DiNapoli is First to Receive American Cancer Society Donald H. Gemson Cancer Prevention Public Policy Award

Office of the State Comptroller

For Immediate Release

CONTACT:

Press Office
(518) 474-4015

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today received the first annual Donald H. Gemson Cancer Prevention Award at an awards ceremony sponsored by the Eastern Division of the American Cancer Society. DiNapoli received this award for influencing public policy changes that reduce the personal and financial toll of chronic disease, particularly cancer.

With more than 25 years of public service, DiNapoli is being honored for his strong support for programs that aim to improve the health and wellness of New Yorkers, including his efforts to fight childhood obesity, and his ongoing advocacy for clean air and clean water for all New Yorkers.

“Dr. Gemson was a public health champion who understood the link between public policy and medicine,” DiNapoli said. “His passion and courage are an inspiration. I’m honored to be the first recipient of this award. I’ll keep on fighting for the health of every New Yorker.”

The award recognizes individuals who exemplify the spirit and work of Dr. Gemson in developing, advocating, advancing and implementing prevention-focused policies and practices to reduce the incidence and burden of cancer.

“We’re so pleased to honor Comptroller DiNapoli with the first annual Donald Gemson award for his advocacy on clean indoor air and his work making healthy food and beverages for New York schoolchildren a priority,” said Don Distasio, CEO, American Cancer Society, Eastern Division.

“Don Gemson constantly urged us to do the right thing when it came to reducing tobacco use, promoting healthy eating and physical activity, and assuring access to good health care for all New Yorkers. Comptroller DiNapoli’s actions help Don’s legacy live on.”

DiNapoli has conducted numerous audits looking at nutrition and exercise programs in New York schools; established a health care cost-basis for the obesity problem in New York; and partnered with non-profit community health organizations like the American Cancer Society to create a plan to help combat obesity and smoking in New York. In 2008, DiNapoli issued a major report measuring the impact of childhood obesity in New York State. During his tenure in the State Legislature, DiNapoli was a prime sponsor of countless bills to protect the environment and public health, including legislation to require health insurance contracts and policies to include coverage for ovarian and prostate cancer screenings.

DiNapoli’s office recently underwent a CEO Cancer Gold Standard Assessment by the American Cancer Society to evaluate the Office of the State Comptroller’s health benefits and workplace culture.

On May 26th, DiNapoli will convene the first gathering of state agencies on the issue of wellness in the state workforce. Agency leaders from across the spectrum will be in attendance, including those from the GOER, Department of Health, Civil Service and New York State Insurance Department.

State employees in NYC to rally against governor’s attack on working people

Contact: Michael Paluszek

(917) 553-9332

Contact: Larry Borst
(212)-406-2156

Manhattan – Members of the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) and members of the Civil
Service Employees Association (CSEA) will hold a rally in front of Gov. David Paterson’s NYC office to
respond to the governor ’s attack on working people.

State employees will spend the lunch hour drawing attention to the effect the governor ’s furloughs would have
on state services and the state’s economy. Members will also share their personal stories of trying to plan for a
20 percent pay cut during these challenging financial times.

Thursday, May 13, 2010, Noon
In front of the governor’s NYC office
633 3rd Avenue
(between 40th and 41st streets)

The governor’s furloughs would reduce state employees’ pay by $312 million ($39 million for each furlough
day), which would take more than half-a-billion dollars out of the state’s economy. It would also greatly
impact state employees who, like many New Yorkers, are living paycheck-to-paycheck trying to make ends
meet.

PEF and CSEA have filed a temporary restraining order to stop the illegal furlough plan. Both unions have
identified alternative budget solutions that would more than meet the savings the governor is trying to achieve.

New York Has the Ways and Means: How and Why Wall Street Should Give Back to Main Street.

Sensible options for closing the state budget gap meet three goals:

1. To support rather than undermine the needs of New York families.

2. To minimize the negative impact of this year’s budget decisions on the fragile state economy.

3. To require the New York financial industry – which bears responsibility for much of the negative impact on the state’s economy and finances since 2007, and which has now realized enormous profits because of the taxpayer-funded bailout – to contribute a fair share to Main Street’s recovery.

