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                  Get to know your Business Agent today!  Find out how the union makes a difference on the job. |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 21, 2006 Contact: Moronke Oshin 212-924-2000 ext. 8593 HOUSING WORKERS PROTEST THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S $14 MILLION CUTS ON PUBLIC HOUSING BUDGET New York City — More than 750 New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) workers, carrying placards that read "No Cuts in Housing" and "Local 237 Members and Residents United for Decent Housing," braved freezing temperatures yesterday outside City Hall Park to protest the Bush Administration's budget cuts on public housing. See photos from the March 20, 2006, rally. The Local 237 protestors, fearing that the latest round of annual cuts to the Housing Authority's budget under President George W. Bush would lead to the deterioration of the city's housing developments, joined forces with tenant advocates to demand that the federal Housing and Urban Development agency (HUD) restore vital funds to the Housing Authority and that the city and state pay their fair share to preserve public housing in the city. The Housing Authority, which provides housing for 450,000 city residents, recently announced that it was facing a $168.3 million deficit this year as a result of draconian reductions in federal subsidies and had no other means of closing the budget gap other than by increasing a variety of fees for tenant services and seeking "creative ways to streamline service delivery." Since 2001, the Authority's federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidies have shrunk by $14 million. "Enough is enough. The Housing Authority is the only affordable housing for thousands of poor and working people in the city and it cannot absorb any more cuts to its budget," said Local 237 President Carl Haynes. "Housing Authority workers are doing the best they can, but they are not magicians. They are frustrated because they can only do so much with less and they cannot do much without the necessary cleaning supplies and materials to make repairs," he added. The protestors found support in several public officials, including Congressman Gregory Meeks, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, former federal housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, Council Members Charles Barron, Joseph Addabbo and Eric Gioia, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, all of whom blasted the Bush Administration for sacrificing services to the city's low and middle income citizens in order to fund multi-billion dollar tax cuts for the wealthy and the war in Iraq. Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks told the protestors, "We're going to bring back compassion and stop this reverse Robin Hood system of robbing the poor to give to the rich." Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer declared that the Housing Authority's budget situation could lead to an "unprecedented housing crisis" in the city. "We call on the feds to stop hurting our people. The Housing Authority must fully rent every unit of public housing, repair those apartments and start collecting all the rents." "We need funding, fairness and equity," Andrew Cuomo, former HUD Secretary and candidate for State Attorney-General insisted. "The economy is making the rich richer, the poor poorer and starving the others." The straight-talking Brooklyn Council Member Charles Barron asserted, "We're delivering a message," then fired up the crowd with the chant: "Bush has got to go." In addition to criticizing federal government, which is responsible for providing 90 percent of the subsidy for public housing, Haynes insisted the city and state governments "have a responsibility to pay the 10 percent that is their portion of the cost of maintaining public housing." He added, "If City Hall and Albany pay their fair share using the same formula as the federal government, that 10 percent subsidy would bring in $70 million for housing." Teamsters Local 237 represents 24,000 municipal workers in New York City and on Long Island, including 10,000 Housing Authority members, and is the largest Local in the 1.4 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters. |
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