Roberts team starts new term

	THE UNION’S FOUR RE-ELECTED TOP OFFICERS, installed at Jan. 22 delegates meeting, from left: Secretary Clifford Koppelman, Executive Director Lillian Roberts, President Eddie Rodriguez and Treasurer Maf Misbah Uddin. Roberts is in her fifth term at the helm of District Council 37, the city’s largest public employee union, which has 110,000 members.

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts and her “Members First” team were sworn in for a new three-year term of office Jan. 22 at the union’s delegates meeting.

As she begins her fifth term leading the union of more than 110,000 members, Roberts has identified her top priorities:

• returning the union to its headquarters, currently closed for repair of extensive damage caused by Hurricane Sandy,
• winning additional compensation for certain titles through a union-management salary review panel,
• negotiating a new economic agreement with the Bloomberg administration, and
• mobilizing for the mayoral election in November.

“We will be fighting hard to protect our members’ benefits.” Roberts said.

The officers and Executive Board were sworn in after the more than 300 delegates re-elected Secretary Cliff Koppelman, the president of Local 1070, who defeated
Local 375’s Michelle Keller by a membership-weighted vote of 64,263 to 46,558. “I look forward to working with the leadership team to protect the interests of our members,” Koppelman told PEP.

The secretary position was the only one challenged when the Roberts team of four executive officers and 20 vice presidents from the smaller local unions was nominated without opposition at the November delegates meeting. In addition to Roberts and Koppelman, the other two top officers are President Eddie Rodriguez, Local 1549 president, and Treasurer Maf Misbah Uddin, Local 1407 president.

Under the DC 37 Constitution, the delegates from the five locals that each represent over 5 percent of the union’s membership (371, 372, 375, 420 and 1549) elect their own DC 37 vice presidents. They chose Anthony Wells (371), Santos Crespo Jr. (372), Jon Forster (375), Carmen Charles (420) and Alma Roper (1549).

The 20 vice presidents from the union’s smaller locals are Local 2627 President Robert Ajaye, Local 1505 President Dilcy Benn, Local 1507 President Sirra J. Crippen, Local 1455 President Michael DeMarco, Local 384 President Cuthbert B. Dickenson, Local 154 President Juan Fernandez, Local 1655 President Jonathan H. Gray, Local 1501 President Robert K. Herkommer, Local 1359 President Dennis Ifill, Local 1597 President Eric Latson, Local 2054 President Dishunta Meredith, Local 2507 President Israel Miranda, Eileen M. Muller, Local 482, Local 1113 President Deborah A. Pitts, Local 957 President Walthene Primus, Local 299 President Jackie Rowe-Adams, Local 508 President Peter Stein, Local 1320 President James Tucciarelli, Locale 384 President Esther “Sandy” Tucker and Local 1219 President Shirley Williams.

Debbie Lane, chair of the DC 37 Election Committee, a Local 384 member, administered the oath of office and swore in the union officers minutes after she announced the election result tabulated by the impartial American Arbitration Association. Committee members Donna Seale of Local 957 and Joe Puleo of Local 983 worked with Lane to oversee the vote.

— Public Employee Press, March 2013