Union fights to save 600 jobs in school design
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By GREGORY N. HEIRES
DC 37 is battling to save the jobs of 600 workers as the Bloomberg
administration seeks to downsize the independent School Construction
Authority and the Division of School Facilities of the new Dept.
of Education.
The mayor's plan to overhaul school construction would eliminate
450 positions from SCA and 150 at DOE.
The bulk of the union workers in the two units—Architects,
Engineers and other technical staff—are members of Civil Service
Technical Guild Local 375.
The plan would also affect some members of Accountants, Actuaries
& Statisticians Local 1407, Amalgamated Professional Employees
Local 154, Electronic Data Processing Personnel Local 2627 and Board
of Education Local 1251.
Protest possible layoffs
As PEP went to press, the administration had not initiated procedures
for staff layoffs or redeployment. But apparently, the plan is to
maintain skeletal school construction staffs at the SCA and BOE
and contract out virtually all building projects.
Hundreds of Local 375 members and activists from other DC 37 locals
and municipal unions gathered outside City Hall Nov. 20 to demonstrate
against the possible pink slips.
"The mayor wants to stop construction inefficiency and cost
overruns, but we have nothing to do with that," said Local
President Claude Fort. Mr. Fort was joined by DC 37 Executive Director
Lillian Roberts, leaders of DC 37 locals and other municipal unions
and some City Council members.
"They are laying off the wrong people," said Mr. Fort,
blaming inefficiencies on top-heavy management and contracting out
work to high-priced consultants. Ms. Roberts said the administration
could reduce costs by eliminating consultant contracts and cutting
management positions.
Earlier this year, Ms. Roberts released the union's White
Paper on how the city could save $600 million without layoffs
by cutting waste and reducing contracting out.
As an example of the efficient work of civil servants, Ms. Roberts
pointed to the in-house staff at MTA New York City Transit, where
the No. 1 and 9 subway tunnel was rebuilt at Ground Zero under budget
and ahead of deadlines.
"Stop contracting out!"
Demonstrators at City Hall on Nov. 20 carried placards with messages:
"Civil Servants Save the City Millions Every Year" and
"Consultants Work for Profits, City Workers Work for Your Children."
Members pointed their fingers at management salaries as high as
$150,000 and perks like cars to explain waste at the SCA. They also
described the work of consultants as shoddy.
Local 375 members pointed out that Mr. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor
Joel I. Klein failed to recognize the efficiency of civil servants
when they complained about school construction costs as they announced
the downsizing Oct. 31.
Ironically, the announcement was made at P.S. 234 in Queens, a project
designed by city workers in which construction is on schedule with
a low cost of $350 a square foot, close to the spending target Mr.
Bloomberg seeks. The goal of the merger is to cut construction costs
from over $400 per square foot to $325 or less.
Armed with data from a sample of eight projects from 1993 to 2001,
Mr. Fort showed that projects fully designed in-house cost $340
per square foot while projects fully designed by consultants averaged
$430.
With in-house design saving $90 a square foot, the city could save
$9 million on each school of 100,000 square feet.
By law, the SCA is required to assign 40 percent of the design,
drafting and inspection work to its own staff. To improve efficiency,
the city should raise that requirement, Mr. Fort said.
At an earlier news conference, 200 members joined Mr. Fort and Ms.
Roberts on the steps of City Hall Nov. 7 to protest the possible
layoffs.
Robert Jackson and Bill De Blassio of the City Council Education
Committee showed up to support the threatened union members. Mr.
De Blassio called contracting out "a form of patronage"
that is "more costly" than the work of civil servants,
and Mr. Jackson said cuts should start with management.