From left: the late Corinthians Andrews, Bernice Christopher and Patricia Williams.
In March of 2010, Local 237 sued New York City on behalf of our 5,000 School Safety Agents, 70% of whom were women, mostly African Americans and Latinas. Many were single mothers. Their annual salary was about $7,000 less than their counterparts, with similar titles, working in other City agencies. Most of them were male. Some called this just a coincidence. It was discrimination!

School Safety Agents have a tough job to do. They help to protect other peoples’ children. All they wanted was to put bread on the table for their own children. So a meeting of School Safety Agents was called by Local 237 President Gregory Floyd to tell them about plans to sue the City. He told them that we needed some volunteers to sign the papers and be the official plaintiffs. Of the 25 women in the room, 22 left. But three remained: Patricia Williams, Bernice Christopher and the late Corinthians Andrews. And for four years, these three gave testimony after testimony. They refused any settlement that did not include retirees. They took days off from work. They took time away from being with their families. They came to our many rallies. And at those rallies, we felt pretty much alone. Yes, we did have support from several elected officials, but our constant allies who were always there for us boiled down to two people: Hazel Dukes, President of the NYS NAACP and Sonia Ossorio, President of the NYC Chapter of NOW.  
 
The day of the judge’s final ruling Pat, Bernice and Corinthians came into the courthouse and knelt in prayer before they took their seats. Perhaps there was a little divine intervention, but with the help of Hazel and Sonia, an historic settlement was reached.