DC 37 Calls Job-Training Workers Money-Savers

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James CHEAPER TO KEEP 'EM: District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said the city could save more than $14 million if it extended the employment of Job Training Participants so that they performed custodial and cleaning work now farmed out to private contractors.

District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts told a City Council committee Feb. 25 that Job Training Participants should be retained by the city in higher numbers rather than using privately-contracted employees who cost more money.

The General Welfare Committee hearing examined the existing JTP programs offering time-limited jobs and subsidized training to welfare recipients in the Parks Department and Department of Sanitation. Committee Chairman Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn supported DC 37's proposal to terminate city custodial and clerical contracts and replace those workers with JTPs, which the union said would cut costs because of the 15-percent profit margin demanded by private contractors and increase the number of JTPs being retained in employment.

'Could Save $14M'

"The city would save more than $14.3 million in total by terminating the custodian and cleaning contracts," said Ms. Roberts, whose union represents the JTPs through a special association. "The entry-level positions could be made available to JTPs graduating from the six-months training program on a priority basis, which would improve the annual income of the participants."

Human Resources Administration Commissioner Robert Doar, while stopping short of endorsing DC 37's plan, said that he wanted to aggressively expand the JTP program. "My view is that there are functions in many agencies that, with proper setup, our JTPs could perform," he said. "I believe in this model, but it requires a large financial commitment… we're happy to undertake conversations with other city agencies."

Mr. de Blasio said that he "personally had problems with the idea of contracting out," and felt that the DC 37 plan could help people achieve permanent union jobs as well as cut back on city expenses. "Why shouldn't this become the broader policy of the city?" he asked Mr. Doar, who he suggested could "proselytize" other city agencies. "I think we can do a lot more; I think we can be creative."

Internal Representation Fight

DC 37 organized the JTPs, who number about 3,000, six years ago and negotiated a wage deal identical to the union's general pattern, along with standard grievance procedures. But Motor Vehicle Operators Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal, who originally lobbied to have JTPs made a part of his local, said a phone interview that his union's proposal was too little, too late in. He has accused Ms. Roberts of removing the JTPs from his local because of a series of political clashes, including one over their compensation.

"When Local 983 lost these workers, it was a political fight. The last five years, nothing has been accomplished that can benefit them," he said. "Every year 3,500 employees come in. Over a five-year period, 17,000 new clients came in and went through the system. And the statistics are dismal. To [Mayor] Bloomberg's credit, he put them in a union. But it all broke down because the union didn't want to make an agreement because of politics." Mr. Rosenthal argues that the workers, who usually make about $8.50 an hour, could have better pay if they were in a single local fighting for their interests.

'Golden Opportunity' Lost

Mr. Rosenthal said that President Obama's Federal stimulus package had been a golden opportunity for DC 37 to try to increase the JTP program, but noted, "I don't see them doing anything, because it's all politicized… they're in the only association in New York State. I never heard of one; they've always been in locals."

A DC 37 spokeswoman did not respond to Mr. Rosenthal's statements.

At the hearing, three people who had gone through the JTP program testified that the city should do more to provide long-term hiring opportunities for the temporary workers. "[We] just want the chance to work at a stable job that pays a decent wage," said Susan Harper, a former JTP in the DSNY who had returned to public assistance benefits after her six months had ended without being hired.

"This is a costly expense to taxpayers," said Jacqueline Estrada, who also worked in DSNY and wasn't hired after six months. "I am an ablebodied person who is willing to work, but unable to find opportunities."

Gladys Perez, an Assistant Gardener in the Parks Department, said that she was "one of the positive outcomes of the JTP," as she was hired by the city after her training program finished. "Unfortunately, my experience is not the norm," she said. "Hopefully, the outcome of this hearing and its findings will fine-tune this program so that others may experience the positive results I and my family have enjoyed."