Members of the largest union of municipal workers in New York City have a new fixation.
Workers who successfully pushed their union to endorse Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary last year are once again seeking to pressure union leaders; this time with their sights set on securing big raises in the union's upcoming citywide economic agreement.
Hundreds of workers across several District Council 37 locals who organized themselves in group chats and biweekly meetings that grew out of the endorsement effort have launched Serve NYC, Afford NYC, a campaign to push for a contract with the city that secures DC 37 members a $30 minimum wage and 6.5 percent raises each year – double workers’ current yearly raise under their last contract.
Leaders of the organizing effort say that almost 1,500 union members have already filled out a bargaining survey sent out by organizers, and that there’s deep and widespread interest amongst the heavily hierarchical union’s rank and file for union leadership to open negotiations with the city up for member engagement. Organizers of Serve NYC, Afford NYC are now circulating a petition saying that signatories will vote down any tentative agreement the union reaches that doesn't include the group's key priorities.
The workers’ campaign, if successful, would have reverberations across the city’s municipal workforce.
DC 37’s citywide economic agreement, covering around 90,000 workers, is traditionally the first contract the city reaches each bargaining cycle. It sets the wage standard for most of the city’s 300,000-person workforce, including for the United Federation of Teachers members.
DC 37’s current agreement with the city, reached in February 2023 and expiring Nov. 6, features three percent raises for the first four years and a final 3.25 percent raise this year.
This cycle's stakes are high for the DC 37’s lowest-paid workers like Kayleen Peña, a clerical office aide at the Brooklyn Public Library who makes $19 an hour who has long felt shut-out of the bargaining process and refuses to stomach another contract with three percent yearly raises.
Peña feels that DC 37, like much of the U.S. labor movement, has been “asleep at the wheel,” and with a socialist mayor in office who campaigned on a $30 minimum wage, the union must make big demands.
"I completely do not trust union leadership to actually make maximalists demands and be transparent with us unless there is a big pressure campaign for these rank-and-file workers,” Peña said. "It would be a lot nice to feel like I have more of a say in big things that affect all of us like economic agreements. It’s always been a super opaque process."
But union leaders have not welcomed the organizing effort.
DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido caught a whiff of the campaign earlier this year and in a March delegates meeting scolded the members involved in the effort, suggesting that members were attempting to sidestep and undermine the union’s normal processes, several DC 37 members said. The union has sent out its own bargaining survey with a description reading “This is the ONLY survey that will be considered in negotiations for DC 37’s economic contract with the City of New York.”
“DC 37 has functioned as a bureaucratic monolith for so long that they see any independent activity at all as being nothing less than an existential threat,” said Thomas Hummel, a leader of Serve NYC, Afford NYC and member of the Queens Public Library Guild, Local 1321.
A day after Garrido made his remarks in the delegates meeting, Hummel said, DC 37’s Secretary John Hyslop called Hummel and told him in direct terms that if Hummel continued to organize the rank-and-file contract effort, Hyslop, also Local 1321's president, would not appoint him as a shop steward. Hummel had just completed a ten-week steward training course, but Hyslop has full control over shop steward appointments and told Hummel that he was undermining DC 37.
“I told Thomas that the survey he is doing is not endorsed by DC 37 and so if he’s going to continue pushing this contract campaign, he can’t be a shop steward,” Hyslop confirmed in an interview last week. “It’s not retaliation. I encouraged him to get involved with DC 37's contract campaign. He refused to do that.”
”I feel bad for the situation,” Hyslop added. “He would be a good shop steward if he followed DC 37’s lead, but he refuses to."
"It's been brutal,” Hummel said of Hyslop and Garrido's reaction. “They've come down on it extremely hard."
The reformers and union leadership can find common ground on one initiative; adding remote work guarantees into the contract. Currently a pilot program that’s been a hit among the thousands of members taking advantage of working from home two days a week, Garrido has said the union plans to push for the city to lock in remote work in the next contract.
Questions on remote work as well as concerns about Artificial Intelligence – another key issue Garrido has voiced – were included in DC 37’s official survey along with inquiries on wage increases and maintaining members’ health insurance. The union is planning a contract day of action in workplaces later this year as well as a contract rally Sept. 5.
A spokesperson for DC 37 did not respond to a request for comment or a question on how many members filled out the official union survey.
Participation in the rank-and-file contract campaign is especially high from two unions where young reformers recently won power – Local 3005 and Peña’s Local 1482 – and other, larger locals like Local 375 and Local 371 where young members aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America have successfully run in local chapter elections or have built up organizing infrastructure since 2020.
Workers say they’ve been building support for the Serve NYC, Afford NYC campaign in a similar fashion to how they built support for Mamdani last year – with workplace conversations and by flyering outside DC 37 and local events.
