The executive board of District Council 37, the city's largest municipal union, cut the salaries of its two top officials by more than 20 percent yesterday, two weeks after those officials narrowly won a bitter election battle. þþBoard members said they approved the pay cut for Lillian Roberts, the executive director, and Maf Misbah Uddin, the newly elected treasurer, partly because those officials' campaigns had repeatedly denounced the previous treasurer for earning too much. þþThe vote was 17 to 8 to cut Ms. Roberts's salary to $175,000 from $250,000 and Mr. Uddin's to $140,000 from $180,000. Mr. Uddin said his pay would also include his $47,000 city salary as an actuary.þþMs. Roberts and Mr. Uddin voted against the resolution. Their campaign had sent out many fliers attacking the former treasurer, Mark Rosenthal, because his multiple union salaries totaled more than $200,000. Their mailings asserted that Mr. Rosenthal wanted to be elected to remain on the union ÿgravy train.ÿþþMr. Rosenthal criticized Ms. Roberts and Mr. Uddin yesterday. ÿIt was hypocritical of them to vote against the pay resolution,'' Mr. Rosenthal said. ÿThey ran a slimy campaign, and everything in their campaign was lies.''þþMr. Rosenthal and his running mate for executive director, Charles Ensley, lost by six votes when the 327 delegates met. Each delegate represents hundreds of union members, so those six votes translated into about 4,000 votes, giving Ms. Roberts, the incumbent, 66,295 votes to 58,479 for Mr. Ensley. The district council represents more than 120,000 workers and includes 56 locals, including ones representing city accountants, social workers, secretaries and zookeepers.þþEven though Mr. Rosenthal and Mr. Ensley lost, their supporters won about two-thirds of the seats on the 29-member board. þþMs. Roberts denounced the pay cut as well as several other resolutions. ÿIt is a sad day for this union when the executive board behaves in such a partisan, underhanded and divisive manner,ÿ she said in a statement. ÿThe actions taken by my defeated opponents' supporters on the executive board are exactly the kind of sniping our members are sick of.ÿþþThe union's board voted to investigate allegations that a swastika had been carved in the office door of Danny Ambrosini, the assistant director of the union's blue-collar division. Mr. Ambrosini, who refused to comment, works closely with Mr. Rosenthal, who is Jewish. Several union members interviewed said the carving resembled a swastika, while others said they saw no resemblance.þþThe board voted yesterday to rescind a $10,000-a-month contract with Bolton-St. John's, a lobbying firm that helped the district council on legislation it wanted passed. Several board members criticized Oliver Gray, the union's associate director, for signing a contract extension with Bolton-St. John's without board approval.þþAt the meeting, Ms. Roberts said that she had authorized Mr. Gray to sign the contract extension. In her statement, Ms. Roberts said: ÿMany of the actions the board took today transgressed into areas where they have no authority. Our delegates will have the final word. Our members don't want this union torn apart.''þþFaye Moore, a board member who was on Mr. Ensley's slate and is a vice president of his social workers' local, hailed the results of yesterday's meeting. ÿThis was a great day for the labor movement,'' she said. þþ
Source: NY Times
