PEP, June 2014: Union pushing to fix civil service

Union pushing to fix civil service

"The one-in-three rule violates the intent of the civil service system." — DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts

DC 37 is making a big push this year to defend and strengthen the civil service system and improve job protections for municipal employees with disabilities.

In May, hundreds of activists on the union's annual rank-and-file Lobby Day bused to Albany, where they urged legislators to support DC 37's agenda on civil service issues (see pages 8-9).

A key concern of the union is to fight to eliminate the use of the one-in-three rule in civil service promotions.

The rule lets management eliminate one of the top three candidates as it makes appointments from promotional lists. Candidates who are passed over three times are removed from the list.

"The one-in-three rule violates the intent of the civil service system, which is supposed to ensure that workers are hired and promoted according to their objective qualifications, or what's known as ˜merit and fitness,' " DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said. "The use of the one-in-three rule allows for favoritism, cronyism and discrimination. It needs to be scrapped now."

The union is lobbying state legislators to pass legislation to eliminate the one-in-three rule.

Another bill supported by DC 37 would extend civil service protections to workers with disabilities.

In a series of layoffs starting three years ago, the city let go more than 50 members at the Finance and Health departments who were hired through the 55-a program, which gives a hiring preference to people with disabilities who apply for certain jobs.

The problem is that the workers were classified as provisionals without civil service rights, making it easy for the two agencies to axe the employees. Fortunately, a union lawsuit has forced the city to restore some of the workers to their jobs. Legal action is still pending for others.

Under legislation sought by DC 37, the workers would enjoy civil service rights, including seniority, and no longer be classified as permanent provisional workers (provisionals kept on indefinitely).

"The wave of firings was horrible," said Brooklyn Library Guild Local 1482 President Eileen Muller, who chairs the DC 37 Disabilities Committee. "We are very committed to seeing that the 55-a program is amended to correct an unjust situation."

Another priority of the union is to fight for the city to provide the opportunity for thousands of provisional employees to move into permanent jobs.

Years ago, a court ordered the municipality of Long Beach on Long Island to eliminate its provisional workers or establish permanent positions for them. Under state law, provisional workers are supposed to be limited to nine months. Concerned about the number of permanent employees on the payroll, Long Beach - like New York City - had allowed its provisional workforce to balloon.

In response to the court case, New York City developed a five-year plan to decrease provisional employees on its payroll and has reduced its provisional workforce from 38,000 to 22,000. The plan was extended for a year, and it ends in October.

The union successfully beat back recommendations of former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's Workforce Reform Task Force, which in 2011 called for far-reaching changes that the union charged would have basically destroyed members' civil service protections.

But the union continues to be very concerned about the inadequate funding for civil service exams and the city's expanded hiring of noncompetitive employees, Lisa Riccio, an assistant director in the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept., said.

"A lot of civil service promotions have simply stopped," said Evelyn Seinfeld, director of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept. "They have not given exams for many titles in a long, long time. This is absolutely unacceptable."