And over the weekend, workers held their second town hall for DC 37 members. The goal was to gather interested workers and determine contract priorities, organizers said, with around 15-20 members attending the town hall in person and more than 80 tuning in over Zoom, organizers said.
Beyond the demands for raises and remote work, organizers said their platform includes pushing for the city to cover more costs - like uniform expenses - currently covered by workers, and winning free transit benefits for city workers.
Rank-and-file organizing in DC 37 has increased in size and prevalence since the nationwide renewal of the labor movement during the Covid-19 pandemic, and organizing for pensions to be divested from Israeli stocks and bonds has been a key issue getting more members involved in their unions since late 2023.
But Cristina Rodriguez-Hart, a Local 3005 member involved with the insurgent campaign, says the Mamdani endorsement campaign was "the first time a lot of us did something across different locals and it was effective."
She sees the push for a $30 minimum wage not only necessary so that city workers can keep up with the cost of living but also as a way to hold the mayor to his campaign promise of raising the city's minimum wage to $30 an hour.
"New York City has really become unaffordable for the middle class, the working class and certainly for city workers," she said. "We're being priced out of the city that we work in and work for."
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Axxhole
I posted on reddit about this along with the petition! Come and sign we need all the help we can get! https://www.reddit.com/r/nycpublicservants/s/LaaoPO7CO8
Tuesday, July 14 Report this
Valete
If the union’s demands genuinely benefit DC 37s union members’ lives, I wholeheartedly support the Members of New York City’s largest municipal workers’ union in securing a $30 minimum wage and 6.5% annual raises in their upcoming contract negotiations. Therefore, I fully endorse The Serve NYC, Afford NYC campaign, spearheaded by everyday workers, to advocate for these demands. This initiative would not only enhance the lives of their members but also contribute to the overall well-being of the city’s municipal workforce. It’s long overdue to ensure that municipal workers receive a fair and equitable living.
Thursday, July 16 Report this
RayMarkey
As someone who once participated in a One Person, One Vote campaign in DC37 many years ago I fully support a campaign to achieve this goal that we failed to accomplish.
However I would like to comment on the attack on Thomas Hummel. a member of Local 1321 by John Hyslop, President of the Queens Public Library Guild, Local 1321 and DC37 Secretary. It seems a bit heavy handed to say Thomas Hummel, a member of his Local should not be a shop steward after he successfully completed a ten week training course. President Hyslop says "He would be a good shop steward if he followed DC37's lead but he refuses to do so." What exactly does one thing have to do with the other. Disagreeing with the leadership of DC37 on any one question does not make one unfit to be a shop steward. In fact as the President of a Local representing library workers John should be defending free speech rather than attacking it.
Finally I would like to commend Thomas Hummel for being willing to stand his ground even if it means not being allowed to defend the workers of Local 1321 as shop steward. This is something he clearly wants to do and after completing a ten week training course is capable of doing. The members of Local 1321 will suffer more than he will.
Ray Markey
Retired City Workers for Mamdani
President (Ret) New York Public Library Guild, Local 1930
Vice President (Ret) DC37
Thursday, July 16 Report this
DOTHERIGHTTHING
What's next? Garrido sold out NYC Medicare Retirees Earned Healthcare to fund the last round of Rai$es
Monday, July 20 Report this
Oldmanlabor
Sadly these unions have become so in love with power and money that they have forgotten who pays dues and that the union is more powerful when members are involved. They think just the name will get them respect but they must listen to members to stand up to heavy handed management.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
MARIANNE.PIZZITOLA
John Hyslop is another example of a failed leader. Having called New York City, Retirees, stupid and shortsighted when he supported trying to force Retirees into Medicare advantage and then assessed more cost transfer in the health program on Low pension Retirees, when Retirees fought back, he was frustrated. They tried pressuring elected City Council members to support their position that Retirees should be forced to manage care and pay more for healthcare in retirement.
The Bill referenced, was to protect Retired unionist healthcare from being diminished in retirement. It does not impair union from collectively bargaining for its members and since Retirees are no longer union members, it protects what we earned from being reduced after we have Retired. If Henry Garrido and John were honest union leaders, they wouldn’t have tried to steal from their Retired unionists and left us no choice, but to do legislation to protect ourselves from them.
https://youtu.be/fIv2zRmS-Ow?is=j-flzfqdyL-Unhie
Saturday, September 19 Report this
corodriguez2000
Leadership of DC37 along with the teacher union leadership has hurt all city retirees by trying to trade away retiree health benefits. Mulgrew and Garrido are snakes aling sll presidents that vote to hurt retirees with co pays and medicare advantage. They lied to retirees and I am sure they will lie to active members. Do not trust them to have your best interests at heart.
Wednesday, September 23 Report this