The battle between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city’s powerful unions continues, as the Bloomberg administration, backed by a 10-member "Workforce Reform Task Force," will announce changes on Friday to the state’s civil service system that governs New York City’s work force.

Extensive revisions to the rules for hiring and firing municipal workers could be set in place tomorrow, including de-emphasizing civil service exams. Bloomberg's efforts to “modernize the rules” governing the city’s 300,000 employees likely will include initiatives surrounding the hiring of senior managers, as well as changes to seniority rules.

 “Some of the steps in the civil system just don’t work anymore. The system has been around a long time. It’s stodgy," said Chairwoman of the task force and Bloomberg appointee Martha K. Hirst, a former commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. "We wanted to find ways to get things moving and make it work better.”

Hirst and a panel of city officials from various agencies, including Labor Relations, Homeless Services, Fire and Management and Budget, worked together to produce the 27-page report.

City union leaders are wary of the proposed changes, believing that changes could threaten many of the key protections offered to workers. Harry Nespoli, chairman of the Municipal Labor Committee, called the proposed changes “very dangerous.”

“The system was set up to protect the worker and get a fair shake. And that’s what the civil service system does right now. The latest version of civil service reforms that they’re showing in the report destroys it,” he told 1010 WINS’ Stan Brooks last week.

Amongst the reforms, Recommendation #20 may cause the most outcry, as it would authorize the Department of Education to retain the most effective teachers -- as opposed to just the most senior teachers -- during downsizing.

With Tuesday’s New York Supreme Court ruling allowing the release of 12,000 NYC teacher evaluations, passage of the task force’s propositions could further antagonize city educators, while cementing the reputation of a mayor who’s faced huge scrutiny  from city workers over the years for being anti-labor.

DC 37 President Behrouz Fathi took issue with the task force report, asking “who benefits?” He said, testing based on recognized standards is essential to equal opportunity and fairness. In addition, when appropriate, the Civil Service system can and does utilize an “education and experience” method of evaluating applicants, said Fathi.

“While we don’t disagree that there are problems in the system, its principle – establishing a method for hiring and promotion that is based on merit and recognized standards, rather than favoritism – is absolutely essential," said Fathi.

"The mayor’s aim with this task force is to eviscerate that principle.  Remove the report’s thicket of business-speak and euphemism, and what’s revealed is yet another effort to limit or take away the hard-won rights of working people.”

Before some of the task force’s recommendations take effect, they will need approval by the state legislature.

The Bloomberg administration will reveal its plan tomorrow. Bed-Stuy Patch will follow up on this story, along with a response from civil service workers and union members who are Bed-Stuy residents.