AFSCME 3090 Holds Special Saturday Membership Meeting with Successful Turnout

Norma Torres first became an activist after a 12-year-old girl died while holding for her because there were too few bilingual 911 operators. She campaigned for more staffing to ensure that would never happen again. To continue making a difference, she successfully ran for Pomona City Council and now serves as the mayor. Today, Torres is running for Assembly in the 61st District to make changes that help working families.

At the Feb. 9 AFSCME 3090 membership meeting, Norma asked for the support of her union and fellow union members. “No one can represent us better than a union member can,” said the 17-year PSR. “I put the uniform on and work the graveyard shift. I know our issues.”

Norma said the leadership training provided by AFSCME and the support of AFSCME 3090 President Alice Goff helped her learn to make a difference. “I can’t begin to tell you how much I learned from the union. They turned the mom next door into an activist,” she said. Norma urged her fellow union members to also take advantage of the leadership training offered by AFSCME.

More than 13 years ago, the death of a little girl sparked the activist in Norma.

Norma was one of the few Spanish-speaking emergency operators with the Los Angeles Police Department. But Torres had many calls ahead of her. As the desperate girl waited, the situation in her home grew worse. Her uncle, in a jealous rage, was roaming the house, brandishing a gun. The girl continued to hold for a Spanish-speaking operator, growing more desperate by the minute.

It took 20 minutes before Torres was able to get through that night's Spanish-language calls and answer the little girl's cry for help.

Torres picked up just in time to hear the girl's pleas: "Uncle, please don't kill me. It's not my fault." Then she heard a loud bang. Afterwards, there was only the sound of the phone, and the little girl, dropping to the floor.

As Torres relived the horror of those 20 minutes over the next year as she helped the police translate the shouting in the background, one thought was tearing her soul apart: that girl died, simply because the city didn't have enough Spanish-speaking 911 operators.

For years, AFSCME activists had complained about the shortage, Torres said. 911 centers were overwhelmed by Spanish-language calls. "My division had only 22 bilingual operators," said Torres. They worked overtime and through lunch, without pay, simply because they couldn't walk away from the job. "How do you go home if somebody is dying?" Torres asked. But city government continued to be unresponsive.
The tragedy activated her.

Today, Torres still works at her 911 job by night, but she has moved on to become mayor of Pomona after winning two terms to the City Council. Norma helped Pomona Valley Hospital nurses win their first union organizing campaign. And she helped create a skate board park for the city's youth.