Amid controversy, furlough decision headed for court battle

With the threat of work furloughs hanging over their heads, four powerful state public employee unions filed suit in a federal court in Albany Tuesday seeking a temporary order to block New York State from enforcing the plan, which would furlough about 100,000 unionized workers one day a week.

No hearing date has been announced. The furloughs are scheduled to begin Monday and would affect about 11,600 state workers on Long Island.

The Public Employees Federation and the Civil Service Employees Association are among the unions seeking the temporary restraining order.

Protesters outside the State Office Building in Hauppauge Monday denounced Gov. David A. Paterson, and his plan, accusing him of falsely blaming them for the state's $9.2-billion budget deficit.

"He is hurting the folks that can least afford to be hurt," CSEA Long Island president Nick LaMorte said Monday.

Long Island Federation of Labor executive director Roger Clayman told those protesters Monday: "What you're doing is you're standing up for Long Island and you're standing up for the rest of the state when the political leaders want to say that you're the problem - and they're going to make you feel bad about what you're doing.

"We're here to support the state workers that have been unfairly singled out by the governor to be the brunt of the fight he's having to balance the budget. It's the wrong thing for Long Island, it's the wrong thing for the state of New York and it won't solve the crisis."

Paterson included the furloughs in the emergency spending bills required to keep state government operating.

He said asking state workers to forgo one day's pay per week wasn't a great sacrifice given the fiscal crisis.

"Every single organization and individual that relies on state funding needs to make sacrifices," Paterson said after the legislative votes. "Unfortunately, however, all we've heard so far from the leadership of our state's public employee unions are expletives and excuses."

He also repeated his call for union workers to forgo the 4 percent wage hike that took effect April 1 or delay one week's pay until retirement.

The restraining orders are the first step in the court challenges. Lawmakers who reluctantly authorized the furloughs said in floor speeches the unions will likely win in court, The Associated Press said.

Other states, including California, have resorted to furloughs and faced lawsuits.

In some cases, courts overturned them and required states to repay workers for the lost time. But the terms of furloughs and labor agreements differ state to state.

The independent Citizens Budget Commission told The Associated Press that the furlough "savings are urgently needed and labor is one of the right areas of the budget in which to seek them." It said the workforce is too big to afford, and a pay freeze is needed.

"Labor representatives must begin to be partners in the solution rather than courtroom adversaries," commission president Carol Kellermann said. "There are alternatives to forced furloughs that have the benefit of providing significant savings for more than one year."

She said Albany has for too long made promises to unions and other special interests that its taxpayers can't afford. Unions representing public workers are among the highest spending lobbies and campaign contributors in Albany.

Speaking before a crowd of about 2,500 people outside the Capitol in Albany Monday, CSEA president Danny Donohue said: "We aren't going to give up anything we fought for, anything we earned."

New York has never furloughed employees in modern history. Half the states, including California, Ohio and Michigan, have resorted to furloughs in the recession - but generally not through emergency spending bills like this.

In the State Senate, Democrats and Republicans railed against the furloughs, but some conceded to vote against them would shut government.

"We are not doing right by those people," said Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), referring to state workers.

The budget is 41 days late. The legislature has approved six groups of spending bills so far to keep government open.

Like future spending, the furloughs must be reauthorized on a weekly basis.

The vote margins have narrowed, however.

In the Senate, the bills passed 32-29 Monday with all Democrats voting "Yes" and all Republicans, "No." The Assembly vote was 82-56.

Among Long Island's 30 legislators, Assemb. Ginny Fields (D-Oakdale) voted "No" after telling Newsday last week she would reluctantly support the bills. The four undecideds split evenly, with Sen. Brian X. Foley (D-Blue Point) and Assemb. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket) backing the bills, while Assemb. Philip Ramos (D-Brentwood) and LaValle opposing them.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) said the furloughs were illegal, but shutting government has to be avoided. He said, "the courts will overturn it because I think it interferes with a collective bargaining agreement."

"CSEA will be doing everything we can to protect the rights of our members and the services they provide to the people of New York," Donohue said. "Governor David Paterson's plan is misguided and will create chaos and crisis."