CSEA vote acknowledges reality
CSEA president Danny Donohue in this file photo. Credit: Times Union file
It's a vote that should be heard 'round the state.
The Civil Service Employees Association, New York's largest public employee union, has ratified a new five-year contract, an acknowledgment of our deep economic challenges. In return for a no-layoff clause, the union accepted a pay freeze and givebacks.
Under the agreement, CSEA members will get no increase in their base salaries for three years and 2 percent increases in each of the final two years. The workers will keep their step increases; however, they must take five unpaid days this year and four in 2012 while kicking in more toward the cost of their health insurance.
The union faced the elimination of up to 1,000 jobs if there were no concessions. Its negotiation without the acrimony seen elsewhere is a credit to CSEA's members and its president, Danny Donohue, who noted these are not "ordinary times." The CSEA deal should save the state $73 million this fiscal year.
Next month, the state's second-largest union will vote on a very similar contract. The leadership of the Public Employees Federation has recommended approval and if the rank and file follow suit, the "me-too" pattern of collective bargaining may finally become a two-way street.
Hard times require tough choices. That's the message taxpayers are sending, and it's one the public sector unions next headed to the bargaining table should heed.
