Chief Leader – September 23, 2014
by SARAH DORSEY
Public-sector unions received the personal treatment Sept. 16 when former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at a downtown Manhattan fundraiser to urge that the Zadroga Act be extended, several times calling local public-sector labor leaders by name. Ms. Clinton was a U.S. Senator representing New York during the 9/11 attacks.
Gathered at the United Federation of Teachers headquarters at 52 Broadway were many of the leading figures who pushed for the original Sept. 11 health law, including key union health and safety advocates, medical experts and the heads of the Firefighters’ and fire officers’ unions.
Pension Funds Lent Hard
“Union pension funds became the only source of help for people in need” before the law set aside $4.3 billion in Federal funds for victims’ free medical care and economic compensation, Ms. Clinton said. “There wasn’t any other system set up.”
She later added: “It was truly all hands on deck. AFL-CIO and AFSCME, the building trades, the firefighters, the police unions, the Teachers—everybody stepped up. Organized labor was my principal ally, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to be here tonight.”
The fund-raiser benefited 9/11 Health Watch, a nonprofit run by Ben Chevat, a former Chief of Staff for U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney who coordinated her office’s efforts to pass the Zadroga Act. The group’s board of directors is made up entirely of local labor figures, including members of the State AFL-CIO and officers of the firefighters’ and fire officers’ unions.
The Zadroga Act provided $1.8 billion for free medical care and $2.7 billion for economic compensation, including lost wages, for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, including first responders, volunteers and survivors. Its medical benefits expire in October 2015, and the Victim Compensation Fund ends a year later.
Several members of New York’s Congressional delegation introduced a bill this month that would extend the benefits another 25 years, to 2041.
A Narrow 2010 Margin
The original law barely squeaked by with the 60 votes needed to overcome a threatened Senate Republican filibuster, days before the end of the 2010 Congressional session.
With their cause aided by last-minute media boosts from Jon Stewart and others, the advocates were able to drive through a deal by agreeing to slash the proposed benefits from $7.4 billion to $4.3 billion.
Many of the same people who mobilized for the first Zadroga Act publicly kicked off the reauthorization push earlier this month with a press conference near the site of the Twin Towers. At last week’s fundraiser, Ms. Clinton was introduced by State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, who praised her efforts for injured and ill Sept. 11 victims.
“On 9/11, then-Sen. Clinton…was there with us, fighting,” Mr. Cilento said, adding that she “understood immediately” that the toxic dust would have serious long-term health effects. He recalled a meeting a few days after the attacks that she attended with his boss at the time, then-State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes, to begin planning how to address the health fallout.
‘Time to Mobilize’
Referring by first name to Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy, UFT President Michael Mulgrew and District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, Ms. Clinton emphasized the effects of the disaster on public-sector workers.
She recalled two constituents she met, a postal worker named Cynthia and a firefighter named Stanley, who suffered from physical and psychological trauma after the attack and had to stop working, at least for a while, due to their conditions. Both greatly benefited from Zadroga benefits.
“All of this is at risk unless Congress acts,” she said, highlighting the need for bipartisan cooperation and praising the efforts of Republican U.S. Rep. Peter King.
She later added, “Last week with the anniversary we mourned; this week, we mobilize.”
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