District Council 37 to Hold Massive June 14 Fightback Rally at City Hall to Say: "No Layoffs, Contracting Out and Service Cutbacks in Our Communities!"

NEW YORK, June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by District Council 37:

What: On June 14, District Council 37, the city's largest public employee union, will be joined by labor, community and religious partners for a massive rally to stand up against draconian cutbacks to community services; to fight back against the fiscal assault on public schools, parks and pools, libraries, social services and public health care and more; and to raise a unified voice against the drive to crush public employees' rights from coast to coast.  DC 37 members and supporters will gather to say "No!" to the layoffs of dedicated civil servants who provide these vital public services and to demand an end to contracting out of their jobs.

Where: City Hall (Broadway & Barclay Sts.) in Lower Manhattan

When: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 – 4:30 p.m.

Why: The Bloomberg administration's claims that there is no money to stop the cuts and layoffs and pool closings in the heat of the summer is totally false:

• By letting the state "millionaires' tax" expire in December, the mayor and the governor are cutting taxes on the wealthy by $5 billion a year.
• The mayor is making no effort to collect the hundreds of millions of dollars in business taxes that are owed to the city.
• The mayor's budget proposals increase contracting out by a half-billion dollars – even with the continuing arrests of his overpaid consultants and overwhelming evidence that too much of this money is wasted or stolen.

DC 37 and its allies will hold a huge rally at City Hall to demand: Stop the layoffs; stop cutting services to our communities; put human needs first, not contractor profits; and fund schools, hospitals and libraries, not tax cuts for the rich.

Who:  Lillian Roberts, Executive Director of District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO

Lee Saunders, Sec.-Treas. of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees

Oliver Gray – Associate Director, DC 37

Henry Garrido – Associate Director, DC 37

Eddie Rodriguez – President, DC 37; President, Local 1549; International VP of AFSCME

Cliff Koppelman – Secretary, DC 37; President, Local 1070

Maf Misbah Uddin – Treasurer, DC 37; President, Local 1407

John Liu – NYC Comptroller

Bill DeBlasio – Public Advocate, NYC

Marty Beil – AFSCME Council 24 Wisconsin (Video Remarks)

LaTonya Johnson – AFSCME Council 48, Wisconsin

JoAnn Johntony – President, OAPSE AFSCME Local 4 Ohio (Video Remarks)

Willie Wallace – AFSCME Council 62 Indiana

Denis Hughes- President, NYS AFL-CIO

Raglan George – Executive Director, Council 1707

CSEA Representative

Harry Nespoli – Chairperson, Municipal Labor Committee & President of Local 831, Uniformed    Sanitationmens Associations, AFL-CIO

Michael Mulgrew – President, United Federation of Teachers

Barbara Bowen – Professional Staff Congress

Arthur Cheliotes – Local 1180 Communication Workers of America

Norman Seabrook – COBA

Joseph Colangelo – President, Service Employees International Union, New York City Local 246

John Samuelson – Local 100, TWU

Robert Croghan – President, Organization of Staff Analysts

Dr. Barry Liebowitz – President, Doctors Council

Gregory Floyd – President, Local 237 City Employees Union, Intnl. Brotherhood of Teamsters

Judy Wessler – Executive Director, Commission on the Public's Health System

Community Voices Heard Representative

Student Representative

District Council 37 is New York City's largest public employee union, with 125,000 active members and 50,000 retirees.

Contact:

Zita Allen, Communications Director

Molly Charboneau

Rudy Orozco

212-815-1535

SOURCE District Council 37