Mayor’s “Prepare for Layoffs” Press Release

On March 12, 2008 the Mayor’s Office issued a press release stating that the Mayor instructed General Managers “to prepare for layoffs” and that the City is undertaking a “layoff exercise”. The full text of the press release is linked here.

This press release is the latest move by the City to enforce the re-opener contained in the Coalition of City Unions’ contracts and is a direct response to the quote in the Daily News article of 3/09/08: “’We’ve heard this before about how tough it is for the city – and they always seem to find the money,’ one official involved in the talks said.” The full text of this article is linked on our ‘News Links’ page. The City hopes this will cause members of the Coalition of City Unions, fearing layoffs, to pressure their leaders into negotiations. The City also hopes that some employees will elect to leave City service voluntarily before any negotiations take place.

The city has used the same formula many times in the past. They've gone as far as drawing up layoff rosters to scare employees and their unions into making concessions. They used this tactic following the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Prior to that date, they used this tactic in the early 1990's for the same reasons. No employees were laid off in either instance.

In addition, DWP management used the same tactics in the late 1990’s but ultimately laid off no employees, instead negotiating a very expensive incentive plan to reduce their workforce.

It is worth noting that even the Daily News is aware of EAA’s contracts, stating that: “In the background . . . is a contract deal with the Engineers and Architects Association. The EAA signed a three-year, 3 percent-a-year contract. But that deal did not contain a re-opener clause that would have allowed the city to try to renegotiate it.”

What neither the City nor the Daily News mention is that while the City can conduct layoffs, it must negotiate with all unions on the effects of any layoffs. In addition, the layoff process is extremely convoluted and involves complex ‘bumping’ rights that cause ripples throughout the City, including at departments not directly involved in any layoff. As noted in the Daily News: “It takes months to lay off even one worker”.