[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 52 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E639-E640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO LILLIAN ROBERTS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 26, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Ms. Lillian 
Roberts. Lillian Roberts is currently the Executive Director of 
District Council 37 of the AFSCME, AFL-CIO union. She represents 
121,000 public workers in New York City, 50,000 of them retirees, 1,000 
titles and 56 locals. She is also Vice President of the New York State 
AFL-CIO, Vice President of the NYC Central Labor Council and Secretary 
of the Municipal Labor Committee.
  Lillian became a union activist as a Nurse's Aide working in a 
Chicago hospital in the 1950s. She spearheaded the creation of five 
locals and led an organizing drive at four Chicago hospitals.
  Lillian came to New York City, built DC 37's hospital division and 
became Associate Director of DC 37. She distinguished herself by her 
skill as an organizer and her ability to connect with rank-and-file 
members. She established the DC 37 Education fund, the largest union-
based adult education program in the country that offers union members 
a four-year degree with the College of New Rochelle. This program has 
become a model for unions nationwide.
  During the late 1970s and 1980s, Lillian brought into the union 
thousands of workers in federally funded jobs. She found that 
experience to be a blueprint for creating unionized jobs for welfare 
recipients. She also developed the DC 37 Municipal Employees Legal 
Services program, which provides legal services to members and the DC 
37 Personal Services Unit, which offers counseling to those with 
personal problems.
  In 1981, Lillian became the first African-American woman named New 
York State Commissioner of Labor. During her 6-year tenure, she lead 
the 7,500 employee body to increase the annual job placement level by 5 
percent, obtained federal approval of a state plan for a Public 
Employees Occupational Safety and Health Program, and computerized 
unemployment insurance offices and the Job Service program.
  Lillian was first elected DC 37 Executive Director in 2002 after 
serving as consultant to the union she helped build. She was re-elected 
to a 3-year term in January of 2004. In January of 2007, Ms. Roberts 
was overwhelmingly re-elected for her 3rd term.
  Lillian currently leads the union where she had been a previous 
Associate Director and consultant. In the 1960s and 1970s, she played a 
major role in organizing new members into DC 37 and establishing an 
array of

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benefits that became the envy of the Nation's labor movement.
  With housing costs rising, Lillian approached Mayor Bloomberg with a 
proposal to give DC 37 members and municipal workers an affordable way 
to meet the City's requirement that they live in the 5 boroughs. The 
result is the innovative DC 37 Affordable Housing Program. This program 
allows DC 37 members and city workers preference for 5 percent of units 
in city-sponsored lotteries for affordable homes and apartments, down 
payment grants through the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and 
Development, and homebuyer training and education through Neighborhood 
Housing Services.
  Lillian's leadership is rooted in the lessons she learned while 
growing up on welfare on Chicago's South Side and fighting for better 
working conditions as a Nurse's Aide. Growing up as 1 of 5 siblings in 
conditions of poverty, she was instilled with a deep concern for the 
needy and a passion for fighting social injustices.
  Lillian has been a member of numerous boards including: Board of 
Trustees of the College of New Rochelle; the State University of New 
York, the National Equal Rights Committee and the National Committee 
for Labor Israel.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize this labor activist. for all 
of her accomplishments and her empathy for area workers.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to 
Lillian Roberts.

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