NIFA reviews decision on salaries

A state oversight board that last week suspended all pending salary increases in Nassau County government said Thursday it is reviewing a decision by the state's top court upholding a wage freeze imposed by a Buffalo control board.

"We are currently evaluating what actions, if any, should be taken as a result of the decision," the Nassau Interim Finance Authority board said in a statement.

The state Court of Appeals ruled March 29 that Buffalo city employees were not entitled retroactively to salary step increases that accrued during the freeze from mid-2004 to mid-2007. The high court reversed lower court decisions that found the freeze only applied to salary increases, not contractual step increases, which are based on service time.

Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli said the county would consult with NIFA to determine the impact. Ciampoli said 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."

County Executive Edward Mangano had asked NIFA to freeze wages. NIFA voted last week to freeze wages after declaring the county in "fiscal crisis." The county's five union leaders counter that they already agreed to $50 million in concessions with the former county administration.

Police Benevolent Association president James Carver said the Buffalo case is not applicable in Nassau. He said NIFA's legislation does not have the following paragraph, quoted in the appeals court's decision, in Buffalo's law: "No retroactive pay adjustments of any kind shall accrue or be deemed to accrue during the period of wage freeze, and no such additional amounts shall be paid at the time a wage freeze is lifted or any time thereafter."