“One of the most encouraging things I see in the labor movement is the cooperation between unions,” Local 237 President Carl Haynes told the more than 400 Shop Stewards who attended the annual training seminar conducted June 4-7 in the Resorts Hotel in Atlantic City.

This cooperation paid off for working people in a lot of ways, he told them, not the least of which was the improved pension plan benefits accomplished this year.

Haynes pointed out that the pension improvements were made possible by the collective power of state and city unions that united to bring pressure to bear on the politicians who had to pass the legislation such a change required.

The seminar provided stewards with a comprehensive explanation of the part unions play in the political process.

Haynes pointed out that this year is an even more important year than those past because New Yorkers are going to elect not only a new mayor to replace Rudy Giuliani, but also 35 new City Council members.

“This is going to be a tough year because there are four persons running for mayor, all of whom we have supported in the past,” he said. “We are fortunate, though, because all four are better than the guy we’ve got.”

Haynes said that endorsements of particular candidates by the Local Executive Board are made only after the records of the candidates have been thoroughly studied and their positions regarding issues affecting working families analyzed.

“We are bi-partisan,” Haynes asserted. “We do not support someone only because of party membership. We examine the records of the candidates and then recommend support of them because they have been friends of labor over the years.”

He added, however, that the board’s endorsements are only recommendations. “We do not tell you who to vote for,” Haynes said. “We recommend that you support the candidate who, in our opinion, has been most supportive of working people. You vote for whomever you choose.”

Patricia Stryker, director of Political Action and Legislation for Local 237, told the stewards that questions arising from the workshops had disclosed that the members are seeking more information and more education on the political process and, in particular, on voting.

“We heard you and we’re going to do something about it,” she promised. “Some people feel they are uncomfortable going into the voting booth; they are bewildered by all the lines in the machine, and they are reluctant to say they need help. So we need to have more education to get people over that hurdle.

“We hear what you say: you want more information and you want it all the time. You just don’t want information prior to an election, you want to be kept abreast of things all the time.”

Stryker said the union does try to do that, but that members seem to want more. She promised them that their wishes will be answered. “We can do that; we can do more to bring things to your attention during the year so that you know what people are doing all along. It’s not just during elections that people do things for you.”