Category: Unions

Dromm Op-Ed on Gotham Gazette: A Bad Deal at the Municipal Credit Union

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Council Member Dromm, the author (photo: William Alatriste/New York City Council)

As we confront the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, millions of residents face serious financial insecurity, and are worried about how they are going to pay their bills. They are worried about themselves and their loved ones getting sick or not being able to work due to the social distancing regulations in place.

For workers at Municipal Credit Union, the largest credit union in New York, the crisis has only made recent negotiations between management and the union representing them worse.

Over 500,000 city workers depend on MCU for their banking needs, including mortgages, car loans, and checking and savings accounts. Nearly 400 union MCU workers are working hard to ensure that New Yorkers have access to their finances at this crucial and challenging time, but they are also facing the risk of exposure. They need to be assured protection and treatment should they get sick. Many MCU employees have reported that they are not being supplied with enough masks, forcing them to reuse the ones they do get and putting them at higher risk of contraction.

While all of this goes on, I understand from the workers that MCU management is now attempting to take away sick days, increase health-care premiums, and raise deductibles. These decisions will cost MCU families thousands of dollars more each year to ensure they have access to health care. It is another attempt in a long line of recent actions by MCU management to weaken employee rights. Recent layoffs without union agreement have also meant that there is even less staff to handle the important work that must be done at this moment.

Last year when the New York State Department of Financial Services took possession of MCU following massive embezzlement by the CEO, things were supposed to turn around. However, they have only gotten worse for hardworking employees. Following the Department’s appointment of the National Credit Union Association as conservator and its appointment of the Consultant Management Team to help operate the credit union through conservatorship, Jackson Lewis, a law firm known for their union-busting tactics, was hired.

Over the last few months, the union has repeatedly requested the ability to bargain over multiple days, and so far there has been refusal to bargain more than one day a week. There have also been questions about Jackson Lewis’ authority to bargain, and when union representatives asked about this authority, the attorney’s response was that the union should file an unfair labor practice charge. These kinds of tactics are hurting workers everyday, making it more difficult for them to provide the essential services needed.

While MCU employees make sure that New Yorkers can walk into a branch and take out money to pay their bills, high-priced attorneys are making thousands of dollars with the goal of permanently damaging workers’ rights. It is just not right.

We face extraordinarily difficult times, and the hardworking OPEIU members who make up MCU should not have to worry about sick time during this COVID-19 pandemic, or their health-care and jobs. It is time for the NCUA, CMT, and MCU management to do the right thing and put an end to these attempts to slash sick time and increase health-care premiums at a time when these essential workers are needed more than ever.

Read more here.

United Federation of Teachers: UFT to form district political teams

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Photo: Erica Berger
UFT President Michael Mulgrew leads the applause as the Delegate Assembly hears from (seated, from left) City Council Education Chair Mark Treyger, Council Finance Chair Danny Dromm and Council Speaker Corey Johnson.

By Joe LoVerde

Originally published by UFT.org on November 7, 2019

UFT President Michael Mulgrew announced at the first Delegate Assembly of the school year on Oct. 16 that the union would like every school district to have a political action team in place to keep friends of public education in office and get adequate funding for schools.

Mulgrew said the political action teams would also make a major push to get all New Yorkers to take part in the 2020 Census so the city receives its proper share of federal funding.

“The majority of money we get for bridges, tunnels and roads comes from the federal government,” Mulgrew said. “We get billions of dollars a year for education from the federal government. And the biggest chunk of funds we get for health care comes from the federal government.”

The formula used to determine how much New York receives comes from the Census, he said.

Mulgrew said slightly more than 60 percent of New Yorkers took part in the last Census 10 years ago, which was the lowest rate for a large city in the nation.

Mulgrew noted that many members of the City Council who have helped champion UFT education programs and initiatives would soon be term-limited out of office.

While he was speaking about the importance of strong political allies, three examples were sitting on the Shanker Hall stage: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Finance Chair Danny Dromm and Council Education Chair Mark Treyger.

“The City Council has become an amazing partner,” Mulgrew said. “And because of this we have been able to do things that are important to us.”

It was a homecoming for Dromm and Treyger, former UFT members who attended the Delegate Assembly before being elected to the Council.

“Has it made a difference for this union that we went out of our way to try to get UFT members elected to the City Council?” Mulgrew asked. “Clearly it has made a huge difference.”

