PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Isaac Kirk Davidoff, Parks Worker from NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
2:23:06
·
3 min
Isaac Kirk Davidoff, a parks worker and Local 371 member, testifies about the current challenges facing the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, particularly regarding staffing and working conditions. He highlights the significant reduction in full-time employees, the reliance on seasonal workers, and the lack of job security and advancement opportunities.
- The Parks Department currently has over 1,000 fewer full-time equivalent employees than two years ago, with staffing levels lower than during the 1970s fiscal crisis.
- Seasonal workers, who often work full-time hours year-round, face job insecurity, lack of benefits, and limited opportunities for advancement.
- Recent policy changes have further restricted seasonal workers' ability to apply for internal job postings, exacerbating retention issues.
- Davidoff argues for a year-round, permanent commitment to parks workers, emphasizing the need for long-term ecological stewardship and improved working conditions.
Isaac Kirk Davidoff
2:23:06
Okay.
2:23:07
Yeah.
2:23:07
So, my name name's Isaac.
2:23:09
I'm a local 371 member.
2:23:11
I'm a parks worker.
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I'm speaking.
2:23:12
You know, my capacity is a private assistant on my lunch break.
2:23:16
So just a a history lesson.
2:23:18
Right?
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One of the first recognized union contracts in this city was for parks laborers.
2:23:23
The laborers went on strike.
2:23:24
They forced Robert Moses to recognize their union, and they want some dignity at work.
2:23:28
So parks workers, we didn't just build our incredible park system.
2:23:31
We built strong workplace democracy and good working conditions.
2:23:35
But years of austerity and class warfare have damaged both our parks themselves and parks working conditions.
2:23:40
So currently, parks have more than, a 1,000 less full time equivalent employees than 2 years ago.
2:23:45
It's like about a 100 less than at the height of the fiscal crisis, so we're, like, lower headcount than, like, 1976, 77.
2:23:53
It's about, like, 4,000 less than the peak in 1975.
2:23:56
It means there's a huge reliance on seasonal nonprofit and volunteer labor, and that's not sustainable.
2:24:02
When I first started in 2019, I was a full time seasonal.
2:24:04
This meant I worked full time 12 months of the year.
2:24:07
It was only funded to the end of the fiscal year.
2:24:09
I had to wait with all the other play for hires for June 30th.
2:24:12
So just picture the way that puts on you to not know until the end of June if you have a job in July.
2:24:17
Just picture that uncertainty, the stress, and the competition for the 1 or 2 permanent positions that open up.
2:24:22
And so after a few years of floating to conservancy, after the COVID budget cuts, going back to a play for line after grants ran out, I finally lucked out and, and got a permanent line.
2:24:32
And so in 2023, after 4 years in parts, I finally intended my new employee orientation.
2:24:38
So full time seasonals, it's in oxymoronic absurd category, but it's the reality for thousands of park workers in pop or seasonal lines.
2:24:46
These seasonal lines are really treated by the people who work them as full time jobs.
2:24:50
So working seasonal lines without health insurance for years with advancement mostly depending being in the right place and the right time, but it's gotten worse in the last few months.
2:24:58
The majority of parks workforce, the seasonals haven't been able to apply to, they we haven't been allowed to apply to most internal postings, which are listed for full time permanent employees only.
2:25:08
Constant ominous news about the budget and little to no room for advancement.
2:25:11
It's not a surprise people are leaving.
2:25:13
So there's a banner hanging in my trailer, of course, restoration that everyone signs when they leave.
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Started this over a year ago, and it's almost covered with signatures.
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With my amazing coworker, I'm responsible for, like, 300 miles of trail across the city, and we do our job very well.
2:25:28
We kick ass, but we just don't have the capacity we need for through 2 people can't do 300 miles.
2:25:33
Right?
2:25:34
The mayor has gone back on his pledge to, give parks 1% of the budget.
2:25:39
He's cut 1,000,000.
2:25:40
So that smoke, all of you smelt this week, it should be a reminder that we live in this precarious anthropogenically damaged planet.
2:25:47
Yeah.
2:25:47
Ecological stewardship, it doesn't work on a piece by piece seasonal basis.
2:25:51
So we really need a year round baseline permanent commitment, not just for forest restoration workers, but for our entire seasonal workforce.
2:25:59
I think at bare minimum, like, seasonal should be allowed to apply for internal postings, or else we're just kind of trapped in these positions forever.
2:26:08
But, really, it raises a lot of questions of why our parks rely on temporary seasonal funding when we really need, like, a permanent long time condition.
2:26:18
Right?
2:26:18
I make, you know, steps.
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I make really strong structures.
2:26:23
They're built to last, and I just want the, city to, like, treat, workers that's with the same respect that, we treat our own work.
