At a wide-ranging meeting on Feb. 14, the Civil Service Committee focused on union efforts to protect the rights and jobs of civil servants.

“We need to remain very vigilant,” said Social Service Employees Union Local 371 President Charles Ensley, who chairs the committee. “If the unions don’t fulfill the role of watchdog, we don’t have any guarantee that city agencies will respect the integrity of the civil service system.”

This year, the committee plans to press the city to schedule exams and appoint members from lists and work to keep members informed about civil service issues.

At the meeting, Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal sharply criticized the Dept. of Parks and Recreation for flaunting civil service rules. He said cronyism, political patronage and racism run rampant at Parks, which faces a federal lawsuit over systematic employment discrimination.

DC 37 General Counsel Joel Giller and staff attorney Robin Roach briefed the committee about union legal tactics to make the city comply with civil service laws.

Ed Hysyk, president of Electronic Data Processing Personnel Local 2627 and co-chair of the Civil Service Committee, urged members to take both promotional and open competitive exams for positions they are seeking.

He said many members who are already on lists from promotional exams, which are restricted to incumbent civil servants, fail to take open competitive exams, which are open to both civil servants and the general public.

“To cover yourself and to take advantage of every possible opportunity for advancement, you should always take both,” he said.

Tip: Take both exams
Promotional exams are usually for openings at specific agencies, but open competitive tests allow workers to be considered for slots throughout the city. So, members who take only promotional exams restrict their chances for advancement, because some agencies have few openings.

Another problem, he said, is that if only a few people are on a promotional list, management can use the so-called “one-in-three” rule to exclude someone from a promotion. Under that procedure, management has the discretion to pick one of the three highest people on a promotional list. Management also has the right to bypass lists that contain fewer than three names.