National AFSCME News
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Meet Your New Safety and Health Director By MIKE LEE Veronica Foley, a skilled leader with years of experience as a principal program coordinator for the union’s Safety and Health Dept. was recently promoted to director of the department, replacing Guille Mejia, who retired at the end of last year. Foley, who is a graduate of SUNY Geneseo, also has a master’s degree in international affairs from The New School. Prior to coming to DC 37, she worked several years as a consultant for several non-governmental organizations. “Protecting the safety and health of our members is paramount,” Foley said. “This responsibility affords us the opportunity to create sustainable models of support for each other and the labor movement as a whole.” Foley plans to integrate communication with other divisions and departments within DC 37 to better assess safety and health conditions for the union’s 125,000 members. “I’m working on laying a groundwork for collaboration as well as streamlining the processes we currently have in place for supporting members,” said Foley. “One way I am doing this is by emphasizing education and am currently working with NYCOSH (New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health) to collaborate on relevant trainings for members.” The union’s Safety and Health Dept. [...] — Feb 21
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A New Hope By HENRY GARRIDO At the beginning of last year, many pundits and labor advocates were pessimistic about the future of the labor movement. First, the U.S. Supreme Court was expected to rule in favor of the plaintiff in the anti-union Janus v. AFSCME case. Many believed an adverse ruling would hurt public employee unions financially and lead to a loss of membership. Second, we were worried about the country’s political climate. In Washington, D.C., the Trump administration — with its huge tax giveaway to the rich, lifting of regulations, and efforts to dismantle Obamacare — was clearly pursuing an agenda aimed at hurting working families. Meanwhile, a well-funded, extreme, right-wing net-work continued to carry out a nationwide campaign to kill off unions. But guess what? The doom-and-gloom scenario never happened. Chicken Little disappeared from the landscape. At DC 37, our three-year campaign to speak about the value of belonging to our union has resonated with members. By believing in and sticking with the union in this time of crisis, we have blunted the effects of Janus, and in so doing, have strengthened our power. Significantly, we were part of a nationwide movement that resoundingly voted against the Trump agenda in [...] — Feb 15
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Union Mourns Its Latino Culture Pioneer By DIANE S. WILLIAMS DC 37, family and friends are shocked and saddened at the sudden death of Alfredo Alvarado, who died on February 9. He retired last August after 17 years as an associate editor at the union’s award-winning newspaper, the Public Employee Press. A media trailblazer, before joining DC 37 Alfredo founded and published Latino NY magazine and hosted the first Latin music radio show in the New York City market on WBAI. His groundbreaking radio show, and later Latino NY, documented the birth and growth of salsa and Latin music and culture. Alfredo interviewed and befriended many music greats—Tito Puente, Rueben Blades, Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto, David Sanchez, Cachao, Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Valentin and other artists while carving a space for inclusion of Puerto Rican culture in New York City’s highly competitive media and entertainment fields. “Alfredo was a musicologist and mentor who provided a start and a space for other writers, photographers and filmmakers to shine including Mark Holston, Fernando Gonzalez, Larry Birnbaum, Enid Farber, Judith Escalona, and Awilda Rivera of WBGO,” said writer Eugene Holley Jr. His articles for Public Employee Press shone a light on important issues regarding health and public hospitals, Emergency Medical [...] — Feb 14
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Union Celebrates African American Heritage By DIANE S. WILLIAMS This month’s ongoing celebration honoring African American pride and purpose continues to attract hundreds of DC 37 members and retirees to its 38th annual Black History Month events. In addition to local events at union headquarters tonight, next week there will be events on Feb. 21 and 22. Black History Committee Chair Deborah Pitts, who is also DC 37’s Secretary, and Local 1113 will host Finale Night on Feb. 28. “This is the time of year we come together to celebrate African Americans as a people and share our heritage and culture,” said Pitts, the union’s Secretary and president of Local 1113. To kick off the union’s Black heritage month there was a ribbon-cutting opening ceremony Feb. 1 led by Pitts, Associate Director Oliver Gray and Treasurer Mah Misbah Uddin, who is also president of Local 1407. Afterwards, hundreds of SSEU Local 371 members packed Rooms 1-4 to hear from leading women in politics including New York Attorney General Leticia James, and a special Skype message from U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who announced her candidacy for U.S. President in 2020 in January. “We are celebrating African American history of the past and history in [...] — Feb 13
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Union Helps Homeless Member Start Over By DIANE S. WILLIAMS Morris Johnson lived in two rooms in a rambling old house he shared with longtime friends that he considered family. “We lived like close family. I paid my $550 rent every month,” said Johnson, a Local 420 Institutional Aide since 2005. The house where Johnson lived was in an East New York neighborhood bordered by elevated train lines, just down the hill from the Jackie Robinson Parkway and Brooklyn’s Evergreen Cemetery. It was Johnson’s home for more than a decade. Until it wasn’t. “I’m blindsided,” said Johnson, 65, who bikes to work each day at the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene in Long Island City. “I came home to find the sheriff locked the house. The family– a mother and her three grown children — cut out,” Johnson said. In January the house was foreclosed, and seized by the bank. “They never said a word to me about their financial problems,” he said. “They just moved on. I had to put my stuff in storage. I found a room at a nearby hotel. Basically, I was homeless.” Shocked by his reversal of circumstances, Johnson said, “After work I’d still go home not realizing I didn’t [...] — Feb 11