Last June the Council stabilized funding for Teacher’s Choice by making it a baseline part of the annual city budget. It also provided funding for the UFT Teacher Center, United Community Schools, the Positive Learning Collaborative, the BRAVE anti-bullying program and Dial-A-Teacher — all UFT initiatives.

The Council also baselined $30 million in funding to hire 285 additional social workers, an increase in staffing the UFT had demanded for years.

Johnson told the delegates the Council was working with the Department of Education to redesign the Fair Student Funding formula to ensure that schools educating large numbers of homeless students receive adequate funding.

Dromm noted the Council was working to get the DOE to ensure that students with disabilities receive all the services mandated on their IEPs and that teachers have curriculum aligned with the state’s new Next Generation Learning Standards.

Treyger stressed the importance of addressing the social and emotional needs of students with increased support staff like school psychologists, school counselors and social workers.

“You can see they understand our needs and are committed to public education,” Mulgrew said. “And when it was time to stand up, these gentlemen did so and made things happen.”

Read more here.

UFT President Mulgrew: Allies needed more than ever

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UFT President Michael Mulgrew (second from right) is joined on stage by (from left) City Council Finance Committee Chair Danny Dromm, Speaker Corey Johnson and Education Committee Chair Mark Treyger. (Photo: Jonathan Fickies)

By Joe Loverde

Published by the United Federation of Teachers on February 1, 2018

The Supreme Court ruling in the Janus case is looming. The federal tax overhaul is a bitter pill for New York State. At times like these, UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the Delegate Assembly on Jan. 17, the union needs politicians in office who understand its members’ needs and are willing to fight for public schools.

“We need our allies more than ever,” he said.

A few minutes later, three of those allies — new City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, new Council Finance Committee Chair Danny Dromm and new Council Education Committee Chair Mark Treyger — were introduced to rousing applause.

“We have a City Council that understands what we do and works with us hand in hand,” Mulgrew told the delegates who packed Shanker Hall in Manhattan for the first meeting of the new year. “And these three are some of the best partners you can have.”

Johnson, who grew up in a union household and credited Mulgrew with helping him become elected speaker, called the UFT “a strong, progressive, well-organized union that serves children every day to make this city better — in good times and in bad.”

Johnson called the Council threesome “a dream team” for the union and public education.

Dromm, a teacher from 1984 to 2009 at PS 199 in Queens where he served as chapter leader, told delegates that the UFT “has created change in this city.” When he was a chapter leader, Dromm said, “Members would ask what politics has to do with education. I think the three of us standing here today shows what it means, and we will continue to fight in solidarity with the United Federation of Teachers.”

Treyger, who was first elected to the Council in 2013, started as a paraprofessional and later became a teacher and delegate at New Utrecht HS in Brooklyn. He told the delegates, “When it comes time to make budget decisions, that’s when you find out who your friends are.”

Mulgrew said having Gov. Andrew Cuomo as a partner — an alliance which took some work — has also paid dividends for UFT members. Mulgrew noted that Cuomo was trying to shield New Yorkers from some of the harm of the loss of state income tax deductions. Of the 3 percent increase in state education aid in the governor’s proposed budget despite the state’s looming deficit, Mulgrew said he was “proud that New York State is spending more than any state on public education. That’s the way it should be.”

The UFT president pointed out the loudest applause during Cuomo’s budget speech came when the governor said New York “will be the state that protects workers and unions.”

Read more here.

Ny1: Touring Daniel Dromm’s District

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NY1 VIDEO: The Road to City Hall’s Errol Louis visited City Councilman Daniel Dromm’s 25th city council district in Queens.

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Times Ledger: Dromm, union battle Trade Fair over wages

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From Times Ledger: By Rebecca Henely

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) threw his support behind a local union Tuesday in its labor negotiations with the Queens supermarket chain Trade Fair, going so far as to visit one of the Jackson Heights stores and speak to the employees facing loss of full-time work.

“I will not tolerate this treatment of workers in my community,” Dromm said. “My office is here to serve you.”

Dromm held a news conference with members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 342 union in which he signed a petition in support of Trade Fair’s meat department workers, which is in contract negotiations with the supermarket chain’s ownership. Trade Fair, which markets itself on carrying food native to the diverse populations in its neighborhoods, has 11 locations in Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside and Richmond Hill.

Trade Fair said it had no comment on the negotiations or Dromm’s support of the union. Stores in Jackson Heights and Astoria have a sign posted about the negotiations indicating Trade Fair’s need to be competitive with non-union stores.

