By LILLIAN ROBERTS
Executive Director
District Council 37, AFSCME

The battle of the budget will heat up in May, after the mayor issues his executive budget for the year that starts July 1, but the preliminary budget is laced with 7,000 layoffs.

It will take strong medicine to close the city’s budget gap, but layoffs are the poison pill of city government. They cause suffering for workers who lose their jobs and income, for the vulnerable populations who lose vital services, and for all New Yorkers, whose quality of life degenerates.

I am calling on the city administration to open their eyes and see the devastating effects of their layoff plans. Many of our local leaders have already testified before City Council committees, warning that layoffs’ short-run savings inevitably lead to larger long-term human and economic costs (see details). A few examples tell the story:

In addition to all the disturbing local effects, these layoffs go against everything President Barack Obama is trying to do for the working people of this country. While the president is creating jobs, the city will destroy jobs and undermine his recession recovery plan.

The public expects our members to be ready to handle emergencies and to provide reliable services. We do a good job of it, but massive layoffs will reduce our ability to meet these needs. The projected layoffs will also cut tax revenue and hurt local businesses.

No responsible government can in good conscience cut vital services and lay off loyal, hardworking employees while there are realistic alternatives — and there are!

As a responsible union, we are outraged at the administration’s vast waste of taxpayers’ money. Our white paper, “Massive Waste at a Time of Need,” showed the city how to save millions of dollars, prevent thousands of layoffs and protect public services: Reduce the $9 billion a year the administration hands over to highly paid consultants and private businesses that overcharge. Cut the waste and save the jobs and services!

Our story will be told

I am furious at the destructive “layoffs first” approach, and I believe the people of this city will rise up in anger at the needless misery the administration is creating for workers and the public. Laying off working people while handing one-sixth of the city budget to private companies is union busting — and I am not going to put up with it.

DC 37 is fighting back, and AFSCME, our national union, is fighting with us. We are using all the tools we have, and the battle will be fierce. Our rank-and-file leaders and negotiators are meeting with every agency and department where layoffs are threatened. In some cases, members have voted for voluntary furloughs to share the pain among many instead of seeing co-workers lose their jobs. I commend their unselfish decision.

We are lobbying intensely in the political arena and suing the city, and our Community Associations will be educating people in their neighborhoods about how the coming cuts will affect their lives, their families and their communities. I believe New Yorkers will not tolerate out-of-touch policies that favor layoffs and service cuts instead of trimming the huge profits the city pours into the business sector by contracting out.