PEP, December 2008: Rally blasts child welfare layoff plan

More that 500 union members and supporters rallied Dec. 3 at the Administration for Children’s Services to fight the agency’s plan to lay off 390 members of SSEU Local 371 in April.

Protesters from Local 371, DC 37 and other unions jammed the sidewalks and angry chants filled the air in front of ACS headquarters at 150 William St. as demonstrators denounced the plan to transfer the responsibility of managing foster care cases to private agencies.

“This administration has decided they don’t like the public sector workforce,” said Local 371 President Faye Moore at the noontime rally.

“We will not let the city get away with laying off experienced union child care workers and replacing them with outside contractors,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “We will fight until the city backs down and listens to the union members who know what’s best for these children.”

Roberts and Moore were joined at the rally by numerous DC 37 local presidents — including Jackie Rowe-Adams of Local 299, Cuthbert Dickenson (Local 374), Gene DeMartino (376), Fitz Reid (768), Kyle Simmons (924), Mark Rosenthal (983), Debra Pitts (1113), Carolyn Harper (1251), Jim Tucciarelli (1320), Eddie Rodriguez (1549), Eric Larson (1597), Jonathan Grey (1655), Charles Farrison (1797), Lenny Allen (2021), Robert Ajaye (2627) and Tom Eppinger (3621) — who brought spirited contingents of members from their locals.

Under Commissioner John Mattingly’s plan, which is named Improved Outcomes for Children, the Office of Contract Agency Case Management that now oversees the welfare of children in private foster care would be closed and 390 Child Welfare Specialists and Supervisors would be laid off.

“This plan is an experiment on children,” said Moore. “We don’t experiment with children, we serve them.”

“This looks like union busting,” said Ed Ott, executive director of the Central Labor Council. “This is the beginning of a long and protracted fight. We will be with you every step of the way.”

City Council members John Liu, Elizabeth Crowley and Bill de Blasio also blasted the plan. “We have the right people in place who have been doing the job. We should drop this silly plan,” said Liu. “We shouldn’t be doing anything without talking to the people who do the work.

Privatization is a dirty word and a step in the wrong direction,” deBlasio said.

— Alfredo Alvarado

Career fair helps laid off workers
	DC 37 organized an informational resource and career fair at the union Oct. 29 for members who were laid off by the Housing Authority, the Administration for Children’s Services, the Education Dept. and several smaller city agencies. “These people may now be off the city payroll, but they are still part of the District Council37 union family, and we will keep fighting for their rights,” said DC37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. Local 371 member Annette Ryales, a former Congregate Care Specialist, was among the 75 workers who participated. “I decided to go back to school and work on my degree,” she said, after consulting with a counselor from the DC 37 Education Fund, which also offered a résumé-writing workshop. After working in the fiscal department at the Bronx Borough President’s Office, Javier Lopez is aiming for a dramatic career change. “I’m planning on going to culinary school,” he said. The union’s Health and Security Plan and its Personal Services Unit and Municipal Employees Legal Service provided information packets to the former city workers to help them explore career and educational options. The Health and Hospitals Corp. and the Dept. of Parks and Recreation came armed with lists of job openings for the laid off members. Participants who provided useful resource information included the state Labor Dept., the Central Labor Council, the Bronx Economic Development Corp., CUNY’s Murphy Institute for Worker Education and the Restaurant Opportunities Council. Nola Booker, assistant director of the Professional Division, coordinated the event. “We will continue to work with our partners in government and community organizations to protect the economic security of our members during these tough times,” said Barbara Ingram-Edmonds, DC 37’s director of field operations.