District Council 37 representatives held a press conference on the steps of City Hall Thursday, May 24 to announce their decision to endorse Charles Barron for Congress.
“As a labor union; as a representative of the workers of the city of New York, at a time when the administration of the city of New York has been so antagonistic and so difficult to deal with; impossible, and at times attempting to destroy and undermine the unions. There’s one person we knew, and we always knew we can count on; and that was Charles Barron,” exclaimed DC 37 Associate Director Oliver Gray.
DC 37, the city’s largest public employee union with 121,000 members and 50,000 retirees, voted overwhelmingly to endorse City Council Member Charles Barron’s candidacy for Congress in the 8th C.D. The powerful union has also pledged to get out the vote for the June 26 Primary election.
The vote by the DC 37 Delegates, on Tuesday, May 22, follows the recommendation of the union’s Screening Committee and an unanimous vote by the DC 37 Executive Board.
“This is a tremendous boost to our campaign,” said Barron. “We know we’re on the right track and I’m taking our voice to Washington to deal with issues that concern the 8th Congressional District and all of New York. We’ve got to end these wars and use that money for jobs, education, health care, and housing. That’s what the people are talking about.”
After the vote, DC37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts stated: “We have endorsed these candidates because of their record of standing by this union in our fight to protect the jobs, wages and benefits of our members and our retirees. Over the past year, city workers and their unions have had to fight major battles to protect rights that we fought hard to win as well as to preserve the vital safety-net services we provide to an ever-growing clientele. While we have always been aware of the power of our vote, in these times we are paying close attention to the need to support those who support us.”
