By GREGORY N. HEIRES

After the Dept. of Education and the Police Dept. issued hundreds of pink slips weeks before Christmas, DC 37 fought back fiercely in meetings with management and in court. The initial layoff lists were reduced by more than 100, but on Jan. 2 DOE laid off 286 workers, and on Jan. 10 the NYPD axed 63 Custodial Assistants.

Strong union pressure helped reduce the layoff list in DOE, and 40 NYPD Custodial Assistants won reassignment to the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services.

One union lawsuit targets the DOE layoffs and another aims at saving workers in the School Construction Authority (see DC 37 in court to save jobs). The union unsuccessfully sought a court order to hold up the DOE dismissals to allow additional time for negotiations.

“I am outraged that the Department of Education went forward with these layoffs while it retains highly paid consultants who are doing the work of our members,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “The city should end this wasteful spending and get rid of consultants and the temporary work force before cutting the jobs of its own civil service employees,” Ms. Roberts said.

The DOE suit also protests the use of workfare participants at DOE. At a labor-management meeting, DC 37 officials and Custodial Employees Local 1597 President Edna Williams demanded that the NYPD stop using workfare workers and a private firm for custodial work.

The bulk of the laid off workers at the Dept. of Education were Secretaries and Clerical Associates; others included Bookkeepers, Engineers, Accountants and computer and other technical workers. Most were provisionals, workers without civil service protections.

“This is a tragedy,” said Carolyn Harper, president of DOE Clerical Employees Local 1251. “Welfare may be the only recourse for many members who were laid off.” “It is disgraceful that DOE laid off Bookkeepers when it is paying private companies for bookkeeping,” said Maf Misbah Uddin, president of Accountants Local 1407. “The layoffs betray employees who were dedicating their lives to the school children,” said Edward W. Hysyk, president of Data Processing Employees Local 2627.

Layoffs loom at SCA
The battle still rages. The School Construction Authority plans to lay off 49 employees Feb. 22. As the city centralizes school design work, up to 600 jobs may be wiped out.

Ms. Roberts and presidents of other DC 37 locals joined hundreds of Local 375 members who demonstrated Jan. 16 at SCA headquarters in Queens.

Speaking at the rally, Local 375 President Claude Fort called the planned layoffs a scheme to direct millions of dollars to consultants. He pointed out that in-house design of a school typically costs $9 million less than designs by consultants.
As the DOE and Police layoffs came down, the DC 37 Executive Office, Research and Negotiations Dept. and the field divisions worked with the city to help reassign some of the targeted workers. Several of the permanent employees on the DOE layoff list found other city jobs by exercising civil service rights, such as transferring into other titles where they have permanent civil service status.

As labor-class employees, the 63 laid off Custodial Assistants were put on a four-year citywide recall list. Other employees will be put on what’s known as a “preferred list,” where they can exercise their bumping rights or be hired in similar jobs.

The union is working with the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services and the Health and Hospitals Corp. to find jobs for laid off members.

On Jan. 15, Ms. Roberts met with Environmental Protection Commissioner Christopher Ward, who indicated that he would consider hiring laid-off Engineers and other SCA workers.

Efforts to negotiate a severance package for the laid off workers failed when management negotiators broke off the talks after the union offered a counterproposal. Through the DC 37 Education Fund, the union is helping laid off workers to write resumes as they seek new positions. (See 'Benefits for laid-off members', page 6 of Public Employee Press, February 2003 issue.)

Meanwhile, DC 37’s second bargaining session on a new economic agreement is set for Feb. 5, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has called for 6 percent in new budget cuts in most city agencies.