Eddie Rodriguez Elected President of DC 37 AFSCME
May 31, 2011
By Neal Tepel
On May 24, 2011, Eddie Rodriguez, President NYC Clerical Administrative Employees Local 1549, was elected President of District Council 37, AFSCME, the city’s largest public employee union with 125,000 members and 55,000 retirees. The election was held to fill a vacancy created by the resignation and retirement of NYC Board of Education Employees Local 372 head Veronica Montgomery Costa who held that position for nine years.
The election was held at District Council 37’s delegates meeting and conducted by the American Arbitration Association under the direction of the union election committee.
Over 300 delegates, each representing several hundred union members, voted for three candidates Eddie Rodriguez, Carmen Charles, President of Municipal Hospital Employees Union Local 420 and James J. Tucciarelli, President of NYC Sewage Treatment and Senior Sewage Treatment Workers Local 1320. Eddie Rodriguez was declared the winner following a run off election with Ms. Charles in which he received an overwhelming majority of the vote.
Mr. Rodriguez, who was sworn in immediately following the announcement of the results of the run off election, told the cheering union members, “Today is a new day. Tomorrow we fight together to defeat Mayor Bloomberg’s attempt to slash services, layoff workers and squander billions of taxpayers’ dollars on outside contracts for work that public employees can do far more effectively, efficiently and responsibly for less.”
DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said, “We congratulate Eddie Rodriguez, a dedicated trade unionist, and we know that he will do an excellent job as part of the District Council 37 leadership team as we work to fulfill our mission as a proud, powerful union that is fighting to protect the best interests of our members and the communities we serve.”
