Dept. Of Labor: Stop the move. Don't hang up on NYC.
PEF launches fight to keep DOL members in NYC
By DEBORAH A. MILES
The state Department of Labor (DOL) claims federal budget cuts are behind the proposed closure of the department’s Unemployment Insurance Telephone Claim Center (TCC) on Hudson St. in Manhattan.
The closure would cause reassignments to upstate TCC locations for more than 100 PEF members working there. Members unable to relocate could lose their jobs.
The Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER) announced the plan in mid-April and PEF leaders responded immediately.
Within two days of the announcement, PEF leaders met and began discussing how to fight back.
“We will use all of PEF’s resources to prevent all forced transfers of PEF members,” said PEF President Roger Benson. “We have already been in communication with GOER on this matter. We’ve had preliminary constructive conversations with the governor’s office, unlike being completely blindsided by the Labor Department.”
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Other space available
DOL managers told PEF the expensive rent in the West Village is why they have chosen to close the claim center. However, PEF leaders say lower cost office space is available in other parts of NYC.
According to PEF Division 245 Council Leader/Executive Board member Bernice Jones, DOL wants to reassign more than 60 permanent employees to Troy or Endicott in September. And before the end of 2006, nearly 150 PEF members could also be reassigned.
“There is no available space in Troy. It’s packed to the gills,” Benson said. “Plus, the department recently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve the Hudson St. location.”
There’s more to it
Those reviewing the situation wonder if there’s another reason why members at the TCC office might be looking for a new address.
“There could be political reasons for the relocation,” said Ron Goldstein, PEF Executive Board representative for DOL at the Hudson St. site.
Goldstein described the TCC staff as “hardworking, professional and very experienced at what they do.”
Although the TCC is just a little more than a mile away from Ground Zero, he said members want to stay in New York City, even though “they go to work every day knowing there is always the possibility of another terrorist attack.”
He said the department selected the Hudson St. location knowing it was expensive.
“It’s not the staff’s fault DOL elected to stay in prime real estate,” Goldstein said.
Revitalization scam
Benson also noted it is inconsistent to move this operation out of the area at the same time the governor forced members from the state Department of Health to move from midtown and Queens to 90 Church St., as part of his lower Manhattan revitalization plan.
“This is outrageous and conflicting,” he said. “We will continue to investigate the reasons behind these forced transfers. We will communicate with the governor and do whatever it takes to keep these labor services in New York City.”
The
Communicator May 2005
Inside This Issue
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big in state budget
Corporate tax loophole widens
Middletown OMH saved
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Student health insurance reminder
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Unions plan nurses' rally to end OT
Weak security bugs near WTC
PEF fights to
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Vet returns mementos
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