After Layoffs in '02:
Tech Guild Regains 110 Posts at SCA

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 of District Council 37 has won a four-year legal battle to have more than 100 members rehired after they were laid off in November 2002 by the School Construction Authority.

CLAUDE FORT: Struggle took a toll.

The founding legislation of the SCA specified that 40 percent of its technical work had to be kept in-house. When the Bloomberg administration moved to lay off the group of mostly Architects, Engineers and assistants, the union filed a lawsuit, invoking the state law that prohibits layoffs if 40 percent of the design and inspection staff is not part of the city workforce.

'A Lot of Hardship'

"There was a lot of panic at the time, and it caused a lot of hardship for members," said Local 375 President Claude Fort.

Mr. Fort cited an Architect, who has since gotten his job back, whose son had to drop out of medical school because he could not pay the bills.

"We tried very hard to come up with alternative employment for them at the time," said Jon Forster, first vice president of Local 375. "We found places for about half of them, but not the rest." Most of the people who did find jobs in other agencies took a pay cut and lost their seniority.

After the union won the lawsuit at the initial level, the city agreed to begin meeting to try to negotiate a solution.

Some Declined Return

Eventually, SCA officials committed to hire 110 people, in order to be in compliance with the 40-percent regulation. About a third of the original group chose to return. But SCA agreed to hire a total of 110 regardless, so the agency is now in the process of hiring for some of the positions that they had previously contracted out. Mr. Fort said that it remains to be seen whether the new hiring will bring the agency into compliance with the law, which it has violated for the past several years.

Mr. Forster believes that the substantial amount of money that has been committed by the state and city to build new schools helped to convince the SCA that it had a long-term budget commitment, which loosened its resistance to hiring more permanent staff.

Union officials argue that the move is good for the city because it reduces costs, since there is no cut for a profit margin, and builds upon the existing, long-term experience of employees who are familiar with city law and procedures. "Not only do you obey the law, you save a lot of money," said Mr. Fort.

The union president estimated that it saved the city $90 per square foot, on average $9 million per new school building, in construction costs when the job was done in-house.

"The city workers know the codes; they are not just learning then," said Mr. Fort. "They don't need the expensive change-orders that drive the price up. They are the best in the business."