TAKING A STAND — PEF members from the state Labor Department's telephone claims center in Manhattan hold up signs to protest the closure at a state assembly hearing in July. PEF President Roger Benson and Frank Besser, PEF statewide labor-management chair for the Labor Department and others testified. — Photo by Bill Sachs
Lawsuit, testimony geared to keep claims center in NYC
PEF pulls out all stops against DOL
By DEBORAH A. MILES
When the state Department of Labor (DOL) announced the closure of the Manhattan Telephone Claims Center in April, PEF President Roger Benson said the union would take every possible measure to keep it operating in New York City to halt upstate transfers of more than 130 PEF Division 245 members.
And it has.
Since day one, when the announcement was made, members have mobilized, rallied, held press conferences and testified before state Assembly committees for labor and governmental employees.
The union ran newspaper ads throughout the summer and stories of support appeared in the Daily News and Chinese and Spanish newspapers such as Sing Tao, El Diario and Hoy Newspaper.
PEF also filed a racial discrimination lawsuit on August 2 against DOL and its commissioner, Linda
Angello.
The lawsuit points out how minority employees — the bulk of the work force at the claims center — have become unnecessary targets at DOL.
STRONG TESTIMONY — PEF President Roger Benson and Frank Besser, PEF labor-management chair at DOL, are surrounded by more than a hundred PEF members as they testify at an assembly hearing in July against the closure of the New York City telephone claims center.
— Photos by Bill Sachs
Compare the numbers
“Deciding to close the claims center is clearly an act of discrimination, considering more than 83 percent of the staff is non-white. It also discriminates against the thousands of non-English- speaking New York City residents by weakening services to them. This is discriminatory behavior, and Commissioner Angello is justifying the decision by crying lack of funds,” said PEF President Roger Benson.
Employees at the upstate claims centers in Troy and Endicott are more than 90 percent white.
Savings doesn’t add up.
DOL claims the closure will save between $1 million and $3.5 million annually. Benson said the projected savings amounts to less than 1 percent of DOL’s total state operations budget.
“We believe the savings will not be realized, because DOL has not accounted for the additional costs it will incur in its relocation plan, particularly for translation services,” he said.
At the July 8 hearing, Benson fired another salvo, saying the cost of a translation service to replace the multilingual labor service representatives would be significant and would not justify the “savings” estimate for closing the Manhattan claims center.
“The true cost for a translation service would be an estimated $142.73 an hour versus $22.73 an hour for state employees,” Benson said.
GETTING THE FACTS — Members of the state Assembly listen to testimony from PEF leaders. Assembly members include Adele Cohen, Michael Benedetto, Deborah Glick, Susan John, Peter Abbate Jr., and Peter Rivera.
— Photos by Bill Sachs
‘Bricks and mortar’
PEF supported DOL when it first created the claims center because it saved jobs.
“I urge you not to fall for Commissioner Angello’s line that she is closing the New York City claims center because she is putting jobs before bricks and mortar,” Benson said.
Aware of this line by the commissioner, more than 100 PEF members and employees from the claims center who attended the legislative hearing held up signs that said, “I am bricks” and “I am mortar.” Others rallied outside and included former DOL employees who are PEF retirees.
Benson also said Angello refused to explore the options to deal with the department’s alleged shortfall of federal funds, failed to advocate for additional state funding, and did not reveal to the Legislature her plans to close the claims center until after the state budget was adopted.
State Assembly Member Susan John, who co-chaired the hearing, said, “I am surprised they (DOL officials) did not present the decision to close the claims center in their testimony in January. I asked questions about the unemployment insurance sector, and Commissioner Angello is very aware of how important this issue is to me individually and also to the Legislature in general.
“The testimony from Roger Benson at the hearing made it clear that a number of important facts seemed to be ignored by the department in making its decision.”
DOL Discrimination Lawsuit Filing. Keep the TCC in NYC
Testimony provides options
Along with testimony from the claims center staff, that spoke of the hardship involved if they are forced to move their families upstate, PEF statewide labor-management chair for the Labor Department, Frank Besser offered alternatives.
He suggested finding less expensive office space and reducing the number of outside consultants the department is currently using in the unemployment insurance system modernization program and other information technology initiatives. He recommended an interchange of state and federal funds which support other DOL programs, and reducing the number of hourly employees at other claims centers without affecting permanent employees.
“We have offered alternatives that can save the $1 million annually needed to keep the center open, if the million dollars is really needed,” Besser said.
The closure of the claims center is scheduled for the latter part of 2006. PEF leaders said they will continue to put pressure on DOL.
Visit the PEF Web site at www.pef.org and click on the “Don’t Hang Up” button to sign an online petition and for updates on the claims center, and call for action alerts.
The
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