State union shaky over contract deal

ALBANY -- The labor contract the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is offering to a statewide law enforcement union has prompted an uprising, with some members saying the deal is so bad that they should vote "no" and then start a separate negotiating unit.

It's unclear whether the contract offered to Council 82's 1,160 law enforcement members will pass, or whether it will spark a mass defection to a new union, a process known as decertification, but union members and others are watching closely to see how the debate plays out.

That's because the Cuomo administration has put a big bet on the deal it has offered to Council 82, saying they hope it will be a template for contracts with much larger state employee unions, including the Public Employees Federation and the Civil Service Employees Association.

Those two unions, which represent roughly 120,000 state employees, have already distanced themselves from the contract offered to Council 82, which includes $48 million in retroactive raises but no increases for the next three years. It also calls for higher health care premiums.

The lack of raises and increases in health care costs are just a few of the problems that dissident union members have.

"This proposed Council 82 sell out contract is financial cancer!" reads a flier that went out last week to Council 82's Agency Law Enforcement Services members, who include police who work in the state park and SUNY systems.

"We can do better, so join me," urges the four-page flier, which lists Council 82 board member Manuel Vilar, the Long Island-based president of the State Park police Supervisors union, as a contact.

Additionally, the flier asks members to abandon Council 82 and instead join a new entity, dubbed the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, which according to the text would be led by Dan DeFedericis, the now-retired president of the State Troopers Police Benevolent Association.

Neither Vilar nor DeFedericis could be reached.

But Troy Caupain, a park police captain and president of the local that represents those officers, said he hears a lot of complaints about how the lack of raises and high health care costs are viewed as a step back.

"This contract is absolutely horrendous for us, and that's why there is a push for the 'no' vote and to sit down and right our own ship," he said.

In addition to a three-year pay freeze, the deal also would eliminate "step," or longevity-based increases, and it would limit the amount of unused sick time that a retiree could cash in to help pay for their health insurance. The union has been without a contract since 2005.