DC 37 leaders slam proposed reduction of civilians in clerical-administrative positions at NYPD

Clerical union president says replacing civilians with police officers is unacceptable

New York, N.Y. - Eddie Rodriguez, president of DC 37's NYC Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549, denounced the proposed reduction of 989 civilian positions at the New York Police Department (NYPD) at a public hearing on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget. The hearing was held on Tuesday, May 19 by the City Council's Committee on Public Safety chaired by Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr. (D- Queens).

"In these difficult times, replacing 989 civilians with trained police officers is unacceptable," said Rodriguez, who represents the police administrative aides, senior police administrative aides and other clerical titles at the NYPD. "Reducing civilians who save money at the NYPD is the wrong thing to do, especially at a time when the city is spending $9 billion on private contractors. How could you spend so much money on private contractors while proposing to reduce the number of civilian civil servants?"

Lillian Roberts, Executive Director of DC 37, said this spending on outside contracts is "a misuse of taxpayers' dollars" and, in a white paper entitled "Massive Waste at a Time of Need," DC 37 analyzed 10 of 18,000 contracts and identified $130 million in savings the city could realize by cutting back on them. Roberts said, "This is only the tip of the iceberg."

On Monday, May 18, DC 37 launched a major subway ad campaign urging New Yorkers to "Tell City Hall: Cut private contractors, not public services!"

Failing to civilianize is another form of waste Ralph Palladino, 2nd vice president of Local 1549, told the City Council noting that police officers make twice the annual salary of the clerical workers. "We have documented 3,500 civilian positions that are being occupied by uniformed officers," Palladino said adding that both City Comptroller Bill Thompson and former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi have estimated significant cost savings through civilianization. The union estimates it would save taxpayers $127 million a year.

Rodriguez said the union has been fighting for the past ten years to ensure that civilian NYPD employees do clerical work. In 2004, DC 37 won a landmark arbitrator's decision directing the NYPD to replace uniformed officers occupying clerical positions with civilians. In 2005, the NY State Supreme Court upheld the ruling and the Appellate Division upheld the arbitration decision in 2007.

"Police officers should be on patrol keeping us safe," Rodriguez said. "Replacing police officers in clerical positions with civilians is a win-win situation for the city, the union, and New Yorkers," he added. "The police administrative aides are supposed to do clerical work; police officers are there to fight crime, not to type."

District Council 37 is New York City's largest public employee union, with 125,000 members and 50,000 retirees.