Public Employee Press

City Council members back drug counselors

Local 372 activists at City Hall on June 7 protest proposed cuts.

Speaking at a news conference on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's doorstep June 7, Local 372 and DC 37 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa denounced his plan to lay off 118 school drug counselors.

Flanked on the steps of City Hall by 100 Local 372 activists, students, supportive City Council members and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Montgomery-Costa charged that the layoffs of Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialists would put New York City's 1.1 million students at serious risk. Currently, there is only one SAPIS for every 2,200 students.

"Layoffs don't save money," said the local president. "Laying off one worker earning $25,000 per year plus benefits is offset by the costs of unemployment, Food Stamps, Medicaid, other public assistance, the loss of local business activity and tax revenues. That one layoff costs the taxpayers $50,600, twice the amount the mayor claims his plan will save," she added.

City Council members who attended the news conference to support the union's position included Fernando Cabrera, Vincent Gentile, Leticia James, Deborah Rose and Jumaane Williams.

Cabrera, a former SAPIS counselor and member of Local 372, focused on the potential human cost of the layoffs. "I still run into former students who come to me and thank me for helping to turn their lives around," he said.

— Alfredo Alvarado