Archive for August, 2008

NYSUT: Cuts to higher ed are ‘inconceivable’

ALBANY, N.Y., August. 12, 2008 — Higher education union leaders today ripped Gov. David Paterson’s proposed cuts to the CUNY and SUNY systems, calling them “inconceivable” and saying their devastating toll could limit the ability of many New Yorkers to attend college.

Paterson Assailed Over Bill to Cap Property Tax Increases

By Jeremy W. Peters

ALBANY — He is not campaigning for office — at least not yet — but that has not immunized Gov. David A. Paterson against the political attack ad.

Starting on Tuesday, the left-leaning Working Families Party and the education advocacy group Alliance for Quality Education began broadcasting commercials in the state’s biggest television markets that assail the governor for his support of a cap in property tax increases.

(Watch the Commercial: Commercial [QuickTime] or Commercial [MPEG])

Statement by CSEA President Danny Donohue in response to Governor’s proposed budget cuts

“The Governor’s proposal to the Legislature is nothing short of an all-out assault
on public services and taxpayers throughout New York State.

“The cuts he proposes cannot be made without affecting real people and real services
and will undermine local governments and health care among other areas.

“Aid to localities, Medicaid, and other health care funding provide essential services
in every community. In difficult economic times, the Governor’s proposed cuts
put more people and real services at risk when needs are the greatest.

“CSEA will not stand by and see our communities undermined
while working people get stuck with the bill.”

Statement by CSEA President Danny Donohue in response to governor’s proposed budget cuts

“The governor’s proposal to the Legislature is nothing short of an all-out assault on public services and taxpayers throughout New York State.

“The cuts he proposes cannot be made without affecting real people and real services and will undermine local governments and health care among other areas.

“Aid to localities, Medicaid, and other health care funding provide essential services in every community. In difficult economic times, the governor’s proposed cuts put more people and real services at risk when needs are the greatest.

“CSEA will not stand by and see our communities undermined while working people get stuck with the bill.”

Verizon and 2 Unions Agree on 3-Year Contract, Averting Strike

By Steven Greenhouse

Verizon Communications and its two major unions announced on Sunday that they had reached tentative three-year contracts with raises totaling nearly 11 percent and with the company continuing to pay 100 percent of current workers’ and retirees’ health premiums.

The settlements, announced seven days after the old contracts expired, averted a strike threatened by 65,000 Verizon workers from Maine to Virginia.

On Friday, with negotiations dragging past the contract deadline, Verizon’s two main unions — the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — set a strike deadline for Monday. The two unions had originally threatened a strike for Aug. 3, but postponed any job action because the talks were making progress.

The tentative contracts, which must be ratified by union members, call for a 3.25 percent raise in the first year, 3.5 percent in the second year and 3.75 percent in the third, yielding raises of 10.9 percent compounded over the three years.

In what the two unions said was an important breakthrough, the settlements call for granting union recognition to 600 installation and maintenance technicians in Verizon Business, a largely nonunion division that focuses on corporate customers. Those workers, who union officials said had voiced strong support for unionizing, will be transferred to Verizon Telecom, the company’s traditional landline division, which is largely unionized.

And in what Verizon officials said was a breakthrough, the company will no longer pay all of the health insurance premiums for newly hired workers after they retire. Rather, it expects to achieve significant savings by having to pay only a fixed amount for each newly hired worker after retirement, based on a worker’s number of years with the company.

The contract dispute came as Verizon was preparing to provide television service in the five boroughs of New York City to compete with other cable providers. Verizon, which has almost 230,000 employees nationwide, recently obtained a 12-year franchise from New York State regulators in which it promised to make its television service, known as FiOS, available to all of the city’s 3.1 million households by 2014.

Union officials said they expected the agreements would increase union membership by 2,500 by limiting subcontracting, making about 1,000 temporary jobs permanent and promising to make any additional FiOS jobs union. During the negotiations, some union officials said their chief concern was that Verizon had transferred thousands of union jobs in its landline division to its nonunion divisions and to nonunion subcontractors.

“This is a breakthrough agreement in many ways,” said Larry Cohen, president of the communications workers. “It creates new union jobs, including major growth areas like FiOS; it takes a big step forward on health care; and it brings hundreds of Verizon Business employees the union rights they deserve.”

Mr. Cohen said Verizon’s $20 billion effort to install fiber optics for television and Internet service promised growth for both Verizon and its unions.

“Over all, we see this as an agreement where we can move forward together to work with Verizon, rather than just being a contract for three years,” he said.

The settlements will raise future pension payouts for union members and will require union members and retirees to pay higher medical co-payments.

“From the start, our goal has been to continue to provide our employees with a package of competitive wages and benefits,” said Marc C. Reed, Verizon’s executive vice president for human resources.

The agreements call for Verizon to contribute $2 million a year toward a jointly administered fund so the unions and company can work for health care reform, with the goals of controlling costs, improving quality and providing health coverage for all Americans.

The two sides agreed to three-year contracts, shorter than the previous five-year contracts. Mr. Reed said the shorter contracts would give Verizon more flexibility to adapt to the rapid changes in the communications industry.

