On Thursday, January 22, the Passaic County Board of Social Services announced it was rescinding layoff notices for 32 clerical positions, after multi-faceted union mobilizations after hearing 3 ½ hours of opposition from the public, despite meeting during the workday.

PCBSS management first presented the misguided layoff plan in December, and members immediately responded by posting “No Layoffs” signs at their desks and writing letters to all elected officials who represent any part of Passaic County at the Federal, State or County level.

PCBSS holds its public meetings during the work day, so a delegation of workers delivered a super-majority petition to management, opposing the layoffs and saying they would not be available for work today during the PCBSS Board zoom meeting which they planned on attending. Members and supporters maxed out the Board’s zoom account and turned what is normally a less than one hour meeting into a 3 ½ hour speak-out against the layoffs.

After leaving their own meeting to go into a breakout room for an executive session, management returned and voted unanimously to rescind.