Clerical local to hold election following administratorship

For the first time since it was placed under administratorship over two years ago, District Council 37’s Local 1549 will hold elections for officer positions within the local.

Nominations took place Oct. 1 at a general membership meeting. Local 1549 represents more than 10,000 clerical workers across the city, including secretaries, clerical aides and police telecommunication technicians. 

The local was placed under administratorship by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in September 2022 after a draft audit found “serious” financial deficiencies and “numerous violations of AFSCME’s Financial Standards code.” The local’s longtime president, Eddie Rodriguez, and the union’s other officers, were immediately removed from their positions, and Rodriguez was expelled months after the administratorship was imposed.

Two slates are running in the November election: the Members In Charge slate, headed by Anthony Lackhan, and the Team Forward slate, which is headed by Debbie-Ann Gutierrez. Two other Local 1549 members, Alvin Carter and Nicole Gates, are running for president as independent candidates.

Members In Charge’s William Banfield is running for executive price president against Vanessa Reed of Team Forward, while MIC’s Honda Wang is challenging Team Forward’s Yolanda Holliday for the local’s secretary-treasurer position.

Lackhan and Wang brought the charges against Local 1549’s officers that initially prompted AFSCME’s draft audit of the local’s finances.

“I’m grateful to AFSCME for what they have done. But [what the election means] is that members will actually have a choice,” Lackhan, a longtime shop steward who has been a member of Local 1549 since 2010, said during a phone interview.

Gutierrez, a grievance representative who has been a member of the local for 33 years, said that the members were “happy” that the elections are taking place. “They were upset at the time that the local will was placed under administratorship,” she said during a phone interview.

Lackhan said that, if elected, one of his first goals is to focus on training shop stewards once they are elected. “Without shop stewards, the administration fails because that’s the first person the members look to see,” he explained.

Earlier this year, the union held elections for chapter chairs and six delegate positions, the latter won by, among others, Lackhan, Carter, Gates and Wang.

Back to members

Gutierrez noted that she wants to “bring back integrity and trust in the union” by advocating full transparency. “I also want to bring back the mentoring program — we need to start bridging the gap between the new generation and the senior members,” she said.

Lackhan said that he wants to increase member engagement and focus on training members on what to expect as a member and all of the advantages that the union can provide. “It makes you a stronger member, and it also helps to retain workers in the city,” he said. 

He noted that his parents were government workers in Trinidad, and that other members of his family also work for the city. Lackhan explained that he decided to run in this year's election because “I want to make sure their healthcare and pension is taken care of.”

Gutierrez, who first became active in the union when she ran to become a shop steward in 1996, said that one of the biggest issues Local 1549 members are facing is short-staffing, a problem that is plaguing nearly every city agency. During her years on the job, she said she’s witnessed many breaches of labor law, including contract violations. “It’s been challenging — we have to find a partnership with management,” she said.

Wang, an analyst at the city’s Campaign Finance Board, said he decided to run for secretary-treasurer for the Members In Charge slate because his job revolves around financial compliance and “what it means to have a fiduciary responsibility.”

He praised Lackhan for his activism in the union, including rallying members to vote against a dues increase that was proposed by the local in 2015, and noted that Gutierrez had ties to the previous administration because she was previously a sergeant-at-arms.

“The members have a choice to make. They have a choice between sticking with people affiliated with the old guard. Or they have the opportunity for a new slate that will empower the rank-and-file members,” Wang said during a phone interview.

But Gutierrez clarified that she had no control over the union’s financial responsibilities in her position as sergeant-at-arms. “I was not a top officer; I was not part of those financial discussions,” she said. “The sergeant-at-arms keeps order during the meetings — that was my duty.”

She added that she was extremely proud of the diverse slate she had assembled, which includes members from a range of agencies, including the Human Resources Administration, the NYPD, 311, Health + Hospitals and the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.

“I love my team — I’m humbled by and grateful for them. I’m just hitting the ground running and I’m looking forward to bringing the local back,” she said. 

"When I win, I want my opposition team to join forces with me to bring back the local,” she added. “And if I don't win, I would want the opposition team to extend the same."

Wang stated that his MIC slate is seeking to have a rank-and-file that is "organized enough to bargain for better raises and compressed work schedules and can leverage enough power to demand Tier 6 reforms." Gutierrez noted that her Team Forward slate "was looking to move forward and expand the local's membership."

According to the local’s website, the voting period for the mail ballot election will run from Nov. 1 until Nov. 22, with the ballots expected to be counted that day..

clewis@thechiefleader.com