Now, Mr. Reed added, “our Verizon Telecom business group can focus on the important business of competing and offering choice to customers in broadband and television services.”

Verizon will be competing for cable subscribers with Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, Comcast and others that have a cost advantage because they generally use lower-wage, nonunion labor.

NYSUT: Senate tax cap bill doesn’t provide real relief

ALBANY, N.Y. August 8, 2008 – New York State United Teachers said the tax cap bill passed by the Senate today would be devastating for public education while not providing a penny’s worth of real property tax savings.

“The Senate today chose political expediency and the illusion of property tax relief over a real, meaningful solution – a restructuring of our property tax system based on equity, income and ability to pay,” said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. “A circuit breaker would reduce property taxes for senior citizens and working New Yorkers – those who need relief the most. Basing property taxes on income and ability to pay – not an arbitrary number dreamed up by an Albany commission – is the right direction for New York state.”

• Related article: State senators blast tax cap proposal

Iannuzzi said the Senate’s tax cap legislation could ultimately lead to cuts in education programs, while thwarting New York’s efforts to close the achievement gap. “Without a doubt, a tax cap will further divide the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots,’ hurting poor children more because tax caps lock in existing funding inequities. In addition, poor communities simply do not have the ability to raise local funds to support their schools,” Iannuzzi added.

NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan B. Lubin noted the Senate approved a separate bill that included several cost-saving measures that would help school districts, including reducing districts’ expenses for employee pensions, transportation and paperwork. “It’s a good concept, but it comes without adequate funding. While we support the goals of this bill, passing it as a separate bill is an empty gesture,” he said.

“We will continue to work with the Assembly and the Governor to see that this bad policy bill will not become a bad law,” Lubin said, noting the union would work with all parties to find cost-savings, efficiencies and other initiatives to provide legitimate property tax relief.

Tax caps have failed in California, Massachusetts and other states, leading to layoffs and devastating cuts to education and other essential public services, Lubin said. “New York should not make the same mistake. We will continue our discussions with the governor and legislative leaders to find efficiencies and savings and lower property taxes, without hurting children and public schools.”

New York Senate Caps School Tax Increases at 4%

By Danny Hakim

The Republican-led State Senate returned on Friday and approved one of the most controversial issues in the capital — a measure drafted by the Democratic governor that would place a mandatory limit on school property tax increases.

It also passed a bill intended to force the state to start collecting taxes on cigarettes sold to non-Indians on Indian reservations, a move that could reap hundreds of millions of dollars but could also inflame relations with several tribes.

Governor Paterson Signs Law to Expand Disabiltiy Benefit Eligibility to More 9/11 Rescuers

GOVERNOR PATERSON SIGNS LAW TO EXPAND DISABILITY BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY TO MORE 9/11 RESCUERS AND TO EXTEND REGISTRATION DEADLINE TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2010.

BALCONY, the Business and Labor Coalition of New York, commends Governor David Paterson for signing into law the bill (S.8676 Golden / A.11730 Silver) that expands eligibility for benefits for those who helped clean up the World Trade Center site, and that extends the registration deadline for presumptive accidental disability retirement benefits from June 14, 2009 to September 11, 2010.

BALCONY also congratulates the sponsors of the bill, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senator Martin Golden, and co-sponsors, including Assembly members Richard Gottfried and Jonathan Bing. The legislation was introduced on June 13 and was passed by the New York State (NYS) Assembly and the NYS Senate on July 8. 

The bill is based on recommendations made in March by the September 11th Worker Protection Task Force. Under the proposed legislation, certain persons who were involved in the rescue, recovery and clean-up operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (“WTC”), who are not eligible for presumptive eligibility for accidental disability benefits, to be entitled to such presumption.

This bill expands the list of first responders who can file for benefits to include the following:

• Non-uniformed first responders not required to undergo a pre-employment physical examination
• First responders who worked for any amount of time in the first 48 hours after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
• Vested members of a public pension system who stopped working prior to filing a claim
• Workers who became disabled more than two years after the WTC disaster but before the Workers’ Compensation Law was extended to cover them
• 911 dispatchers
• Emergency vehicle radio repair mechanics
• State and county correction officers and deputy sheriffs

“Because many non-uniformed City and State employees who took part in the rescue and recovery operation at Ground Zero were not required to undergo pre-employment physicals, this requirement was dropped from the bill introduced by Governor Paterson”, according to the news release posted on the website of the New York City Department of Health. “Instead, employees can obtain a disability pension by providing access to medical records and demonstrating the lack of any pre-existing conditions prior to September 11, 2001. The geographic boundaries for filing a disability claim have also been expanded beyond four WTC sites to include employees who worked in emergency vehicle garages and emergency call centers.”

The same news release reports that “the law now requires that individuals who file disability claims must have worked for at least 40 hours in the rescue and recovery operation following the WTC disaster. The new legislation withdraws this requirement for responders who worked at Ground Zero in the first 48 hours after the collapse of the WTC because the Task Force gathered medical evidence demonstrating that early arrival at the site increased the health risks associated with WTC exposure.”

