Public Employee Press

Union protests looming layoffs at NYCHA

DC 37 leaders and members spoke out Oct. 7 at a City Council forum on proposed service cuts at the New York City Housing Authority that would close 200 community centers, affect hundreds of thousands of public housing residents and possibly subject hundreds of union members to layoffs.

“We are deeply concerned, because the cuts would affect 3,000 NYCHA employees who are our members and touch 15,000 residents who also belong to our union,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

Earlier this year, NYCHA asked the City Council to allocate $78 million to help close its budget gap and protect the community and senior centers, which offer safe havens for children and teenagers after school, affordable daycare for working parents and meals and services for seniors.

But the Council provided just $18 million, leaving NYCHA with a $60 million deficit that it says would require shuttering centers in housing complexes citywide and possibly laying off about 400 members of Local 371, 300 from Local 768 and hundreds more in AFSCME District Council 1707.

Union leaders and members who provide services at the centers called for budget restorations to prevent the cuts.

“Our younger children get a snack and a meal and local teenagers take advantage of the evening program. They’re not out on the streets,” said Valerie Pyett, who works at the King Towers Community Center.

“The seniors really need this program,” said Diane Henderson of Harlem’s St. Nicholas Senior Center. “When they come in they are safe and we cook them meals.”

“Local 371 urges the City Council to eliminate $200 million in fees that the city charges NYCHA for basic services each year. This would allow the agency to balance its budget and keep the senior and community centers open,” said President Faye Moore. Local 768 President Darryl Ramsey said the cuts would be “devastating to children, seniors and workers.”

Currently, NYCHA must pay the city for fire and police protection, sanitation, and other municipal services. Council members Letitia James and Rosie Mendez, who convened the forum, are crafting legislation that would waive NYCHA payments for city services.

“What’s plaguing NYCHA is not just a lack of funding but a conscious withdrawal of government support,” said Roberts. “Washington has created an untenable situation by orchestrating the defunding of NYCHA.” Since 2001 the Bush administration has cut $611 million from public housing.

Marta Colon, a Local 371 member at De Hostos Community Center said: “The parents depend on the community centers. If these centers are closed where will their children go?”