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New fight seen over N.Y.'s
Taylor Law
Gannett News Service (Original Publication: November 23, 2006)
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Key issues in Taylor Law debate: |
ALBANY
- Not long after Richard Ianuzzi became president of the New York State United
Teachers' union in the summer of 2005, he was invited to have lunch with the
board of directors of an organization the union often crosses swords with - the
state School Boards Association.
It was a cordial
meeting, those in attendance recall, since the groups often have overlapping
agendas, like pushing for more state aid for schools and for programs to improve
academic performance.
But one school
boards official remembers being "floored" when Ianuzzi said the union
planned to push for "reform" of the state's Taylor Law, which governs
relations between public employees on the one hand and school districts and
local governments on the other.
It was a jaw-dropper
for the association members because they, too, wanted "reform" of the
law. "I remember he used the
phrase 'level the playing field,' which is word-for-word what we were saying needed
to be done," said School Boards Association spokesman David Ernst.
But the association and teachers' union have, in fact, mainly opposite agendas,
and both see the playing field tilted against them.
With a new
administration about to take office in Albany, the struggle over the state law
that governs government employees is likely to intensify. Municipal and school
officials see changing it as vital to their attempts to hold down property
taxes.
Organized labor, for
its part, frustrated with long delays in getting new contracts settled, wants
additional prods for governments to reach agreements.
The flash point to
their dispute is a bill - passed earlier this year by the Legislature, and then
vetoed by Gov. George Pataki - that would have made localities give a 1 percent
raise to their workers if they were found to be dragging their feet on contract
talks. That 1 percent would be added to any subsequent raise agreed to in a new
contract.
"The way the
law is now, an employer could delay bargaining indefinitely. We need to stop
that," said AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes.
But on the other
side, local governments and school districts see the measure as a new incentive
for unions to drag their feet.
"I still marvel
that a bill like this could pass so overwhelmingly in the Legislature,"
Ernst said. "We think that's just absolutely the wrong way to go. It would
make virtually inevitable significant property-tax increases, because we see no
way these wouldn't lead to much higher settlements since it would shift so much
leverage to the unions."
Union leaders are
calling for the Legislature to override the veto, but so far no plans to do
that have been announced.
To Ianuzzi, the
status quo is not fair because "there is a sword hanging over the head of
only one side of the negotiations," since unions are subject to stiff
penalties if they strike.
But he acknowledged
that there are few, if any, districts now that have been without contracts for
an extended period.
While the unions'
proposals to tilt the field in their direction are on the table, most of what
local governments want has failed to gather much support. Among their
proposals:
- Abolish what is
known as the Triborough Amendment, which keeps the provisions of expired
contracts - including step raises - in place even when the contract has
expired.
- Do away with
binding arbitration for police and fire contracts, where a state-appointed
panel has the final say over raises and other contract matters when police and
fire unions can't reach a deal with their employers.
- Abolish teacher
tenure, instead hiring teachers for five-year renewable contracts, and make it
easier to discipline or dismiss ones who don't perform.
Besides the fines on
governments that take too long to reach contract agreements, labor also wants Pataki
and the Legislature to:
- Ease penalties
imposed on employees and unions who violate the Taylor Law's prohibition
against strikes.
- Impose, if an
arbitrator finds that a government isn't negotiating in good faith, the last
offer made by the union as the basis of a new contract.
- Make permanent a
provision that public workers who choose not to join a union still have to pay
union dues.
The relationship
between unionized public employees and governments is very important in New
York because the 1 million unionized public-sector workers in New York
represents the largest public unionized work force in the country.