CityHallNews.com

DC Election Set for January
Executive director candidates look to rebuild union as political powerhouse

By Courtney McLeod

A fight for the leadership of District Council 37, the city’s largest public employees union, is underway. At stake is the course the union will take in the next three years.

On one side of the election stands incumbent executive director Lillian Roberts, the first black woman to lead the union. At 78, most women her age have retired, but Roberts says she needs another term.

“I have so many things that can be done for the people that need it and want it, that I want to get those things in place,” Roberts said.

Roberts’ opponent is self-declared reformer Charles Ensley, who has been president of Social Service Employees Local 371 since 1982. He lost to Roberts in the 2003 DC 37 leadership race.

“Once upon a time, DC 37 was the preeminent union in the city. I don’t think you’ll find anyone today who will say that,” Ensley said.

Instead, he said, they’ll point to 1199SEIU, the health care workers’ union, or 32 BJ, the building service workers’ union.

Ensley—who, at 65, plans to retire from his local chapter regardless of the outcome of the race—has pledged to revamp what he calls the union’s non-existent political shop, and to secure better contracts and support direct election.

Currently, DC 37 elects its leaders through several hundred delegates representing each local. Their number is based on the local’s membership. Roberts has support of the two biggest local chapters – 1549 and 372, the Department Of Education’s chapter.

“There is a clear need to move DC 37 forward in a cohesive, coordinated way that unifies all the disparate factions of the union. And that is a big challenge for anybody to take on.” — political consultant Scott Levenson

Roberts was nominated Nov. 28 by Eddie Rodriguez, president of 1549. He says he nominated Roberts because of her four decades of experience and dedication to rank and file members.

That was not how things went in 2003. In that election, Rodriguez nominated Ensley for executive director, a move he now calls a big mistake.

“That’s not what the members wanted,” Rodriguez now says.

DC 37 represents 121,000 clerical and maintenance workers who work for the city. Many of them are among the lowest paid in the city.

The election comes at a time when many say labor is in the midst of decades-long challenges.

Many say the DC 37, which got its start in 1944, was at the pinnacle of its power under Victor Gotbaum, who led the union from 1965 through the 1980s. He was succeeded by Stanley Hill, who was removed in 1998, in the midst of DC 37’s corruption scandal.

One labor negotiator called Gotbaum the most powerful negotiator for city employees during the 1970s and 1980s.

Roberts played a major role in organizing new members in the 1960s and 1970s, then left in 1981 to become the state labor commissioner.

She was called back to the union in 2002, appointed to serve as executive director of a union roiled by a scandal, which resulted in the 1998 convictions of more than two dozen union leaders.

Scott Levenson, a Democratic political consultant with strong labor ties, said DC 37 has made progress since Roberts came back to DC 37, but that there is tremendous rebuilding still needing to be done.

“DC 37 pales in comparison to what it used to be in terms of its political action operation,” he said.

A lot may hinge on the results of the upcoming election.

“There is a clear need to move DC 37 forward in a cohesive, coordinated way that unifies all the disparate factions of the union. And that is a big challenge for anybody to take on,” he said.

The most recent contract negotiations secured over nine percent raises over 32 months and no givebacks. And the administration agreed to support legislation to end a residency requirement that DC 37 members must live within borough limits.

Roberts called the agreement “one of the best we’ve had in 20 years,” Roberts said.

Levenson had a slightly different perspective. Contracts under Giuliani, he said, have been “far better than the double zeros that were negotiated during the Giuliani years, but they’re not something to write home about.”

Ensley has been harshly critical of Roberts’ contract negotiations and says the union had a better contract as recently as two years ago. Over 90 percent of union members supported the most recent one.

Roberts refuses to engage in mudslinging, and says it’s what the members think that matters – and, she said, they don’t feel the same way.

“I really don’t care what he says about me — it doesn’t count.”

Roberts won by a wide margin in the last race and is confident she will win this race, as well.

Ensley says he has broad support among rank and file members, but said, “It remains to be seen what support we have in terms of Council 37.”

The election will be held Jan. 23 at a meeting of over 300 delegates proportionately representing the union’s 56 locals. Results are expected to be announced the following day.