Layoffs a ‘lose-lose’ for public, employees


By SHERRY HALBROOK The state will layoff 3,496 PS&T


employees November 4 if PEF members in that bargaining unit turn down a revised tentative agreement when their votes are counted November 3. The layoffs would pull key state


personnel out of the experienced teams and networks necessary to provide a broad array of vital public services and functions. Although the layoffs are supposed to


save the state money, some of them may reduce revenues or increase costs. “Some state agencies are already


looking to plug private consultants into the most serious staffing gaps created by the layoffs, or to contract the work entirely. These are Bandaid approaches that will cost more tax dollars than the layoffs save and produce inferior results,” said PEF President Ken Brynien. “You can only strip so many wheels and


gears from a car and still make it road- worthy, safe and dependable, not to mention cost-effective to operate. The state has been stripping its workforce and services for a long time, and making more


By DEBORAH A. MILES The 3,496 people who received state


layoff notices each have a story to tell. Many are frightened with the threat of


lost income. They are struggling emotionally as to how they will provide for their children. And being devoted to their careers, they wonder what will happen when their job is ended. Here are just two stories, out of


thousands. Myron Getman, an assistant research


scientist at Wadsworth Center in Albany, said, “My professional life and my personal life intersect. I’m a single father and I have a custody agreement that prevents me from moving out of the area. If I get laid off, it will end my career doing my research, which I have done for nearly 10 years.” “I study asbestos. There are three of us


in this laboratory, and that’s a skeleton crew. Taking me out of the equation will not just cripple, but shut down, the asbestos lab.” The asbestos program is mandated by


law. Getman said, for example, the laboratory oversees asbestos samples found in public schools and analyzed by independent laboratories. “If those laboratories cannot be


accredited by New York state, because they cannot receive their samples from us, they won’t be able to do their analyses,” Getman said. “What could happen is that children


www.pef.org


sweeping cuts now will be crippling in many cases. “Whether it’s large agencies losing


hundreds of employees or tiny agencies losing a few,” Brynien said, “the loss of expertise, institutional knowledge, and hands to do the work will hurt New Yorkers in countless ways they can’t even imagine.” To keep that secret to itself, the state


has refused to tell PEF which employees will lose their jobs, leaving it to the members to tell their union. Here’s a glimpse of the bad news: • At the state Health Department (DOH),


the staff of 17 narcotics investigators in the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE) would be reduced to just six people to keep thousands of pharmacies and doctors honest and prevent illegal distribution of prescription drugs. • More than 10,000 developmentally


disabled New Yorkers will lose their state case managers right away. The case managers are their primary advocates and responsible for getting them the right services and for resolving conflicts and service gaps.


in schools may potentially be exposed to asbestos because the samples are being analyzed by laboratories that are not proficient. “It’s like a house of cards. If you take


one away, the whole thing crumbles. Those labs won’t be able to function without the work of our lab. “When I got the layoff notice,


emotionally I felt like I did when I went through the custody hearing of my daughter,” Getman said, “Being able to provide for my daughter is my priority. When someone tells me I can no longer provide for my daughter, it’s a mixture of grief and anger. It tears the heart right out of you.” Nadine Kozer is a single mom with a


single income household. She has a 9- year-old daughter. She works as a legal assistant 2 at the


The state is turning the work over to


private agencies, even though it must bend the rules to allow the maximum caseload to be exceeded during the transition. • The state Workers’ Compensation


Board is privatizing most or all of its services to injured workers whose employers did not carry workers’ comp insurance. • The state Department of Corrections


and Community Supervision which has already been laying off employees because of prison closings, will lose another 75 employees if the tentative agreement is defeated. The single largest


title group being targeted? Chaplains. Fifteen of them, ranging from Conservative Jews to Muslims, Catholics, Episcopalians, Protestants and even a Greek Orthodox Christian.


Layoff notices create personal, professional hardships


Department of State, division of licensing services. Her voice trembled when she talked


about getting the layoff notices. The first one came June 30, and the other September 28. “I’ve been with the state since 1989.


Seriously, I would not be able to survive and pay my bills on unemployment benefits. The max is $405 a week.” Taxpayers would suffer too, if Kozer


were out of a job. Her department licenses different professions such as cosmetologists, security guards, private investigators, real estate sales people, brokers, appraisers, and a number of other professions. “I’m the only legal assistant in my


agency, so I’m guessing that’s why my title was targeted. My boss was not notified. She found out the same afternoon I did. The other attorneys in this office will not be able to take on my case load, because they are already swamped and I have in excess of 150 cases, and I’m getting 100 more on top of that very soon. “This is a very difficult time. If I get laid


off, I really don’t know how my daughter and I will survive.” Both Getman and Kozer said they hope


the latest tentative agreement gets ratified, not only to protect them, but because it shows compromise and is fair.


—Photo byMario Bruni The Communicator November 2011—Page 5


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