Testimony of Juan Fernández, President, Local 154, District Council 37, AFSCME

Before the Civil Service Committee
June 29, 2007

      Good morning Chairman Addabbo and fellow Committee members. My name is Juan Fernández. I am the President of Local 154, District Council 37, AFSCME. I am here before you today to share some of the concerns of the members of Local 154, the workers I represent. These workers represent the titles of Research Assistant, Human Rights Specialist, Claims Specialist, Special Consultants Level II, Public Records Aide, Title Examiners, Departmental Librarians and a number of other related titles. Our members provide professional, technical and clerical services at over twenty City agencies and departments. They audit the quality of contractual services provided by certain community agencies, they investigate Human Rights complaints, they analyze data and produce reports, they investigate claims against the City, and they organize and classify records and provide library services, among other functions.

Today, I would like to present some of the concerns that my members and I have regarding the status of the Civil Service System in the City of New York:

1. City agencies reluctantly use or sometimes plainly refuse to use established lists. For example, the Research Assistant list #5053 was established in October 2006 with 598 names in it. The Research Assistant is a citywide title used by no less than 15 agencies. However, to date less than 20 people have been appointed from this list.
   
   
2. Members report that the tests do not properly reflect the nature of the jobs and that after taking the test, once their names are placed on the list, they are not called. This is a waste of time, money and effort as well as a loss of morale for these.
   
   
3. Once a list has been established, some managers use it as an opportunity to retaliate against provisional workers. We are plenty aware that the Civil Service Law requires removal of provisional workers shortly after a list has been established. However, we have seen managers remove provisional workers whose names are high on the list and who never had a bad evaluation but who happened to step on the wrong toes. This is retaliation under the cover of the Civil Service system.
   
   
4. The one-in-three rule allows managers to refuse promotional opportunities to well qualified applicants. Contrary to the well intended purpose of a system based on merit, fitness and objective testing, the rule of one-in-three introduces an element of prejudice in the selection process. People with top scores are discarded with absolutely no explanation. The current system allows managers to do the final picking without regard to the principles behind any merit system.
   
   These factors show that the current Civil Service System is no longer a system based on merit. The existence of 26,000 provisional City workers shows that managers have systematically circumvented the system to bring in workers with no civil service protections. In addition, the current Civil Service System has been unable to deter the spread of political appointments and cronyism in City hiring practices. The excessive number of managers and deputies in many City agencies, sometimes people with no substantive previous experience, demonstrates that public resources and taxpayers moneys are being wasted to the detriment of services to the public.

To ensure that the Civil Service system is based on merit and thus will protect the taxpayers' money and the quality of the services to the public, we recommend the following:

1. Repeal the one-in-three rule and enforce a policy that candidates will be appointed according to their ranking on the civil service list.
   
   
2. Ensure that test should properly reflect job descriptions.
   
   
3. Establish and enforce a reasonable timeframe for the entire process, from examination to appointment.
   
   
4. Require agencies to move lists promptly.
   
   
5. Prohibit the use or misuse of the Civil Service System as a tool for retaliation against workers.

We commend and thank the City Council for holding this public hearing regarding the Civil Service system.

I am available to answer any questions you may have.