Read the full report

NYSUT sues governor to stop illegal furlough plan

NYSUT Media Relations

ALBANY, NY, May 11, 2010 – NYSUT today filed suits on behalf of its higher education affiliates to block an unprecedented and unlawful furlough plan that would strip state employees of their pay one day per week beginning Monday until New York’s multi-billion-dollar deficit is closed.

The legal actions by NYSUT filed in federal court, Albany, seek temporary restraining orders against Gov. David Paterson, who forced the illegal measure through the state Legislature by threatening to shut down state government. The legislation was passed as part of an emergency-spending bill needed to keep government operating in absence of a new state budget.

NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi said the union will do everything in its power to protect its members’ livelihoods and professions.

“This illegitimate and misguided measure is a violation of contracts that were negotiated in good faith, and would hurt families and take money out of the economy at a time when so many of our communities and businesses are already struggling financially,” Iannuzzi said. “It would also interfere with the education of tens of thousands of students in our public higher-education system at a critical time of year, when professors are grading final papers and preparing final exams.”

The lawsuits were filed on behalf of the 55,000 members of the United University Professions and Professional Staff Congress, both of which are NYSUT affiliates. UUP represents 35,000 academic and professional faculty employed by the State University of New York. The PSC represents more than 22,000 faculty and staff working in the City University of New York system.

NYSUT maintains the mandatory furlough violates Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution – known as the “contract clause” – which, in part, prohibits states from passing legislation that impairs contract obligations.

“We cannot stand by and allow the state to unilaterally slice our salaries by 20 percent,” said UUP President Phil Smith. “We will do whatever we can to stop this egregious act.”

PSC President Barbara Bowen characterized the furlough as “an illegal action – a tax increase imposed on modestly paid public employees.

“Furloughs for CUNY faculty and staff would cut short the aspirations of thousands of students on the brink of graduation, and would scapegoat hard-working public employees for a budget deficit we did nothing to create,” Bowen said. “This is not about sacrificing for the common good; this is about playing politics while refusing to offer real solutions to the state’s budget problem.”

NYSUT, the state’s largest union, represents more than 600,000 classroom teachers and other school employees; faculty and other professionals at the state’s community colleges; State University of New York and City University of New York; and other education and health professionals. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.

Statement from PEF President Ken Brynien on Furloughs

“I am deeply disappointed the New York State Legislature has voted to authorize the illegal furlough of hardworking state employees,” said PEF President Kenneth Brynien.

“The governor continues to insist that breaking contracts negotiated in good faith are the only way he can generate savings from the state work force. He knows this is untrue. PEF has provided the governor with alternative budget solutions that would avoid such hardships.

“PEF will be immediately filing for a temporary restraining order to stop the illegal furlough plan and protect our members from irreparable damage the loss of income will cause,” Brynien said.

UUP files lawsuit, takes other legal action to stop furloughs

CONTACT: Denyce Duncan Lacy at (518) 265-3114

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBANY – United University Professions, the union that represents academic and professional faculty at the State University of New York, today filed suit in federal court in Albany against the furloughs included in the emergency spending bill approved by the Legislature. The lawsuit charges the furloughs are unconstitutional because they violate Article 1§10 of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits states from passing legislation that impairs contract obligations. The suit also alleges the furloughs call for unequal treatment under the law, directing most state employees to take an unpaid day off while exempting management confidential employees and private contractors. The furloughs are expected to recur each week until a new state budget is approved.

UUP will seek a temporary restraining order as part of its federal lawsuit, seeking to block the furloughs from taking effect as scheduled during the week of May 17.

“We cannot stand idly by and let the governor unilaterally cut our member’s salaries by 20 percent,” UUP President Phillip H. Smith said. “We should not be forced to bear the burden of the state’s fiscal problems nor be treated as the scapegoat.”

Smith said UUP is initiating other legal action against the furloughs, including the filing of an improper practice charge with the Public Employment Relations Board. UUP charges the state is violating the Taylor Law requirement that the state must negotiate terms and conditions of employment.

UUP is also filing a grievance with SUNY charging that the furloughs violate four articles in UUP’s current contract, including one that bars management from reducing members’ salaries.

