Public Employee Press

Layoffs hit Central Park organizing drive

The Central Park Conservancy celebrated the New Year by laying off 31 workers — about 15 percent of its employees.

The victims of the January firings included leaders and supporters of DC 37’s campaign to organize the nonprofit group as well as workers over 60 and employees with more than 20 years of experience.

“Management didn’t have to worry about the seniority and layoff procedures that are typically in union contracts, and they moved swiftly and ruthlessly,” said Edgar deJesus, interim organizing director at DC 37.

Many workers were axed on the spot with no advance notice, shortly after management promised them that no layoffs were in the works.

“They lied,” said Wayne Lighty, who was dumped after 19 years as a grounds technician at the CPC. “Nobody is safe.”

“What happened is tragic proof that without a union there is no job security at the Central Park Conservancy,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

Callous treatment
As employees arrived for work, managers called them in one at a time and handed them a termination letter and information about the layoffs, the Conservancy’s discretionary severance policy and the federal COBRA law that lets laid-off employees pay for a one-year extension of their health insurance.

“It was a cold shock to me,” said Lou Johnson, 52, a member of the organizing committee who worked at the Conservancy for 18 years. “The severance package is basically a waste.”

The workers’ health insurance was cut off immediately, accumulated sick days were wiped out, and the workers have no recall rights.

Johnson complained that the firings came out of the blue without any consideration of other options, such as cuts in pay or hours. He also pointed out that the discharges came only weeks after seasonal workers were hired as permanent employees, making it clear that one purpose of the layoffs was to get rid of veteran and more highly paid employees.

Lighty, who earned about $30,000 a year, said he felt betrayed. A few weeks earlier, he recalled, management revealed that the CPC had lost more than $50 million in the Wall Street crash but assured workers that no layoffs were planned.

Coming as mass layoffs spread through the economy and as public outrage grows over the excessive compensation of the corporate elite, workers said the layoffs are especially disturbing because the Conservancy’s own fat cats don’t appear to be making any sacrifice.

CPC President Douglas Blonsky is paid $350,000 a year, according to the 2006 tax form on the Conservancy’s Web site; Chief Financial Officer Stephen Spinelli gets $235,000, and four vice presidents make from $175,000 to $202,000.

“Legally, the Conservancy may not have been required to provide advance notice,” deJesus said. “But you don’t expect such shabby and immoral treatment of workers at a nonprofit group. The spirit of ‘Warn’ legislation — federal and New York State laws on layoffs — calls on employers to provide prior notice to their workers. This is simple respect for workers and their families. It’s hard to prove, but we don’t discount the possibility that one of the reasons some workers may have been fired was because of their open support for DC 37.”