About half of the 20,000 New York City civil service workers laid off because of the current fiscal crisis are Jews, according to Louis Weiser, president of the Council of Jewish Organizations in Civil Service. The Council is a fraternal organization comprised of some two dozen groups representing Jews in a wide range of municipal departments.
Weiser also told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that the Council had organized job banks in efforts to help laid off Jewish civil servants obtain new jobs. He said between 30 and 40 dismissed Jewish policemen had been helped to find jobs in fields related to their police training, such as positions in private security firms.
He gave the following breakdown of Jewish civil servants dismissed to date in the municipal economy drive: 140 police, 50 firemen, 25 correction officers, 500 in the Human Resources Administration, the city’s superagency for welfare and poverty programs; an estimated 7000 teachers and other personnel among Board of Education personnel; and about 1500 in various other city departments for a total of 9215 laid off Jewish civil service employes.
LAYOFFS BEING MONITORED
Weiser said that, in addition to the creation of job banks, the Council also has been monitoring layoffs to make sure they are made in accordance with Civil Service regulations, such as that requirements of seniority prevail, with exceptions for war veterans.
He said there had been inquiries from non-Jewish laid-off workers concerning the announcement last August that the Israel Aliya Center of the American Section of the World Zionist Organization was contacting dismissed Jewish municipal employes in an effort to persuade them to go to Israel where jobs are available for police, firemen and teachers.
Weiser said the Council officials have been explaining that government workers must be Israeli citizens and that while Jews are automatically entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, non-Jews planning to go to Israel to seek government jobs must become citizens under standard naturalization procedures. He said the Council activities were being carried on largely by volunteers, citing the participation of Michael A. Rappaport, a retired HRA deputy administrator.
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