Protest Janitor Layoffs At DOE's Queens Offices; Say Services Will Decline

Members of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ rallied Oct. 15 outside the Department of Education headquarters in Queens to protest the abrupt layoff of 11 janitors, more than half the building's cleaning staff, with some being given less than the required two weeks' notice.

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane OUT ON THE STREET: Janitors represented by Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union express their unhappiness at being laid off from their jobs at the Department of Education's Queens offices.

The union said it was told the DOE layoffs were ordered by Mayor Bloomberg, to reduce staffing in schools as part of the ongoing budget cuts.

'Cut It to the Bone'

"They have treated this building like a school. And they have cut it to the bone," said Bob Wilson, director of Local 32BJ's Schools Division. "The DOE was given a mandate by the Mayor to reduce the staff in schools. This is not a school. This building is not part of the budget cuts." He added that the increased workload for the remaining Local 32BJ cleaners in the building would violate their job agreement with the city. "We have very strict language in our contract on what a workload should be for an office cleaner," he told the crowd.

Workers also took issue with the abruptness of the cuts. "Over the last week, they've been giving people two-week notices that they were gonna be laid off. Me, I never received a notice; I was informed early yesterday morning that I was laid off, period," said Joseph Adams, a handyman who had worked in the building for 15 years. "There were 27 employees, day and night. There are now seven employees at night and two employees in the day ... if a toilet should start to overflow, the building will be flooded by the time anyone comes here in the morning," he elaborated.

Queens Councilman Eric Gioia, a former Local 32BJ member himself, said that he was worried about future layoffs as the city entered lean financial times. "As the city makes budget cuts, we have to make sure that they're trimming fat, not devastating people who are already struggling to make ends meet. And my concern is that this is the tip of the iceberg," he said.

'A Big Disconnect'

He assigned blame to the Mayor and the DOE, firing a shot at executives who "continue to pad their salary." "There's a big disconnect from people who are making decisions in City Hall, and what's happening in the vast majority of the city," he told the crowd. "You have a lot of people in New York who feel invisible right now. Who feel that there's nobody who understands how hard it is to put food on the table."

Many of the fired workers, who had "longstanding seniority in the building," according to Mr. Wilson, are now struggling with family commitments or medical bills.

Maria Valencia, a cleaner in the building for seven years, said that she had two sons in college and a mortgage to worry about. "I need my job and am worried about finding another one in today's economic climate," she said in a written statement.

Mr. Adams added that he'd recently had open-heart surgery, and had continuing medical bills to pay after the operation. "Losing this job, I'm losing all my medical benefits," he said. "And my surgery is something that has to go on now for the rest of my life."

"We have to put pressure on the Department of Education to get Temco to reinstate some hours," said Mr. Wilson, referring to the company used by the DOE to employ the janitors. He promised further rallies outside the building until Local 32BJ's demands were met.

In a parting shot, he noted that many of the DOE workers in the office belonged to municipal unions themselves, and that they would be told to help clean their workspaces now that the janitorial staff had been cut.