Posted on 06/22/2006 6:01:20 AM PDT by jmyrlefuller
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — State worker unions could get "significant leverage" in contract negotiations with Albany under a bill passed by the Legislature with little notice, a government watchdog group said Wednesday.
The bill was one of many agreed to in the waning days of the legislative session that is scheduled to end Thursday.
The labor bill passed last week says that if the state is proven to stall or otherwise fail to bargain "in good faith," the state — and its taxpayers — must automatically award a 1-percent raise to union members.
If the state continues to stall, an additional 0.5 percent pay increase would be imposed every three months. The bill would also reduce the fines imposed on public employees under the Taylor Law if they go on strike when the state failed to negotiate in good faith.
The measure's passage comes after New York City transit workers illegally went on strike for three days in December, snarling traffic and stranding New Yorkers.
"At a time when everyone is complaining about the cost of taxes and decrying the conditions of upstate New York's economy, they're passing bills whose only effect would be costing taxpayers more money," said E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy.
The measure pushed by the powerful public employee unions passed 133-1 in the Assembly and unanimously in the Senate.
Supporters of the measure, however, say public employees have had little leverage to bargain with the state because the Taylor Law bars them from striking.
"At present there is little or no impetus for an employer that is not interested in bargaining to reach a new agreement with an employee organization to come to the table and seriously bargain," Democratic Assemblyman Peter Abbate said in his memo supporting the bill.
Republican state Sen. Joseph Robach, who backed the bill in the Senate, said it would help avoid cases where new contracts are signed months or years after the old contract expires.
"I think it leads to disruption, mistrust and, often times, an environment where the public will not get the quality service they deserve," he said. He said the 1 percent pay hike is a "modest penalty" the state would likely have paid if it signed a new contract anyway.
The state Public Employment Relations Board, an independent arbitrator, would decide if the state was acting in bad faith. The bill now faces an uncertain reaction from Gov. George Pataki. The Legislature could try to override any veto by the governor.
Last year the Public Employees Federation, the second largest state workers union, spent $1.74 million lobbying Albany, according to the state Lobbying Commission. The Civil Service Employees Association alone spent $350,000 in campaign contributions in 2004, which was, like this year, an election year for the Legislature.
Senate and Assembly leaders reached several deals Wednesday on a wide range of legislation in the 2006 session scheduled to end Thursday.
Among the measures, the Legislature agreed:
_To try to deny Indian tribes cigarettes for sale if they continue to sell them tax-free to non-Indians.
The tobacco bill seeks to end New York's long history of failing to collect sales taxes on cigarettes sold tax-free on reservations and through Internet and mail order outlets owned by tribes. By law, only cigarettes sold to Indians are tax exempt, but the state's effort to enforce that in the 1990s led to a violent confrontation.
The bill would target cigarette makers, not tribes. If signed into law by Pataki, the bill would prohibit manufacturers from selling cigarettes to any wholesalers or state-approved "tax-stamping agents" identified by the state as selling unstamped or untaxed cigarettes.
"The state Legislature has once again taken action to undermine our sovereign right to consume and trade tobacco products in our territory," said Seneca Nation President Barry Snyder.
"Backdoor efforts like this one to impose an embargo on our ability to obtain tobacco products will not be tolerated ... we will contemplate any and all options that may be necessary to protect our economy and defend our sovereignty," Snyder said.
_To end "universal default." Credit card companies will no longer be able to increase interest rates based on a cardholder's other financial problems.
_To try to reduce high-speed pursuits. Motorists traveling 25 mph over the speed limit who refuse to stop for a police car with its siren on and lights flashing would face a misdemeanor. If someone is injured in the chase, the motorist would face a felony and if someone dies, the motorist would face a higher felony.
I hope Pataki vetoes this piece of tripe and Joe Bruno's Pushover Senate makes a stand on this.
This kind of crap makes me ashamed to be a New Yorker.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.