Architects, engineers and library workers demonstrate against layoffs, contracting out, branch closings and cutbacks.

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Facing layoffs, hundreds of school technical workers and library employees picketed in March and April to warn the public that the coming cutbacks would devastate services.

Members of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375, Queens Borough Public Library Guild Local 1321 and New York Public Library Guild Local 1930 joined in the protests. They charged the Board of Education, City Hall and the libraries with waging a political and budgetary war against front-line workers and undermining services while maintaining a bloated bureaucracy of managers with fat salaries and doling out lucrative work to contractors.

“These layoffs have to stop,” said Local 375 President Claude Forte April 8 during a demonstration at the School Construction Authority in Queens.

“When our professionals build schools, as opposed to outside consultants, we save the taxpayers an average of $9 million per school,” Mr. Forte said. “That is the equivalent of an extra 225 classroom seats when we do the work.” City Council members Robert Jackson, chair of the council’s contracts committee, and Allan W. Jennings spoke at the rally.

The SCA laid off 49 employees Feb. 22 as the Dept. of Education moved ahead with its plan to merge the functions of the independent agency with the Division of School Facilities at DOE. Another 100 SCA workers — including members of Locals 154, 375, 1251 and 1407 — are targeted for layoff May 27. In the end, up to 600 jobs may be eliminated.

Union members at the lunchtime demonstration marched with placards reading “Stop Contracting Out” and “Let us design the schools!”

Dozens of Local 1321 members demonstrated at Queens Central Library in Jamaica April 4 to protest the library’s plan to lay off 144 workers to meet the mayor’s call for additional cuts. The layoffs would be the equivalent of wiping out the staff at 18 of Queens Public Library’s 67 branches.

“The libraries are very important, especially to children,” said Senior Librarian Jaishree Rawal. “Where are they going to study? So many families can’t afford books. What are they going to do?”

Mismanagement
Local 1321 President John Socha charged that the library is top-heavy and blamed the layoffs on mismanagement. Over the past year, the library ignored warnings about the city’s abysmal budget situation and continued hiring new staff, he noted. Also speaking at the rally were DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, DC 37 Treasurer and Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal and Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez.

Accompanied by a giant rat balloon — New York labor’s symbol of horrible employers — Local 1930 members hit the streets March 11 outside the Central Library on Fifth Avenue. They carried signs with messages like “Save Our Libraries,” “Stop the Layoffs” and “No War, No Concessions, No Layoffs.”