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DC 37 decries growth in work farmed out by city

Council to Review Contract Budget

By DAVID SIMS

May 15, 2009

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James
'IT'S ABOUT CONTROL, NOT SAVING MONEY': District Council 37 Assistant Associate Director Henry Garrido tells a City Council hearing that the Bloomberg administration prefers using contract employees rather than civil servants 'because these workers can be gotten rid of for whatever reasons; you don't have to go through a [hearing] process.' Looking on is DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, who claims the city would save $128 million by having city workers assume duties now performed by contract staff.

City Council Members who heard testimony from District Council 37 officials about the city's rapidly expanding farm-out of municipal work at a hearing May 7 vowed to review the $9 billion now spent on a "shadow government" in upcoming budget hearings.

The joint Civil Service and Contracts Committee hearing was convened over "Massive Waste in a Time of Need," the March DC 37 "white paper" that said that $128 million in savings could be achieved by replacing privately-contracted employees with cheaper, bettertrained municipal ones.

	MIGUEL MARTINEZ: Questions city's lack of rebuttal.

'Eroded Services, Raised Costs'
"Contracting out has eroded services and raised costs," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. "Many services that used to be provided by career city employees are now performed by contractors at a higher cost, with little accountability, oversight or transparency."

Ms. Roberts reiterated the white paper's main points to the Council: that the city's contract budget has boomed since 2005, rocketing from $5 billion to $9 billion; that private workers earn less than unionized employees because of the cut taken by their firms; and that private workers are not screened as city workers are, leading to misbehavior and sometimes even criminal activity.

The City Charter requires costanalysis studies when private workers displace any unionized employees, but DC 37 Assistant Associate Director Henry Garrido testified that the city was creatively ignoring the law. "When attrition takes place, as workers retire, the Other Than Personal Services budget is being used to procure contracts," he said. "Displacement of workers is narrowly defined by this administration as layoffs. We think that definition should be expanded."

Councilwoman Letitia James, chair of the Contracts Committee, said that she had asked the Mayor about DC 37's findings, but that "his response was that these employees were somehow unique, that they possessed special skills." She wondered aloud what special skills some of the employees identified in the white paper, such as custodial workers and data processors, had that municipal workers didn't.

'Doing the Same Work'
"In some cases, where employees have proprietary needs and special skills, we've separated that out of our study," Mr. Garrido said. "But in many instances, in a roomful of 30 employees, half will turn out to be civil servants and half private consultants. We're doing the same work."

"Many of our workers can't get promotions because of this," Ms. Roberts said. "And these workers should belong to our union. They're working side-by-side with us." The private workers are often paid between eight and 10 dollars an hour, she said, as opposed to the $14.47 per hour that is mandated by living wage laws. The difference is pocketed by their employers, she said.

Mr. Garrido accused the city of relying more and more on contractingout because of "the issue of control," saying that "these workers can be gotten rid of for whatever reasons, you don't have to go through a process. There is a culture of fear instituted on the workers when they even attempt to contact the union."

Mayor's Office a No-Show
Councilman Miguel Martinez, chair of the Civil Service and Labor committee, noted the city's lack of testimony, saying it was a "bit disappointing that the administration would not engage in this dialogue." Councilman Robert Jackson agreed, remarking archly that "since they're not here to refute this [white paper], I assume everything that's in here is correct."

But Mr. Jackson also admitted that DC 37 was "preaching to the choir" at the hearing, and that true progress on the issue had to be made dealing directly with the administration.

Ms. Roberts said that the white paper had been presented to the Mayor's office, but apart from one meeting with HRA Commissioner Robert Doar on transitional employees, no action had been taken by the city. She also noted that DC 37 had presented private workers' pay stubs to the Comptroller's Office, and that an investigation into the living wage violations was under way.