OSA
News - May 1998
Layoffs: Past And
Present. Layoffs
have affected our title series on three occasions. The great fiscal crisis
during the times of Mayor Beame led to a virtual wipe-out of all serving
provisional Staff and Associate Staff Analysts. The ranks of the Analyst
series began again to be filled with persons appointed provisionally once
Mayor Koch took office, but many of those laid off in the mid-1970s never
returned to City service.
Our second bout occurred under
Mayor Dinkins and led to 250 layoffs for Analysts out of over 3,000 employed
in City service. OSA made a name for itself with the City, and the other
unions, due to how our union responded to the layoffs.
The situation differed in the
early 1990s from the first layoffs in the 1970s. OSA had been recognized
as a bargaining agent for some Analysts in 1985 and was, by 1990, representative
for about 650 Analysts. As a result, we had the right to bargain with
the City over the layoffs.
We had been "lucky." We were
only due to lose 38 of us. The non-represented Analysts had been hit much
harder. The layoff of the 38, however, sparked a strong emotional reaction
from OSA. OSA argued through the 30 day waiting period and for many weeks
thereafter until we had success.
Furloughs/sabbaticals.
We suggested
voluntary one year furloughs (which we called sabbaticals) in lieu of
lay-offs. The City asked for details. OSA proposed that any Analyst who
so desired, be allowed to take a year off. The City would pay no salary
nor health benefits for the year. The City could not be expected to hold
a leave-taker's position open for a year. On return, if the old job was
available, fine. If not, any Analyst position would do.
The union went further. Since
the City appeared interested, OSA surveyed its members by mail and learned
that 7% of our members would like a year off, immediately, even without
pay, and a further 5% would like the opportunity but not for at least
a year.
The City began to take OSA's
proposal seriously and made an interesting counter-offer. If all of OSA's
members would agree to a two day leave without pay, the City would save
enough money to pay the salaries of all 38 laid-off workers for two months.
Thereafter, negotiations would be completed on the sabbatical idea and
possibly all would be saved.
OSA again returned to a mail
ballot. The members voted overwhelmingly in favor of sacrificing two days
pay to help our laid-off brothers and sisters. In the final analysis,
we did not lose two days pay but only one. By the time negotiations surveys
and mail ballots had been completed, the lay-offs had been in effect for
a few months.
Analysts are well educated
and often skilled workers. We do not tend to stay unemployed. In fact,
19 of the original 38 laid off workers were now employed at or above their
prior salaries. Some had been forced to relocate for a job, but only 19
persons were left to return to Analyst jobs.
Our idea, the one year unpaid
furlough, never did enter our contract, but neither did the City terminate
many of those who we had brought back. With one exception, all who chose
to stay past the second month were allowed to do so and most of them are
now permanent Associate Staff Analysts.
Our idea, however, did influence
both the City and DC37. First, voluntary furloughs were resorted to by
a few locals under Dinkins (after our example). Later, when Giuliani moved
to "downsize" the civilian work force in government, severance and buyouts
replaced lay-offs for the first four years.
The name we made for ourselves,
as a union, did not result from coming up with a clever idea. Ideas are
not all that rare. The small world of Labor Relations in New York City
was impressed by the 600 analysts who voted to sacrifice their own pay
to help their fellow members.
Solidarity is a word often
used in the field of labor. When there is a genuine feeling of solidarity
within a group, and an injury to one is an injury to all, that group has
strength. OSA came out of the Dinkins layoffs with a renewed feeling of
its own internal strength and cohesiveness.
The 1998 Layoffs Began
On March 18, 1998. On
that day, we were informed by a telephone call from the Office of Labor
Relations that a layoff list would be arriving. Layoffs were set for April
20th and OSA was sent a list of fifteen names. Since OSA shares representation
for various titles with Locals 1407 and 2627 of DC37, calls were placed
to compare lists and seek information. It turned out we had a Local 1407
member on our list.
The rest of the story should
be told, in detail, at a later date, first because the story is still
in progress and second because it is hard to discern the full picture
at present.
For Now, A Relatively
Brief Summary. There
was a meeting, to which OSA was not invited -- prior to March 18th --
and at which the HHC made a severance offer which was refused. There was
a second meeting, this of the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), to which
OSA was invited. The HHC leadership was faulted for the crisis and demonstrations
and lobbying were planned.
OSA notified the leader of
the MLC that our union was likely to vote to accept severance rather than
layoffs, especially given the small numbers involved (at this moment 13
out of 360 Analysts represented in the hospitals).
The third meeting was at the
Office of Labor Relations, where we were told that the City would not
offer us severance or buyouts since they had already made the offer to
the MLC and would not repeat it. The City also, on this occasion, dismissed
any talk of sabbaticals or any other suggestions. The only hope offered
by the City was to encourage us to work with the HHC to see if we could
redeploy our troops to needed positions within HHC.
