Hoboken City Employees Take Action Against Layoffs

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken municipal employees are fighting back after Mayor Ravi Bhalla said on April 17 that the city will lay off 26 workers. More than 70 were issued layoff notices in late February, even before the coronavirus pandemic spread to New Jersey.

In a Nixle alert on April 17, Bhalla announced the layoffs and wrote, "COVID-19 has had a major impact on the City of Hoboken and its finances. The city has taken on additional new costs to protect the health and safety of residents, while also realizing substantial losses in revenue due to the crisis." He said he does not want to raise taxes.

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City spokesman Vijay Chaudhury said at the time that the Office of Civil Service will determine the positions that will be a part of the layoffs.

The same week, at the April 15 remote council meeting, six council members voted for a resolution urging Bhalla not to lay off city workers, and to present budget plans.

The city budget has not been finalized yet, but Bhalla said in March that the city is struggling with higher costs.

On Tuesday, a representative from the Hoboken Municipal Supervisors Association forwarded a letter sent April 22 from Attorney C. Elston & Associates of Wall to the commissioner of the state Civil Service Commission, Deidre Webster Cobb.

"All targeted positions are occupied by members who fall within the protections of federal and/or state age discrimination laws," notes the letter.

It also alleges that the city failed to satisfy mandatory pre-layoff statutes and regulations, and refers specifically to three veterans who are on a potential layoff list, one of whom is disabled.

The letter also says the city didn't prove that the layoffs are necessary, and includes financial information.

It also charges that while the city was planning layoffs, it made two political hires for the Department of Constituent Services.

“It is our firm belief that the layoff list presented by Mayor Bhalla was contrived, orchestrated and planned to target individual employees,” said Dawn De Lorenzo, president of the Municipal Supervisors Association, in a statement. “The Hoboken City Council recently passed a measure asking the administration to suspend all layoffs until a budget was submitted for review, but instead the mayor has ignored this directive to protect the jobs of his current political appointments."

She added, "A number of our members are being forced into an early retirement at a time when their institutional knowledge of city operations is so desperately needed."

Chaudhury said on Tuesday, in response, "The city will vigorously defend its position and is confident it will prevail in the court of law."

When asked two weeks ago about a rumor that the Rent Leveling Office will be cut, Chaudhury said, "The city will continue to ensure that all departments and services, especially the Rent Leveling Office, continue to be provided as efficiently as possible to Hoboken residents."

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