PEP, March 2009: Unions and community groups protest NYC budget

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Unions and community groups are gearing up for a major battle over Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposed budget, which calls for laying off over 1,200 workers, eliminating more than 7,500 positions, deep cuts in services, and givebacks in pension and health benefits.

“We will be fighting this budget in the streets and at City Hall,” DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said. “As usual, this administration wants to close the budget gap on the backs of city workers and people who need our services.”

As PEP went to press, the union expected to release, on Feb. 25, “Massive Waste at a Time of Need,” a new white paper that identifies about $130 million in savings the city could achieve by ending contracting out.

Union leaders and activists will highlight the potential savings and push for budget restorations at City Council hearings in the coming weeks, and DC 37 members will be among thousands of people expected to turn out at 4 p.m. on March 5 for a City Hall demonstration against state and city budget cuts.

When Bloomberg issued his proposed budget for fiscal year 2010, which begins in July, he painted a dire picture and said the city needed givebacks from municipal unions to help close a projected $4 billion gap. All told, the proposed budget calls for 1,248 layoffs. However, without the givebacks and other gap-closing measures, Bloomberg, before Obama signed the stimulus, raised the possibility of eliminating 23,000 city jobs.

The picture brightened in February as Congress passed President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package, with about $24 billion for New York State, but how much would actually come to the city was unclear as PEP went to press.

Faye Moore, president of Social Service Employees Union Local 371, said she remained deeply concerned about 608 job cuts at the Administration for Children’s Services and 222 others at the Dept. of Homeless Services. The mayor has backed off his threat to lay off 15,000 teachers, but he has remained silent about threats to other city workers.

“Without any concrete assurance that the administration will not go ahead with the layoffs of hundreds of members we represent at the two agencies, we cannot afford the luxury of believing that the Obama stimulus has eliminated the layoff threat,” Moore said.

Bloomberg’s ideology: privatize
Union officials fear the Bloomberg administration may not budge on the proposed downsizing because its commitment to privatizing social services appears to be driven more by ideology than fiscal need. That also appeared to be the case at the Housing Authority, where community centers staffed by members of locals 768 and 371 were scheduled to be closed Feb. 20 even though the city had failed to show that planned privatization would lead to savings (see details).

Other layoffs in Bloomberg’s budget include 57 workers at the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene, 17 at the Dept. of Finance and 344 at the Dept. of Education.

At budget hearings, DC 37 leaders and activists will be calling for restorations at the Health and Hospitals Corp., community colleges, libraries, cultural institutions and the Dept. of Education. Other concerns include the elimination of 30 ambulance shifts and funding cuts for senior centers and seasonal aides in city parks.

In January, Bloomberg said he would seek health and pension givebacks from municipal unions to address the fiscal year 2010 and future budget gaps. He called for a new, fifth pension tier that would cut benefits for new workers, saving the city $200 million a year beginning in fiscal year 2010; $200 million in annual savings from employee health benefit costs; and another $357 million from employee health benefits, a proposal that has raised the specter of a premium contribution.