DC 37 Rallies At City Hall Against Budget Cuts
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DC 37, the city's largest public employee union, rallied Tuesday against the mayor's budget and layoff proposals.
Thousands of union members and supporters protested at City Hall on Tuesday, saying it is wrong to balance the budget on the backs of working people by laying off civil servants and cutting back vital services.
"Think about what this says about the future of our city, if all at once we're going to make it much harder for kids to get a good education, much harder for them to get quality child care, much harder for them to use a library. And that's what this is about," said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. "The anger you're feeling here, particularly from parents, is that we can't do that to our children, and we can't do that to the future of our city."
"It's just so expensive to live here in the city, and we work hard for our money. And it just seems like we're getting nowhere," said a union member.
The rally came on the heels of a recent DC 37 report which found the city is overlooking at least $800 million that could be generated by collecting taxes and fees it is owed and cutting contractors' charges.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed laying off thousands of teachers and closing 20 fire companies to deal with the city's budget gap.