined health care activists and Public Advocate Letitia James, City Council member Vanessa Gibson and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to demand the federal and state governments provide more funding… Read more