NYS unions should ratify pacts
Stony Brook University medical center employees, from left, Jason Heinecker, Mavin Johnson and Frank Heinecker, are among thousands of CSEA members voting on a new contract (March 1, 2011). Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
In some states with financial woes, politicians and public employees are at each other's throats. So far, at least, things are different in New York.
In this state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and negotiators for the state's two biggest public-employee unions have reached tough but fair agreements that safeguard workers' jobs and rights while protecting public services and delivering vital budget savings. At a time when confrontation and intransigence are flourishing across the political landscape, the two sides in New York's labor talks have shown that good sense and good will can accomplish much more than vitriol.
But now it's up to the rank and file. More than 120,000 state workers will receive ballots in the weeks ahead, and we urge every one of them to support the good work of their leadership by voting for the proposed new contracts.
Although union leaders are hopeful, approval is far from a foregone conclusion. An earlier wage-freeze contract for a small bargaining unit of public safety officers, including park rangers and SUNY cops, was hammered out by negotiators but rejected by union members in May, sending both sides back to the bargaining table.
The more recent agreements are a much bigger deal because they involve the Civil Service Employees Association and the Public Employees Federation, the state's largest and second-largest state employee unions, respectively. At stake for the former is a pact covering 66,000 blue-collar, health and clerical workers including nurses, road crews, hospital staff and building-trades workers. The federation's proposed agreement covers 56,000 mostly white-collar workers, including lawyers, accountants, psychologists and technical people.
Union members may well hesitate to support these agreements, which would mean no across-the-board raises for three years, some unpaid time off and higher employee contributions toward health insurance. Together, the agreements would save the state nearly $150 million this year and more in the years ahead.
Public employees, after all, aren't the enemy of taxpayers. They work hard at important tasks, and they have to put food on the table just like everyone else. But state workers enjoy a level of benefits most taxpayers don't get in private-sector jobs.
And absent concessions, layoffs are likely. Cuomo has said that up to 9,800 would have to be let go if the state's various unions don't ante up, and it's doubtful he's just posturing. New York's austere budget this year includes $450 million in anticipated labor savings.
A yes vote is crucial to ensure that New York doesn't sacrifice essential public services to layoffs that would also undermine our fragile economy. CSEA members are especially important, since that union anticipates counting ballots on Aug. 15. PEF balloting will take longer, meaning the CSEA results could sway voters.
Times are tough, and if CSEA and PEF members are honest with themselves, they'll realize they got a fair shake in this year's negotiations. And they'll grab it.
