Celebrate Black History
Members in Action: Iris Martinez: Fight for Each Other
Stay United and Organize
Join us! Upcoming meetings
Contribute! Share your story!
Celebrate Black History
This month we celebrate Black History Month, and remember 40 years ago: 78 members of DC 37 were arrested in February 1985 protesting outside the South African embassy in Washington D.C., one of numerous actions by union members to oppose apartheid in South Africa. Join us at this month’s events here.
Photograph from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, NYU.
Members in Action: Iris Martinez
I am the Lead Dental Assistant at Jacobi Medical Center’s Dentistry/OMFS Clinic. I will have been with Jacobi and North Central for 19 years on Feb 21, with the first 17 years under PAGNY. Recently, my team of dental assistants and I transitioned to DC 37. We organized with DC 37 because we felt like we weren’t getting paid fairly. With our union, we’re happier now. Our pensions are something to look forward to for a lifetime. And we have each other to back each other up. We should fight for each other. Fight for your rights – we all deserve the best. –– Iris Martinez
Stay United and Organize
Courtesy of Labor Notes: Don’t Panic—Organize! You may recognize some classic boss behavior in the news in recent weeks from the new administration as they create confusion; sow division and fear by pitting workers against one another, and using a show of force to inspire hopelessness and make us feel powerless.
Our job in this moment is to help our co-workers recognize what the boss is doing and find a path forward together. This chart from Labor Notes Secrets of a Successful Organizer shows four common boss tactics and how you can help your co-workers get past them.
From Labor Notes. Read the whole story at Don’t Panic—Organize!.
Join us! Upcoming meetings
Join us for these upcoming events:
- February 19: MAT / Stewards Committee
- February 20: Public Health Sanitarian Chapter Meeting
- February 26: DC 37 Mayoral Forum, 5:30 pm BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center-199 Chambers St (RSVP)
- February 25: Chapter leadership nomination meeting (Dental Assistants & Hygienists, Licensed Creative Arts Therapists - LCAT, Medical Record Specialists) 7pm
- Save the Date: March 4, 2025 – Lobby Day, Albany (Register)
- March 5: Social Work Chapter Meeting, 7pm
- March 12: General Membership meeting, 7pm
- March 19, MAT/Stewards meeting, 7pm
- March 20: Political Action committee, 7pm, zoom
Be sure to get your free flu shot, and check out classes and education opportunities and other services here, via the DC 37 Education Fund.
We’ve been using our members-only moderated group chat to communicate announcements and updates to the Local using Slack. It's also a place for member discussion and to share union resources. Join us!
Contribute! Share your story!
Want to contribute to the next Local 768 Newsletter? Share your photos, your writing, your poetry, your drawings, your comics, cartoons, and more: https://www.local768.net/content_submission. Thank you!
