Food for Thought — and Play
An innovative program benefits the union, city and children.
PHILADELPHIA
When some 120 young campers at Bridesburg Recreation Center bounded for the lunch line, Recreation Leader Jackie DeSanctis was already planted by a table to assist in handing out the day's lunch: scoops of potato salad and fruit, a turkey-on-wheat sandwich, chocolate milk and a snack-size bag of pretzels.
This year DeSanctis, a member of Local 2186 (Council 47), is feeding more city children than ever in her 38 years of service, thanks to an innovative partnership between AFSCME and the city government.
"The nutritional lunches are a winner with the kids and a godsend to their parents who don't have to buy extra food or prepare it," she says.
Through the Redesigning Government Initiative — part of the two-year contract Council 47 signed with the city in 1996 — union members find cost savings for the city government and help decide where the extra money will be spent.
The recreation center program is the first city agency to benefit from cost savings. Money for the lunches was found when the union agreed to create a new, entry-level job classification of recreation trainee and permitted more flexible scheduling rules. For its part, the city agreed to end a long-standing pay dispute by funding salary increases to workers like DeSanctis for helping the RGI program.
Thanks to RGI, 428,000 lunches were served to children this summer — over 200,000 more than last year.
WIN-WIN-WIN. At a press conference to inaugurate the program, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell (D) called RGI a "win-win-win" situation for the city government, the union and Philadelphians.
"I think this is the wave of the future," said Council 47 Pres. Thomas Cronin. "The union knows that revenues are tough and will continue to be tough for the city. And while average citizens don't want to pay more taxes, they also don't want to see a cut in public services."
In addition to involving workers in improving city services, RGI also calls for a moratorium on layoffs, empowers city workers to participate in decision-making concerning their jobs, fosters a better relationship between labor and management, and improves the delivery of public services.
RGI is one of several redesigning government measures that AFSCME affiliates have negotiated around the country in such places as Detroit (Council 25); Multnomah County, Ore. (Local 88); Salt Lake City (Local 1004); Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Local 532); and Cincinnati (Council 8).
HAPPY CAMPERS. The campers who were enjoying lunch at the Bridesburg Recreation Center were clearly pleased by RGI. And so were the staff members.
"RGI has given workers like myself more of a sense of ownership and a voice in the things that really matter in our jobs," says DeSanctis. "And when there are many more happy kids, it makes for a much better program."
By Venida RaMar Marshall
