Nassau PBA strikes back at Laura Curran

Nassau’s Police Benevolent Association has struck back in full color against Democrat County Executive Laura Curran’s decision to sue the county’s five major unions over a disputed deal to restore millions of dollars in longevity pay.

The cover of the PBA’s April newsletter features a photograph of Curran with her hand held up in victory by Nassau Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs, apparently taken at her election night celebration in November. The headline, in bold red letters, says “UNITED! AGAINST LABOR.”

PBA president James McDermott said the cover is directed at Curran’s legal challenge to the memorandum of agreement concerning longevity pay — payments based on the number of years worked for the county.

“That’s a 100 percent legitimate MOA,” McDermott said. “During the campaign, we asked her about contracts and honoring contracts and specifically longevity. She told us a contract is a contract. Now she goes back on her word. Is she a friend of labor?”

McDermott said, “we negotiated all our contracts in good faith. To have this happening is insulting to the hardworking people of the county and to the process.”

Curran spokesman Michael Martino responded, “The county executive is very much looking forward to working with all of the county’s labor unions.”

The longevity deal was signed in September by former Republican County Executive Edward Mangano’s chief deputy, Rob Walker. Mangano and Walker currently are fighting unrelated corruption charges.

The agreement calls for increases in longevity payments, which had been frozen since 2011, to begin again in July in return for the county agreeing to not to lay off any union members for the first six months of this year.

The unions say the deal saves the county $5 million because the longevity increases were supposed to start in January. All five county unions subsequently ratified the agreements.

But Mangano’s former county attorney said the pacts were not binding, even though union leaders say he wrote them.

The county’s financial control board, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, insists longevity increases were eliminated in labor pacts that were negotiated in 2014. But those pacts, which expired in December, did not address longevity.

Curran contends in court that the deals are “not enforceable” because they are “based upon a mutual mistake of fact.”

Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the county’s Civil Service Employees Association, said he agrees with the PBA on longevity. “Once again, Nassau seems to be the county that doesn’t want to honor any contracts, especially the labor contracts.”

Laricchiuta said that longevity is just one issue. “We have dozens of others to work on together,” he said.

Kevan Abrahams, minority leader of the county legislature, said he thinks the newsletter cover “takes a shot at the Democrats” and “is a little unfair. After three months, it’s too early to assess anything.”

He added, “I think everyone understands there has to be some agreement on longevity. But the county executive is right to take a pause and take a look at an agreement that was approved by the previous administration and make sure she’s doing the right thing by the taxpayers.”