Public Employee Press


Union to City Council
Use your power

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Pressing to prevent layoffs, DC 37 and local leaders stressed cutting contracting-out costs and fair-share taxation of the wealthy Feb. 23 at the union's annual breakfast meeting with members of the City Council and their staffs.

DC 37 Associate Director Henry Garrido described the recent huge cost increases in contractors' and consultants' charges - without additional work - as he called for the city to seek 10 percent reductions in these payments.

With the state cutting every agency's budget by 10 percent, and the mayor cutting city departments by 12 percent, it would be fair to ask contractors to share the pain, he said, explaining that such efforts have worked well in other cities.

He also urged greater transparency in city government's dealings with private contractors and consultants.

"A list of every consultant and how much money the city is paying should be available to the public. That's only fair," Garrido said.

The CityTime payroll computerization project, with its 1,000 percent cost overrun and the recent arrests of consultants for embezzling $80 million, "shows that what we're saying is real, and there are 20 more CityTimes out there," he said.

Political Action Director Wanda Williams urged the Council members to support extending the Personal Income Tax surcharge on the richest 3 percent of New Yorkers. "Rather than make harmful cuts, New York's wealthiest citizens should continue to pay their fair share and help us get through these tough times," she said.

Unless the Legislature extends it, the surcharge will expire Dec. 31. The state would lose $1 billion in revenue this fiscal year and $5 billion in FY 2012, she pointed out. Tax rates would then be the same for working people struggling to get by on $40,000 a year and billionaires. The union also supports restoring the stock transfer and commuter taxes.

Williams urged all present at the breakfast, which the Political Action and Legislation Dept. organized, to join in the effort to stop the governor's planned huge cuts in education and Medicaid. The City Council members received kits that included the legislative proposals members adopted at the recent
DC 37 Legislative Conference. The agenda covers economic issues, civil service, contracting, child care, education, health, jobs, retirees, safety, transportation and workers' rights.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts pressed the Council members to work with DC 37 to enact the union's proposals.

"You have a lot more power than you're using," she said. "Think about the people who elected you and do the right thing."