“We have a legal and binding contract with the state,” Smith said. “The state does not have the authority to walk away from the contract and throw SUNY into turmoil, at a time when faculty are giving final exams and grading papers.”

UUP is urging its members to mobilize by visiting their local lawmakers or writing to them through letters located on the union’s Web site thanking those who voted against the furlough and urging them to vote against the inclusion of furloughs in any future emergency spending bills.

UUP represents 35,000 academic and professional faculty on 29 New York state-operated campuses, and is an affiliate of New York State United Teachers, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.

CSEA GOES TO COURT TO PROTECT STATE WORKERS‭

CSEA seeks federal restraining order against Paterson’s furloughs of state employees

Albany, N.Y.– The New York Legislature has approved a state budget extender which includes a mandatory one day per week off without pay for state employees. CSEA has already filed legal action seeking a temporary restraining order with the federal court in Albany.

CSEA has repeatedly stated that Governor Paterson’s plan is misguided, mean spirited and will create more chaos during a time of economic uncertainty. Additionally, CSEA President Donohue says, “We will be doing everything we can to protect the rights of our members and the services that they provide to the people of New York.”

CSEA will have more information about the legal action in the days to come. Legal proceedings will commence on Tuesday, May 11 when the court schedules a hearing.

3 Unions Sue Over Furloughs

Suits claim action eviscerates contracts; restraining order asked

By JIMMY VIELKIND, Capitol bureau

ALBANY–The furlough of unionized state workers is an evisceration of their contracts and “effectively revokes the essential bargained-for contractual rights” of the 100,000 workers affected, lawsuits filed Tuesday in federal court claim.

Three unions — the Public Employees Federation, Civil Service Employees Association and United University Professions — filed suits naming Gov. David Paterson as a plaintiff and claiming the furlough measure is a violation of their rights under the U.S. Constitution. All three suits are pending before Judge Lawrence Kahn, who could schedule oral arguments as soon as today.

The suits seek to rule Paterson’s actions illegal, and also seek a temporary restraining order preventing the newly passed laws from taking effect. Legislators reluctantly approved an emergency budget extension Monday that called for one-day-a-week unpaid furloughs of unionized workers. Paterson repeated Tuesday that the measures are legal and that they necessary to save money to bridge a $9.2 billion deficit. The state has been without an overall spending plan for more than five weeks, and serious negotiations between Paterson and legislative leaders are stalled.

“The offending governmental actions serve to eviscerate the contractual relationship between the parties and effectively revokes the essential bargained-for contractual rights,” the PEF suit reads. “The offending governmental and legislative action is an abuse of the state’s police power.”

Both the PEF and CSEA suits address the furlough measure, but also Paterson’s refusal to authorize contractual raises of 4 percent that were due to take effect April 1. The suits claim that the acts violate a constitutional provision which forbids government from passing any law “impairing” the execution of any legal contract — including labor agreements. CSEA’s suit also names the Assembly and Senate as defendants, and faults the government for failing to contribute to the employee benefit fund.

The suits also allege that Paterson violated the Taylor Law, which requires bargaining with public employee unions before contractual changes can be made.

Paterson said he was “not surprised” by the suits, but insisted his legal footing is sound. The governor and his aides said they have been negotiating with the unions for months and have offered several alternatives to the furloughs, including a five-day pay lag and the opportunity to forgo the raises. Unions have, at times colorfully, rejected each proposal. A negotiated solution is not as likely while litigation is pending.

“When you keep saying no, and you keep saying nuts, they left us with absolutely no choice,” Paterson said Tuesday afternoon. “Listen, I feel badly for the members of the union, but I also feel badly for the students” whose professors will be furloughed during examination periods. “I feel bad for the school districts that are losing money. I feel badly for the nursing homes, and for the encumbrances on other workers in other areas. I feel badly for the people in the private sector, but the reality is that we’re all in a recession. All we were asking was for the union to take their fair share.”

The governor vowed to fight the suits, which will be defended by aides to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Paterson previewed the defense, saying the contracts were negotiated in better times and the “intervening cause of this state being in so much recession” makes full payment impossible.

