Bid to spare probation staffers ax

Probation officers should keep their jobs as the city prepares to lay off up to 22,000 employees, the head of the probation officers union said Tuesday.

Keeping 800 probation officers on the job is essential to Mayor de Blasio’s criminal justice agenda, said United Probation Officers Association President Dalvanie Powell.

The officers’ jobs include connecting people sentenced to probation — an alternative to incarceration — with muchneeded resources, Powell said.

“The mayor always talks about criminal justice reform . ... We’re part of the solution to all of that,” Powell said.

“When the pandemic was at its peak, we were being recognized as first responders. When did that change?” she added, noting the agency was a key player in supervising people released early from jail during coronavirus — and that her officers are still monitoring many of those individuals.

De Blasio told reporters Tuesday that without additional federal relief money or authorization from the state to borrow, the city workforce could be hit with layoffs.

The mayor said he’s also open to dealing with the problem via pay freezes, pay reductions, furloughs, early retirement incentives and concessions on insurance premiums.

Powell said the union would also be open to early retirement incentives.

“We have to do be at the table when decisions are made. It should be a partnership. Right now it’s us and it’s them,” she said.