Nassau cops fail to block pay freeze

A federal judge Wednesday denied a Nassau police request for a temporary restraining order to immediately stop the county from imposing a wage freeze.

U.S. District Judge Leonard D. Wexler, at the end of a court hearing in Central Islip, ruled the police had not provided enough evidence "at this stage" to show they are likely to win their demand for both temporary and permanent injunctions against the freeze imposed by a state control board.

However, he asked lawyers to agree on a schedule for a full hearing on the case filed by the county's three police unions against the county and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority.

At the request of County Executive Edward Mangano, NIFA imposed a wage freeze effective April 1, the day members of the Police Benevolent Association were to receive salary increases of 1 or 4 percent, depending upon their years on the force. County detectives were to get raises up to 3.75 percent on June 1 and superior officers were to get 3.5 percent increases on July 1.

NIFA had imposed financial controls on Nassau in January after finding that the county's $2.6-billion budget had a $176-million deficit.

The unions sued when the control board suspended salary increases, contending the freeze violates the contract clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Lawyer Alan Klinger of the Manhattan law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan argued on behalf of the unions, saying a wage freeze should only be used as a "last resort."

He said control boards in Buffalo and New York City imposed wage freezes when the financial crises affecting those cities were so great that despite tax increases and cuts, they were close to bankruptcy. In comparison, he said, Nassau still has a good credit rating and Mangano "rolled back" $71 million in existing and planned taxes.

"We're saying we're nowhere near the last resort," Klinger said

But NIFA's lawyer, Christopher Gunther of the Manhattan firm of Skadden Arps, responded, "The crisis in Nassau County is real." He called the wage freeze "appropriate" and said it will not cause "irreparable harm."

After the judge denied the request for a restraining order, Klinger said the police will continue to press the case. "We believe that the wage freeze violates the federal constitution and would only be permissible if you were in a situation where the county is verging on bankruptcy like New York City was in the 1970s."

NIFA and the county declined to comment.

Mangano calculated the salary freeze imposed on all employees will save the county about $10 million this year. County union leaders say they have already made "tens of millions of dollars" in concessions that helped Nassau end each of the last four years with budget surpluses.