New York labor history is being made this fall as District Council 1707, which represents more than 20,000 private sector workers, joins forces with District Council 37, the city’s largest public employees union.

As a result, the six local unions that made up DC 1707 – Locals 95, 107, 205, 215, 253, and 389 – will comprise a new, private-sector division within DC 37, bringing the total membership of our union up to 150,000. Each local union’s structure and leadership remain unchanged.

“We are delighted to welcome these hardworking members, who provide vital services in the private sector to the city’s largest union of public employees,” said DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. “This unification signals a new era in the fight for workers’ rights in New York.”

“In unifying with our brothers and sisters at DC 37, we have more resources and more power to push to new heights our fight for dignity and respect,” said Kim Medina, the former DC 1707 executive director, who now becomes head of the new DC 37 Non-Profit and Private Sector Division.

Unification required approval by the executive board of our national union, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which gave a thumbs-up in June.

“AFSCME was built on the core principle that workers do better when we focus on our collective interests and put unity ahead of any one individual,” the national union’s president, Lee Saunders, wrote in a letter to members. “Unifying District Council 1707 and District Council 37—two great unions in their own right—will build even greater power and result in more victories for you and all workers in New York City.”