CSEA files suit against Nassau wage freeze

Nassau County's largest union has filed suit in federal court to lift a wage freeze imposed by a state control board.

The Civil Service Employees Association lawsuit challenges the Nassau Interim Finance Authority's power to suspend scheduled salary hikes, including annual "step" increases and longevity payments. It is similar to a suit already filed by the county's three police unions.

NIFA, which imposed a wage freeze last month, took control of Nassau's finances in January, saying there is a $176-million budget deficit this year. Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano had requested the freeze as he announced 213 layoffs, along with furloughs for all employees, as a way to close the gap.

The CSEA, with about 7,000 Nassau members, contends NIFA's freeze violates the contract clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits states from passing laws that impair contractual obligations. The lawsuit also says the freeze violates CSEA members' constitutional right to due process.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District by state CSEA president Danny Donohue and Nassau Local 830 president Jerry Laricchiuta. NIFA and its six board members individually, and Mangano and County Comptroller George Maragos are named as defendants.

The county and NIFA declined to comment on the CSEA suit. But during a hearing last week over a police unions request to temporarily halt imposing the wage freeze, NIFA's lawyer, Christopher Gunther of the Manhattan firm of Skadden Arps, defended the agency's actions. "The crisis in Nassau County is real," Gunther said. He called the wage freeze "appropriate" and said it will not cause "irreparable harm."

The complaint recounts the CSEA's past concessions to the county, which the union says saved $27 million. The suit also notes that the union had reached a pact with Mangano before NIFA's takeover that would have restructured the salary schedule for future CSEA members for an estimated savings of $70 million in coming years. NIFA says the wage freeze for all employees will save $10 million this year.

NIFA did not consider those CSEA concessions when it declared a fiscal crisis, the lawsuit said, adding: "The wage freeze as it is applied to CSEA-represented employees is therefore not reasonable and necessary to alleviate the projected budget deficit."

The suit notes that NIFA, which holds the power to approve county contracts, "has not adopted any resolutions impairing or abrogating contracts other than employee contracts." NIFA also did not provide notice to the CSEA or "meaningful opportunity to be heard" before the freeze, which the suit contends violated constitutional guarantees to due process.

NIFA said when it declared the freeze that it was "not only necessary but also a reasonable response" to Nassau's fiscal woes.

Although the CSEA papers were filed in federal court, the suit adds that NIFA didn't give CSEA an opportunity to negotiate alternatives to the freeze, in violation of state law, and contends the freeze diminishes members' pensions despite pension protections in the state constitution.

The CSEA, represented by attorney Nancy Hoffman, is asking the court to declare the NIFA freeze unconstitutional and void all actions taken by the control board to enforce the freeze.

Last month, the state's top court upheld a wage freeze imposed by a Buffalo control board. Nassau County attorney John Ciampoli said after that ruling that it appeared "at first blush that the Court of Appeals' decision creates a favorable environment for Nassau County as we continue to negotiate with organized labor."