Kate Meckler, spokeswoman for Local 342, said the union has been bargaining for more than a year with the ownership, including Trade Fair President Frank Jabber, on behalf of 100 meat department workers across the 11 stores. Meckler said the workers want fair wages, to maintain their health care benefits and to keep their Sunday premium hours, but Jabber wants to make all full-time workers part-time and to end any wage increases.

“His proposals that he’s offered to the workers are unacceptable,” Meckler said.

Some workers say Jabber has also threatened retaliation and posted “Help Wanted” signs in some store windows.

“They say if they take any action to get their contract, they would be replaced,” said a Spanish-to-English translator on behalf of 15-year-meat department worker Milvia Lopez.

The union said workers had gone on an unfair labor practice strike at the stores Wednesday morning. They offered to come back to work later in the afternoon, but the company refused, the union said.

Employees of Trade Fair who do not work in the meat department are represented by a different union and are still under their previous contract, Meckler said.

Dromm has fought with Trade Fair in the past, particularly the location at 75-07 37th Ave. near his office, which he visited to express his support of the meat department workers. The councilman has criticized the 75th Street Trade Fair for erecting a sidewalk enclosure, which was later taken down after the supermarket received a fine from the city Department of Buildings.

He also slammed the store for allowing delivery trucks to idle outside the store after one truck driver allegedly struck the councilman and took his phone.

“Mr. Jabber thinks he’s above the law, and we’ve seen this type of behavior before,” Dromm said. “We say that he is a menace to our community.”

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The Queens Chronicle: Town hall meeting: no teacher layoffs

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From the Queens Chronicle: By Benjamin Graham

Teachers and parents in Jackson Heights voiced their concerns over teacher layoffs at a town hall meeting hosted by Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and United Federation of Teachers Queens District 30 Representative Barbara Mylite on Monday.

At the meeting, held in the auditorium of PS 69 in Jackson Heights, Dromm spoke of his time as a teacher in Queens and expressed his concerns about education cuts and the upcoming budget deadline.

“We have a $3 billion surplus. Why are we even thinking about cuts?” he said. “The mayor doesn’t believe in career educators.

“He must have had a bad teacher when he was young.”

Dromm then accused Mayor Bloomberg of using the teacher cuts to take down the unions.

Bloomberg’s proposed $65.7 billion executive spending plan for fiscal year 2012 calls for about 6,100 fewer teachers.

The City Council is in charge of approving the final budget, which must be in place before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

Bloomberg has said the layoffs are necessary because of budget cuts from the state and federal governments, as well as rising healthcare and pension costs.

But many council members, including Dromm and Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), argue that the layoffs will be devastating to the school system. They say there are other places the cuts can be made.

“Losing teachers would result in, among other things, larger class sizes and a substantial deterioration of the system’s ability to provide children with the quality education they deserve,” Quinn and Council Finance Chairman Domenic Recchia Jr. (D-Brooklyn) said in a joint statement on June 1.

Quinn and Recchia identified several areas of the Department of Education’s budget they believe could be trimmed in place of teachers, including many top administrative positions, technology and contracts for professional development.

“To date, our alternative cuts total more than $75 million that could be used toward saving teachers and preventing layoffs,” Quinn and Recchia said.

The UFT is asking the council members to intervene and prevent what they call an educational disaster before the July 1 deadline.

At the town hall meeting, Dromm insisted there are other ways to avert the layoff crisis.

“The discussion should not be about cuts. The discussion should be about revenue-raising ideas,” he said.

Parents at the PS 69 meeting said they were worried the cuts would lead to more crowded classrooms. Teachers expressed concerns about tenure and seniority.

Dromm noted that Bloomberg wants to get rid of last in first out, the practice in which the least experienced teachers are the first to be let go when layoffs occur.

The point of tenure is to protect teachers, and Bloomberg wants to take that away, Dromm said.

“Seniority is at the heart of what the unions are about,” and the mayor wants to put an end to that as well, Dromm said.

Union leaders, parents and teachers said they will continue to fight the proposed budget.

“We cannot force the mayor’s hand without the UFT, without teachers rallying,” Dromm said.

Dromm promised those present that he would work for them on the budget.

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NY1: Dromm Fights for Unions’ Right to Organize

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s budget unveiled yesterday called for closing fire companies, shutting senior centers, and the layoffs of more than 4,600 teachers. Yet he says his budget is not an assault on unions.