In October 2006, BALCONY produced a series of 9/11 Workers’ Compensation television, radio and internet Public Service Announcements (PSAs), in both English and Spanish, featuring actress Sigourney Weaver, director Jim Simpson, and former boxing champion José Torres, all of whom work or live in Lower Manhattan. BALCONY 9/11 Workers’ Compensation PSAs were funded by The Center on Workers’ Injury Policy, Inc., among others, and have already been disseminated throughout New York on TV and radio stations, distributed to business and trade associations, and streamed on union websites.

The information needed to register for these benefits can be found at

www.nyc.gov/html/doh/wtc/html/rescue/workcomp.shtml.

LI schools say property tax cap would cause strain

BY John Hildebrand

Long Island school representatives say a statewide cap on property taxes would ultimately place heavy strain on middle-income communities — mostly places with high taxes where the cap concept holds great appeal.

In Albany, the GOP-dominated State Senate is expected to approve a 4 percent cap today in special session, along with other legislation aimed at curbing costs to local districts. Chances of passage in the Democratic-controlled State Assembly are more doubtful.

34 Vetoes, and Caveats by Paterson

by Danny Hakim

ALBANY — Holding up the specter of a “serious economic crisis,” Gov. David A. Paterson has wielded his veto pen 34 times in an attempt to curb new spending, according to documents released on Thursday.

The governor has sounded an alarm in recent weeks over the state’s fiscal woes — specifically a projected deficit of $26.2 billion over the next three years — and in many of his vetoes made good on his vow to hold the line on spending.

But his aggressive approach has created some tension between him and many Assembly Democrats and labor-backed groups, who have begun accusing him of turning his back on his liberal roots.

Again and again in memos written to explain his vetoes, Mr. Paterson praised the aims of various measures he rejected, calling one “an excellent example of a worthy initiative” and calling the goals of another measure “laudable.”

But he made it clear that in these uncertain economic times, the bar has to be raised for approving new proposals. Although some of the proposals could have been quite costly, even small outlays of public money were often turned back.

“Many difficult financial choices will need to be made,” he said, in rejecting a proposal to spend $25,000 on a state entrepreneurship award.

The bills the governor vetoed covered a wide range of topics. One would have seriously weakened the power of Buffalo’s financial control board and made it more of an advisory panel. The governor said that “as we enter a period of state and national recession, we cannot afford to jeopardize the state’s ability to wield this vital tool.”

Two bills he rejected would have made it easier for police officers and firefighters to receive disability benefits for heart ailments even if the ailments were not clearly related to their duties. Such bills, known as “heart bills” in Albany, have long been a favorite of labor unions representing public workers.

“These proposals cannot be viewed in isolation from the deep fiscal crisis in which the state now finds itself,” the governor said in vetoing the bills.

Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffe, a Rockland County Democrat who sponsored the two bills, said, “Our police and firefighters put their lives on the line every day, and I don’t think you can put a price on that.

“I think that this is a very difficult time,” she said. “There are clearly fiscal concerns, and that in itself is going to create an environment where there is going to be tension, there is no doubt about it.”

A bill that would allow State Police officers injured in the line of duty to keep full pay and benefits until they reach retirement age was also rejected. The governor, who last week imposed a state hiring freeze, said the bill would essentially give officers “the right to unlimited sick leave at full pay — a leave that could last for decades.”

“The result would be a significant drain on the state’s fisc —— one it can ill afford at present,” he added.

Mr. Paterson rejected another bill that would have made it more difficult for the state to reassign workers. He said it would “significantly complicate the state’s efforts to carry out reassignments rationally.”

The governor also vetoed a bill that would have had state bureaucrats compile a database of volunteers that could help senior citizens and would have developed training programs for such volunteers.

“These are expenditures that are not imperative in this time of fiscal uncertainty,” he said.

Mr. Paterson turned back an attempt by the City of Albany to start collecting millions of dollars annually for state-owned land in the city exempted from taxation.

And he vetoed a bill that would have created training courses for waiters and waitresses who serve liquor — an attempt to limit sales to people under 21 — explaining that the State Liquor Authority would have to spend at least $300,000 more.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, a Westchester Democrat who sponsored the bill, commented, “I have to say, I was shocked. It was a no-brainer to me.”

She said that restaurants and taverns would have borne most of the costs.

“I am of the belief that when you’re cost-cutting you also have to be far-thinking,” she said, adding that legislation was “not being evaluated properly” by the administration.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” she said.

The governor’s administration also announced on Thursday that 35 new bills had been signed into law, including one that strengthens the state’s ability to discipline doctors for mistakes on the job. Many of the bills concerned issues of local interest, like the classification of a parcel of parkland in the Syracuse area.

Mr. Paterson did make an exception to his belt-tightening by signing legislation aimed at further expanding eligibility for benefits for those who helped clean up the World Trade Center site. The projected cost for the city’s various pension funds is $3.2 million a year.

“It is imperative that we continue to provide those workers who face health consequences from their work at ground zero with the very best care,” the governor said in a statement.