About Half of the 24,000 Civil Service Employes Dismissed in Nyc’s Austerity Cutbacks Are Jews

Approximately half of the estimated 24,000 civil service employes dismissed to date in the city’s austerity cutbacks are Jews, Louis Weiser, president of the Council of Jewish Organizations in Civil Service, today told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Weiser said the majority of the approximately 12,000 Jewish civil service employes who have been laid off were employed by the Board of Education, which is not controlled by the city administration. He said the dismissed Jewish education employes included teachers, administrative employes and, particularly guidance counselors.

Weiser also told the JTA that about 5000 Jewish substitute teachers no longer have jobs. He said substitutes are not included among the Board of Education’s permanent civil service employes. Weiser also reported there have been severe cuts of Jewish civil service workers in the city’s social services.

He listed the total of such dismissed Jewish employes as between 400 and 500. He said a recent figure of 32,168 published as the total number of civil service employes dismissed since the city began its forced dismissal effort included layoffs by attrition and that his data on Jewish employe dismissals referred to direct dismissals. He said about 150 Jewish men and women serving on the police force had been laid off in the economy drive.

MORE LAYOFFS SEEN

Weiser said that anticipated additional cuts in the city’s payroll undoubtedly will include more Jews being laid off. He said “we monitor these layoffs very carefully” to assure that dismissals are in “strictest adherence to seniority and civil service regulations,” adding that there had been no evidence of any violations in Jewish employe layoffs to date.

He said the Council would go to court immediately if that happened on any future dismissals of Jewish civil service employes. He added that the Council represents about 90,000 Jewish city employes and about 30,000 Jewish civil service workers in federal and state positions.

Weiser stated that one situation on which the Council was maintaining a close watch was the possibility of “selective layoff procedures” in city departments where such departments are singled out because of “the so-called dominance” of one ethnic group over others.

He said the federal government recently reported that 64 percent of civil service workers added to the federal payroll during the past year were members of minority groups, which he said represented a much larger proportion than their proportion in the total population.

Weiser stated the Council had no objection to the application of affirmative action programs when such programs sought out qualified persons who might not otherwise have the opportunity for government employment. But he added that the affirmative action program appeared to have reached the stage where it was geared to minorities. He said that in both federal and city hiring, the procedure frequently amounted to a preferential hiring policy.