According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word ‘temporary’ applies to “a post held — or to the person holding such a post — for a limited time.”

Yet the reality in many New York City agencies is that “temporary” employees stay on year after year. They work under the same supervision as Civil Service workers. They have the same job responsibilities. Yet they receive their paychecks from private employers who have contracts with the city to provide services — and workers.

With no rights on the job, no city health coverage and no union benefits, they have been used to undercut union workers for years. The use of office temps has become a growth industry in the departments of Education, Corrections and Health. In some agencies, there are more temps than Civil Service employees! (See chart).

The promise of the Civil Service system — and its legal mandate — is that jobs are offered on a competitive basis. When plum opportunities go to outsiders, instead of being filled from Civil Service lists, union members are demoralized.
DC 37 is fighting back.

On March 26, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts testified at the City Council. She said Civil Service is undermined by the city’s practice of maintaining a parallel work force: “The terms ‘temporary employees’ and ‘consultants’ are being misused by the city. The reality is that these workers are employed day after day and year after year.”

In fact, she pointed out, the Internal Revenue Service has warned the city that many of these individuals are in fact regular, full-time employees misclassified as consultants in violation of IRS rules.

Clerical-Administrative Local 1549 President Eddie Rodriguez came out of the Human Resources Administration, one of the largest abusers of temporary service contracts. He is committed to challenging the city on the issue.

“The use of temps in the face of impending layoffs is not only an insult but is illegal,” he said.

The city’s use of temps to fill long-term positions is about to face a serious challenge. Both District Council 37 and Local 1549 are preparing lawsuits to overturn the illegal practice in court.

Clerical Division Director Ronnie Harris is passionate about fighting the misuse of temps. “We’ve raised the issue time and time again, but we are left with an excessive number of temps when existing Civil Service lists could have been used to fill those positions,” he said.

Assistant Director Eddie Gates, who is directly in charge of HRA for the division, is adamant that the practice needs to be challenged. “The average Job Center Control Unit is overloaded with temps,” he said, “and there are also a lot at HRA headquarters.”

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