PRIVATIZATION BUSTER — PEF's Privatization Buster Committee, V.P. Pat Baker, Mary Lou Vasilev, present Lou Ferrone Jr. with the 2004 Privatization Buster Award at PEF's 26th Annual Convention in Lake George in October. Ferrone, the statewide L-M chair for the state Department of Transportation (DOT), was honored for launching a fight-back effort against privatization and out-of-title work at DOT.
— Photo by John Epting
Bill aims to cut privatization
Members push DOT to save jobs, costs
By DEBORAH A. MILES
PEF members at the state Department of Transportation (DOT) are leaving no stone unturned in their battle against privatization. A new letter-writing campaign was launched at PEF’s 26th annual convention in Lake Placid in October, to urge lawmakers to pass a bill that would help improve services and save taxpayers millions of dollars by securing public service jobs.
The letter pushes for lawmakers to pass S.198/A.1726A, a bill that would mandate state agencies to perform cost/benefit analysis before entering into outside service contracts.
PEF will soon have the letter on its Web site, www.pef.org, for members to send electronically.
The campaign is a fight-back effort, in response to a letter-writing campaign that the American Council of Engineering Consultants (ACEC) prepared for its member firms. Their letter encouraged legislators to acquire additional funding for private engineering services and transportation infrastructure improvements in the 2004-2005 state budget, according to Charlie Kelefant, a member of DOT’s statewide labor-management committee.
Check the facts
But Kelefant says the consultant’s letter contained misleading information. For example, it stated, “driving on roads in need of repair costs New York’s motorists $2.3 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs, or $218 per motorist.”
However, Kelefant noted The Road Information Program (TRIP) — a nonprofit research group in Washington, DC — reported much higher price tags on this in July. For example in Syracuse, poor roads and congestion delays could cost drivers up to $691 in annual expenses. The TRIP report says those conditions would cost drivers $839 in Rochester, $873 in the Capital Region, and for drivers in and around New York City, the sum was pegged at $1,549.
DOT’s own 2003 report on New York’s highway surface conditions shows an overall decline in ratings despite increasing expenditures and 12 years of unprecedented federal highway funding.
“Our response explains that excessive consultant costs are retarding the department’s ability to maintain and improve the highway/bridge infrastructure,” Kelefant said. “And, our letter points out why the passage of this bill is crucial. It could help put the brakes on contracting-out and save jobs.”
“Most important, it would save the taxpayers millions of dollars,” said Lou Ferrone Jr., PEF L-M chair at DOT. “The savings could be used for additional highway and bridge projects, and to pay top level construction workers who in turn would be paying more income tax. It would be a win-win situation for the state.”
Planning ahead
In spring 2004, the bill passed the Assembly and is now in the Senate Finance Committee. If the Senate does not take action on it by the end of this year, PEF will ask it be reintroduced in 2005, according to Brian Curran, PEF’s legislative director.
A hometown lobbying campaign is already in the works for mid-January that will target legislators in the Assembly and Senate transportation committees, urging them to pass the bill.
State jobs rule
PEF represents more than 4,000 DOT employees and staffing there has been cut by nearly one-third since 1994. With a reduced workforce and a reorganizing plan to squeeze greater efficiency out of remaining employees by doing out-of-title work, PEF leaders feel DOT remains committed to hiring outside contractors, even at exorbitant costs.
Ferrone said PEF leaders at DOT will continue to take aggressive action to mobilize members, especially now, as the passage of the Spano/John bill would curtail contracting-out, and as DOT moves forward with its “Transformation” plan.
The
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