DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts responds to dark of night passage of Tier 6

“Until the early hours of the morning on Thursday, Governor Cuomo strong armed politicians in Albany to force through a pension bill that ultimately provided no pension reform, but instead a reduction in retirement security for some of New York’s hardest working and lowest paid women and men. It is unclear to us what the bill actually does and if any of the legislators that voted for it actually read it.

We do know that recently our pension systems have been improving to the point where New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli questioned whether pension reform was even necessary. We need a thorough analysis by our elected fiscal watchdogs – the State and City Comptrollers – in order to determine fully just how Governor Cuomo’s Tier 6 plan impacts all working families throughout the state.

On behalf of the 120,000 members of DC 37 that I represent, I express our profound disappointment in Governor Cuomo and the legislature for choosing to promote policies that benefit Wall Street over the working men and women of New York City. A better way to move this state forward would have been to hold Wall Street accountable for nearly destroying the US economy and closing corporate loopholes that allow them to continue to reap the benefits on the backs of working New York families.

The members of DC 37 like all public service workers go to work everyday to build a better New York for all – and deserve better from our elected officials.”

District Council 37 is New York City’s largest public employee union, with 121,000 members and 50,000 retirees.