Contract 2000: Stewards Lead Fight
Faced with difficult negotiations, stewards of DC 37 summon members’ initiative and energy to win at the bargaining table.
By Susan Ellen Holleran
NEW YORK CITY
The city won’t come across with the things we need unless we have a big mouth,” Bertha Smith tells the members of her local as she rallies support for Contract 2000. And she is right.
A good union contract does not just happen. It is the product of careful planning, research, political savvy and member involvement.
Last fall, as part of its efforts to gear up for Contract 2000, DC 37 invited its stewards to meet and discuss the upcoming negotiations. More than 1,200 stewards became engaged in the contract fight. They proceeded to get thousands of members to pledge to play an active role. In addition, the stewards encouraged members to contribute their ideas for the new pact.
DC 37 presented its bargaining demands to the city on March 15. Stewards organized lunchtime events at hundreds of sites across the city. The demonstrators wore buttons saying, “DC 37 Fair Contract Now,” and passed out leaflets on the issues.
Smith is a pest-control aide and Local 768 steward. Her members clean out unoccupied and condemned buildings to discourage rat infestation and prepare them for rehab. They meet daily before and after going out into the field. Smith used her time on the meeting agenda to discuss Contract 2000. She was proud of the response and even prouder of her co-workers — “a great group of unappreciated people.”
PERSONAL APPROACH. Pat Valenti spoke privately with each member at the New York Police Department’s print shop. Everyone filled out a card and volunteered to help.
“Some people were willing to wear buttons; some were willing to give out flyers outside the building,” says the Local 1087 steward. “Others volunteered to participate in rallies and to make phone calls to members.” His efforts are already paying off with higher attendance at membership meetings.
BROWSING THE WEB. For Tom Mecir, energizing his co-workers led to hours of Internet research. Mecir is a Local 1087 steward in the New York Fire Department’s radio repair shop.
He sat down with his members in the lunchroom and discussed the issues. “The health and safety issues are important to us all,” says Mecir, “Both inside and outside the repair shop.”
The radio repair crew’s wages are supposed to be linked to the state’s prevailing rate. “But when Giuliani froze us for two years, everybody else’s rate went up. The freeze hurt all our prevailing-rate members.”
WITHOUT COMPLAINTS. “Members have a lot to say,” says Staffrean Holt, a Local 768 steward. “I tried to impress on them that this was their opportunity to make a difference. I got a lot of feedback.”
Holt spoke with the members in her building in small groups. “I made it easy for them to get the cards and forms back.” Her challenging question: “Are you going to help get Contract 2000?”
Holt’s approach was all up close and personal. DC 37 now has crucial information for its bargaining committee and — equally significant — an army of members who will fight for fairness in Contract 2000.