“Cutting back is not anti-union. Cutting back is pro…, I guess you could say, pro-taxpayer,” said Bloomberg on his weekly radio show Friday.

Police and firefighter unions, however, are continuing their theme of saying the mayor is a liar. They are upset Bloomberg is demanding they give up a $12,000 yearly pension supplement.

The United Federation of Teachers also released an ad against the mayor’s agenda.

More generally, unions citywide are seething over calls they contribute to pensions and raise their retirement ages.

“The mayor is using the economic situation to take away some of the benefits that have been hard fought for over the years,” said Queens Councilman Daniel Dromm.

Some observers see a common theme across the country, as city and state leaders all over use the countrywide budget crisis to crack down on organized labor.

In Wisconsin, the new governor pushed a bill to limit collective bargaining.

“We’re starting to see that the Republicans and the right wing are admitting that their whole entire goal is to decimate unions, so that there is nobody speaking for the working poor in this country,” said Gregory Floyd of Teamsters Local 237.

Bloomberg would hardly say he is doing that. If anything, he is looking for more collective bargaining. Pensions are bleeding the city, but only the state government is allowed to negotiate them, instead of the mayor.

“I’ve never blamed the municipal unions for our problems,” said the mayor. “I think we should all look in the mirror. Our legislators and executives give away stuff and we don’t get it back.”

On his weekly radio show on Friday, the mayor said with a four-year budget gap of nearly $5 billion, not everyone’s job can be saved.

“If we get more money, we’ll have to step back and say, ‘Do you want fewer teachers, for example, and more cops? Do you want another firehouse or another school?’ I mean, it’s those kinds of either/or decisions,” said Bloomberg.

Still, Bloomberg raises suspicions among some. He is mysteriously pushing for thousands of teacher layoffs, even as he prizes himself as a “schools first” mayor.

That is opening himself up to charges that he is only using the economy as a ruse, and will pull back most of the 6,000 lost teaching positions in exchange for changes to the seniority system when schools fire educators.

More bad news for the school system came late Friday, when the Department of Education said state aid is forcing it to cut construction funding for almost 17,000 new school seats — a 48 percent reduction.

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NY Daily News: Judge Blocks Layoffs of 150 Workers and the Bloomberg Administration is Steamed

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From NY Daily News: By Erin Einhorn

The Bloomberg administration is infuriated over a Manhattan judge’s decision to block the layoffs of 150 hospital workers, arguing the ruling undermines the mayor’s control of the budget.

“The precedent is very troublesome,” said Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, noting the city plans to appeal. “We’ve got a multibillion-dollar deficit. … How do we protect patients or families in need of services or shelter for the homeless if we have every special-interest group appealing to a judge for special protection?”

At issue are 150 carpenters, electricians and plumbers who were scheduled to be laid off from city public hospitals in September until their unions – together with three City Council members – sued to save their jobs.


Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger last week ruled that the job losses would undermine public safety, and barred the city from issuing pink slips.

The city says it’s losing $1 million a month because of the lawsuit and will have to cut other programs instead.

The Council members behind the suit – Daniel Dromm, Karen Koslowitz and Julissa Ferreras, all Queens Democrats – hailed the victory for workers and for the patients who use the hospitals. “We got a judge … who saw the connections between the layoffs and the quality of care and service that the patients need and should be provided,” Dromm said.

The Council members are also looking at the precedent – especially as Mayor Bloomberg plans to slash 889 jobs from libraries, cultural agencies and the Administration for Children’s Services by the end of June. “This could be a potential threat,” Ferreras said. “As the administration starts to consider other layoffs, they can make a reference to the lawsuit and say, ‘Wait a minute … let me really, really think hard about these layoffs before we do them.'”

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Times Ledger: Dromm Applauds Vantage Contract with Queens Supers

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From Times Ledger: By Anna Gustafson
Queens elected officials last week applauded Vantage, a real estate investment company that owns 88 residential buildings in the borough, for signing a three-year contract with the union representing the apartments’ superintendents.

Vantage Management Services, part of Vantage Properties, announced the deal with the union, Teamsters Local 808, that followed months of negotiations last week at an event attended by lawmakers, union officials and Vantage employees at Cafe Rubio in Flushing.
“I am very pleased to know Vantage is recognizing its employees’ desires to have a unionized work force,” said Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights). “It is a step in the right direction. I hope to work with Vantage in the future to improve its tenants’ lives.”