Over the next two weeks we
worked very hard to redeploy our members. Josie Valentine, HHC Chapter
Chair, Donna Cohen, OSA Staffer and many others were involved, and by
April 20th, half of our members were saved from layoff. Many were transferring
out of our title (and out of our union), but at least their jobs were
safe for now. Layoffs had been pushed back to May 1st. On April 20th,
we got the bad news. New names were added to the layoff lists by HHC to
replace those saved. That was very disheartening indeed.
While we were learning how
HHC kept its word, OSA also was involved in either MLC meetings or meetings
with different coalitions against the layoffs, in demonstrations, in lobbying,
etc.
Between April 20th and May
1st, the union again was able to secure jobs for our members to the point
that, by May 1st, half of the April 20, 1998 list had been saved.
On May 1 Came The
Compromise, Of Sorts. All
905 employees targeted for layoff will be kept on salary for 30 days,
employed by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. DCAS will
hold job fairs and place employees in equivalent jobs throughout the City
and the Health and Hospitals Corporation. (Actually, HHC did not show
up at the first "pool" and 103 persons got jobs in City agencies.)
Management and labor are drawing
up a severance offer and jointly lobbying Albany for an early retirement
bill. It is possible that no employee will end up laid off. It is also
possible that some of these layoffs may yet occur and still others may
be ordered by the Mayor.
There Are Many Queer
Aspects To The '98 Layoffs. For
example, May 1 was a Friday payday. All laid off staff were still owed,
at least, the week's lag built into our payroll system. (Check your pay
stub. The City pays you on Friday the money you earned up to the Friday
one week earlier.) Thus, on May 15th, laid off folks will receive one
week's pay from HHC and one week's pay from DCAS. This will lead to confusion
and potential errors.
Many persons have already been
"bumped back," knocked out of their positions and forced to return to
a lower paid permanent line. Such individuals (having been improperly
bumped) will stay where they now are until redeployment or severance but
will receive the old, higher salary.
It is not clear that all unions
will agree to severance or buyouts. In all prior cases, all unions did
consent, but the impact of WEP workers raises a new issue.
In all prior buyouts or early
retirement drives, the intent, by the City, was to reduce its work force
and provide less service. At HHC, the matter is more complex by far. One
clear danger was that the City could be replacing each laid off Local
420 member with WEP workers (no cost to the City, no union, no benefits,
no rights).
It is clear that there was
no need for these layoffs in the first place. The Mayor's comments about
the HHC being a make-work affair to create jobs accords well with his
goal of closing all City hospitals, but not well with the facts. If there
is fat at the top of the HHC bureaucracy, it is still less than at the
top of all our prestigious, well endowed, well connected private institutions,
and that fat never reaches down to the guy who washes the floor.
The Mayor may talk of a decline
in business (census) justifying massive downsizing but the truth is that
a hospital ward with eight patients needs almost as much service from
the custodial staff as does a ward with ten persons. The floor needs washing,
the trash picked up, the trays brought round and the place kept neat and
safe.
The HHC will probably end the
year with a surplus. The City has never done better, financially, thanks
to the booming stock market.
The layoffs of '98 are
different. At our regularly scheduled membership meeting on May 28th,
we will have more information and details on the layoffs.
Sanitation Chapter
Meeting. At
that same meeting, a special pre- and post-meeting will be held concerning
only the Sanitation Department members. The position of Agency Chairperson
for Sanitation has been vacant for a while, but Steve Parker, a long time
activist from that agency, has volunteered. It takes a meeting to install
a Chairperson properly and, what's more, there are other positions open
in that Chapter.
So, at 5:30pm, before the general
membership meeting, a meeting is set for members from Sanitation. If business
is not complete by 6:00 pm, the Sanitation chapter meeting will adjourn
and resume when the general membership meeting ends. Steve's intent is
to avoid asking his fellow Analysts to come to the union office on another
evening.
Finally Your Money.
OSA has been
stymied on our next due 3% raise for quite some time. The City will not
pay the 3% raise due on July 1, 1998 (4/1/98 at Board of Ed) until we
agree on how to apportion the 1.52% equity raise monies. We could not
apportion those monies until the City gave us the correct numbers on our
covered membership and their salaries from December 31, 1994. In almost
two years of arguing, the City had never corrected the numbers we stated
to be wrong from the start.
Now, at last, a new set of
numbers have been generated, will be reviewed next week and if correct,
will be brought to the General Membership Meeting for discussion. If all
goes well, and we are not counting on it, we may even get our raise on
time. Do not spend the raise until it is in your hand. The City is often
slow to pay, for one lame reason or another.
Notices were sent in the mailing
with this letter for various fairs and picnics, petitions you might wish
to sign (have your co-workers sign also) and send back to us, and other
miscellaneous communications. Please call (212) 686-1229 if you need any
of these attachments.
Membership Meeting.
The next Organization
of Staff Analysts general membership meeting is Thursday, May 28, 1998,
125 Worth Street, Manhattan 2nd Floor Auditorium at 6:00pm.
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