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One hundred twenty five Oneida County Department of Social Services employee-members rallied support for their salary upgrades at the public budget hearing on Tuesday, November 11, 2008.
Social Welfare Examiners Bill Cook and Mary Rego, Child Support Investigator Frank Scalzo, Caseworkers Susan Ellis and Jackie Lesos, along with Labor Relations Representative Linda Kirnan spoke before the public and legislators regarding the impact of inadequate staffing levels on their ability to provide services to the unemployed, and the impoverished population of the County.
At issue were raises necessary to stabilize staffing levels. A more than 50% turnover rate has made it difficult for the Department of Social Services to function efficiently to provide services to the community, and the resulting impact of increased caseloads on existing staff has made it extremely difficult for employees to meet government mandates. When the Department of Social Services cannot meet state and federal mandates, sanctions exceeding $1 million can be levied against them.
In addition, within the past two years the department has spent approximately $1.5 million in training costs, over and above salaries, for employees who left for neighboring counties and other departments that paid more, and had lower caseloads and lower stress levels.
The Oneida County Department of Social Services employees are the second lowest paid in New York State. As a result of their inability to stabilize staffing levels, the children and families of the communities are being put at great risk. Family Court judges and attorneys have already warned the legislators and public that it is not IF, but rather WHEN, there will be a child fatality that will be directly attributable to lack of new and experienced staff.
When the budget was originally proposed, it included an 8.9% property tax increase. This increase caused public outcry which resulted in an unprecedented number of calls to the legislators. As a result of the pressure put upon them, the legislators pulled the raises out of the budget by the end of October, as well as made many cuts to other programs, such as the zoo, the libraries, and the cooperative extension. These cuts resulted in a property tax decrease to 5.1%.
UPSEU and the employees, while understanding of the perception on the public of any salary increase during these hard economic times, tried to convey to the media and the public that when the economy suffers, the work dramatically increases for the employees in the Department of Social Services, further exacerbating the situation. The point also made was that these increases represented less than ½ of one percent of the budget which, if reinstated, would have virtually no impact on the property tax level.
On November 13, 2008 the budget was approved by the legislature without the salary upgrades. When asked for a reaction from Labor Relations Representative, Linda Kirnan she stated, "This was not unexpected given the public outcry; however, the issue still urgently needs to be addressed and we will do whatever it takes to get the job done. It is impossible for the employees to function without the proper staff and equipment, the fight is not over, and we will continue to pursue this matter until all avenues have been exhausted and we have prevailed."
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