The Department continued regular monitoring of the activities of the Department of Civil Service (DCS) and the various state appointing authorities, which is an important part of PEF's ongoing efforts to preserve the merit system.

From August 14, 1999 through July 14, 2000 the Research Department opened 176 and closed 172 civil service cases. Most of these involved early and regular retirement questions, probationary terminations, salary determinations, reclassification/ reallocation inquiries, out-of-title work complaints, transfer rights, eligible list issues, layoff rights and procedures, jurisdictional classification issues, and civil service exam inquiries. These case totals do not include responses to most phone and e-mail inquiries.

These figures do not include the significant civil service work we have done at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). We completed work on the Merit Board’s rules and regulations and obtained significant improvements for RPCI employees over the Board’s proposed rules. We have reviewed and challenged RPCI’s new classification system. The RPCI Merit Board will decide the first of these appeals in the near future. We have also assisted the Legal Department in preparing its lawsuit regarding the non-competitive classification of 29 PEF titles including all nursing titles. In addition, we completed appeals to the Civil Service Commission regarding the state’s refusal to allow RPCI employees to take state promotion examinations or to transfer to State agencies. The Legal Department is currently preparing a lawsuit on these issues. We also led the effort to successfully obtain a reciprocal agreement between the Department of Civil Service and RPCI signed regarding their attendance rules. This agreement will allow RPCI employees to take their vacation and sick-leave accruals with them if they decide to move to positions in other state agencies.

• A review of all new eligible lists that has led to a legal challenge to zone scoring;

• Provision of technical assistance to the Statewide Civil Service Committee. We are working with the committee on developing a legal challenge to the failure to allow pre-list review for the Promotion Test Battery;

• Monitoring, with the assistance of PEF members, the progress of the EEOC complaint against the Promotion Test Battery. The EEOC would not allow PEF to have a formal observer role in the process;

• The creation of a Licensed Psychologist title in OMH due to our OMH psychologist survey and the filing of CC-2 E forms by many OMH psychologists. OMH is still developing the process for moving some psychologists to this new title.

• Assisting our members in the Banking and Insurance Departments and in various attorney titles in the preparation of appeals of their performance assessment scores on various examinations; and,

• Preparing training materials on basic and advanced civil service issues for PEF stewards. We conducted training in Region 8, Region 5, and at the PEF 2000 convention.

In addition, draft reallocation requests have been completed for various titles in DOCS, Tax & Finance, Insurance, Parole and OCFS. We are also working on developing a reallocation request for several titles in the State Comptroller’s office and monitoring a title restructuring effort in the Division of Municipal Affairs. In addition, we have developed with PEF DED leaders a title consolidation proposal for several DED titles. We are currently awaiting further information from our members and these agencies’ management, and expect to submit the completed requests as soon as possible.

The Department prepared analyses about the impact on PEF members of the Executive Budget proposal, all related budget proposals, and the enacted 2000-01 State Budget. Armed with this information, PEF officers, member activists and staff were prepared for successful lobbying and fight-back efforts. For example, we prepared a huge amount of material used to defeat a proposal to consolidate eight criminal justice agencies.

Staff also continued monitoring OMH’s Special Needs Plans program, analyzed new RFPs for these programs, and assisted in monitoring legislation to extend the program. The Legislature failed to reauthorize this program and this threat to our members’ employment security has apparently been removed. In addition, we assisted OMH and OMRDD PEF leaders in developing proposals to ensure future employment security for PEF members in those agencies. For example, we developed a five-year employment security plan for OMRDD members, analyzed and monitored the state’s new mental health initiative and provide analytical and organizing assistance in the successful effort to restore shared staff in OMH.

Staff also continued monitoring and meeting with GOER on the various changes affecting the Human Services Application Service Center and the consolidation of state data centers and transfer of employees to the Office of Technology.

The Department worked on several notable employment security issues during the previous year including:

• Completed work with AFT and leaders at the Human Services Application Service Center (HSASC) on testing pilot software that can better document the cost of contracting out versus the cost of doing the same job with State employees;

• Continued to work with the statewide Civil Service and Privatization Committees on the shadow agency project, including holding a statewide conference on the issue;

• Began monitoring and analyzing the implementation of the Workforce Investment Act;

• Continued work with the Department of Labor statewide Labor-Management Committee on preventing the privatization of the veterans’ employment placement function;

• Met with members and legislators and presented testimony on the failures of the CONNECTIONS program; and,

• Provided staff analysis and information regarding the several pension reform proposals passed by the Legislature

• Continue to address civil service issues that threaten the merit system.

• Work with the Statewide Civil Service Committee on challenging the lack of a pre-list review process for the Promotion Test Battery (PTB) and monitoring the EEOC complaint against the PTB.

• Help organize collective member action in support of PEF’s reassignment, transfer and shadow agency reform legislation.

• Continue work on securing reallocations of PEF titles.

• Continue to analyze state and federal budgets and work with L/M Chairs and the Legislative Department to increase member involvement in agency budget analysis and the preparation and dissemination of lobbying materials.

• Continue to monitor the implementation of data center consolidation and the HSASC.

• Continue to provide staff support to members in developing proposals to ensure a future role for OMH and OMRDD professional employees in these agencies.

• Continue to work to improve the identification and analysis of the Pataki Administration’s privatization proposals and the development of fight-back strategies to defeat such proposals.