Our union is no stranger to seemingly insurmountable challenges. Still, this year is more intense than ever with a presidential administration set on destroying our job security, rolling back safety protections, and gutting the very benefits our communities rely on.
The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed by the yes-men and -women in Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in July, will have devastating consequences for our workers, our families, and our city for generations to come.
The budget bill defunded an extensive list of public services, including long-established social safety net benefits such as Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP, all to hand out more tax breaks to billionaires and greedy corporations that don’t need another dime.
As one union, we must prepare for the consequences and be ready to act.
These deep cuts will have a negative impact during negotiations for state and city budgets, which ultimately affect the funding available for wages and benefits in our collective bargaining agreements. The cuts to social services not only harm those who receive them but also may result in layoffs of the workers who administer them.
To counter the effects of this shortsighted bill, we are actively lobbying elected leaders to hold the line on budget priorities for our members and do whatever it takes to keep public services intact. We are expanding our outreach in the private and nonprofit sectors to build solidarity and strengthen our movement. Against the odds, we are successfully negotiating better benefits for our members, our retirees, and our dependents by fighting bad players and strategically bringing down costs.
Despite their best efforts, anti-union extremists and the billionaires who back them can’t out-organize us.
With the Nov. 4 citywide election drawing closer, we focus our attention on getting out the vote for leaders who will stand by our side and defend our hard-won rights.
We are proud to endorse New York Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani as our next mayor. Mamdani is the only candidate who will protect our workers from harmful budget cuts and anti-union legislation and fight for a fair and equitable New York City.
It is critical that we turn out to elect pro-labor candidates up and down the ballot in this election. With their partnership and our action, we can overcome Trump’s second term and fight back against the policies that only benefit the billionaire class at the expense of working people.
When we work together, attend town halls and lunchtime meetings, march side by side, speak out at City Hall, talk to our coworkers about the importance of joining a union, and vote early on Election Day, we show Washington and those who aim to cause us harm that we are a force to be reckoned with and we cannot be stopped.
Our union was forged during times of struggle, and we will never back down in the face of a crisis.
District Council 37 Executive Director
