DC 37 sies NYC mayor over workfare
By Greg Butterfield
New York
District Council 37 of the American Federation
of State, County and Municipal Employees took the
administration of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to court Feb. 4. The
union charges Giuliani with violating a state law that
prohibits using workfare workers to replace union workers.
About 40,000 people on public assistance are
forced to participate in the Work Experience Program, as
workfare is known here. WEP workers receive no wages or
benefits. The government has said these workers have no right
to join a union, though many, including the 9,000-member
Workfairness, continue to fight for union rights.
Lee Saunders, who was recently appointed to run
the 120,000-member district council, said Giuliani flagrantly
violates the no-replacement law. Since 1993, Giuliani has
eliminated more than 40,000 city jobs through layoffs and
attrition. Most of those jobs, formerly covered by the union's
contract, are now done by super-exploited workfare workers.
Since 1990, the number of non-administrative
jobs in the city's Parks Department has dropped by more than
half, from 2,800 to 1,200. More than 6,000 workfare workers are
being used to clean and maintain city parks.
DC 37, Workfairness and other groups want
workfare workers to be covered by the union contract. Readers
interested in learning more can call Workfairness at (212)
633-6646.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page