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RIBCO
Articles of Interest
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2006-06-23
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Legislature Boosts Union Power In Contract Talks |
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The Post-Journal
6/22/2006 - ALBANY (AP) — State worker unions could get ‘‘significant leverage’’ in contract negotiations with Albany under a bill passed by the Legislature with little notice, a government watchdog group said Wednesday.
The bill was one of many agreed to in the waning days of the legislative session that is scheduled to end Thursday.
The labor bill passed last week says that if the state is proven to stall or otherwise fail to bargain ‘‘in good faith,’’ the state — and its taxpayers — must automatically award a 1-percent raise to union members.
If the state continues to stall, an additional 0.5 percent pay increase would be imposed every three months. The bill would also reduce the fines imposed on public employees under the Taylor Law if they go on strike when the state failed to negotiate in good faith. The measure’s passage comes after New York City transit workers illegally went on strike for three days in December, snarling traffic and stranding New Yorkers.
‘‘At a time when everyone is complaining about the cost of taxes and decrying the conditions of upstate New York’s economy, they’re passing bills whose only effect would be costing taxpayers more money,’’ said E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for New York State Policy.
The measure pushed by the powerful public employee unions passed 133-1 in the Assembly and unanimously in the Senate.
Supporters of the measure, however, say public employees have had little leverage to bargain with the state because the Taylor Law bars them from striking.
‘‘At present there is little or no impetus for an employer that is not interested in bargaining to reach a new agreement with an employee organization to come to the table and seriously bargain,’’ Democratic Assemblyman Peter Abbate said in his memo supporting the bill. Republican state Sen. Joseph Robach backed the bill in the Senate.
The state Public Employment Relations Board, an independent arbitrator, would decide if the state was acting in bad faith. The bill now faces an uncertain reaction from Gov. George Pataki. The Legislature could try to override any veto by the governor.
Last year the Public Employees Federation, the second largest state workers union, spent $1.74 million lobbying Albany, according to the state Lobbying Commission. The Civil Service Employees Association alone spent $350,000 in campaign contributions in 2004, which was, like this year, an election year for the Legislature.
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