A similar claim was made by Prince George’s County in Maryland, but a court there ruled in December that a furlough was inappropriate because not every financial resource was exhausted, according to Lee Adler of Cornell University’s school of Industrial Labor Relations.

“In order for a state to not constitutionally impair a contractual agreement, their actions must be reasonable and necessary,” Adler said. The PEF suit anticipates this point, and claims “the state knew or should have known at the time it negotiated these contracts that future budget delays, shortfalls and deficits were distinctly possible, if not likely.”

Meanwhile, bickering between Paterson and the union leadership continued as employees prepared for the furlough. Paterson’s top aide, Larry Schwartz, said CSEA President Danny Donohue should take a “more mature tone,” noting Donohue used profanity to describe Paterson’s plan and suggested he was lower than a rat. He said that the administration is working with agencies to ensure that the furloughs are implemented in an “orderly” manner, but that specific plans are not yet codified. Union leaders suggested that some agencies will opt to furlough all of their workers on the same day.

Schwartz and Paterson refused to validate a comment by Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, who said Tuesday that “if the furlough doesn’t work I’m sure there will be layoffs.”

“I would certainly have no problem with it,” he said.

New York Legislature Approves 1-Day Furloughs

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

ALBANY — The Legislature approved an emergency budget bill on Monday that would authorize Gov. David A. Paterson to furlough about 100,000 state employees, roughly half the state’s work force, without pay for one day.

Public employee unions contended that the furloughs, which officials said would be the first for state workers in New York, would be illegal, and they said they would seek a temporary restraining order in Federal District Court here to block Mr. Paterson’s plan.

While some lawmakers, including many who voted for the bill, also questioned the legality of the furloughs, they said they had little choice but to approve the legislation because failing to do so would have effectively shut down the state government. The furlough plan, which would require each affected worker to take one day off next week, was included in the emergency spending bill needed to keep money flowing to state agencies.

“We’re not stopping government,” said Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker. “I think that ultimately the courts will overturn it.”

The Senate Democratic leader, John L. Sampson, suggested that lawmakers would welcome a court challenge by the unions.

“The executive furlough plan is a potentially unlawful breach of contract, and we will be supportive of challenges to preserve the rights of hard-working families,” Mr. Sampson said in a statement.

Battered by the recession and short on revenue, officials in at least 11 states have sought to furlough workers to save money. But in some cases, courts have sided with the unions that represent government workers, blocking the furloughs on the ground that forcing workers to take an unpaid leave violates collective bargaining agreements.

“This action on the part of the governor is clearly illegal,” said Kenneth Brynien, the president of the Public Employees Federation, one of several unions that represent state workers in New York. “We have a contract that says that we work all year and make a certain amount of money.”

Mr. Paterson announced last week that he would pursue the furloughs after the unions refused other concessions to save the state money, like giving up a 4 percent raise or delaying employees’ paychecks by several days. The one-day furlough is expected to save the state about $30 million, and the governor has said he would seek additional furloughs every week until the Legislature reaches a deal with him on the state budget, which is now nearly six weeks late.

The furloughs will exclude most public safety and health workers like State Police troopers, correction officers and nurses.

“I recognize that these furloughs represent a difficult sacrifice for many of the state’s public employees,” Mr. Paterson said in a statement issued moments after the final vote. “That sacrifice is only necessary because their union leadership has rejected all other reasonable attempts at compromise.”

“In the days ahead,” he added, “the special interests will use every tool at their disposal to try and prevent me from doing what is necessary to put our state’s fiscal house in order. My only objective is to help New York turn the corner on this fiscal crisis, and that goal guides every decision I make as governor.”

Many legislators expressed their anguish during debate about having to choose between furloughs or a government shutdown. And Republicans attacked Democrats, who control both chambers, for failing to close a budget deal.

The Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution sponsored by Neil D. Breslin, a Democrat from the Albany area, that declared the furloughs illegal and asked Mr. Paterson to resubmit his emergency bill without the furlough language. The governor, who is also a Democrat, had said he would refuse to do so.

“This is a unilateral decision by the governor to force us to vote against the extender bill,” Senator Breslin said. “If we voted against that extender bill and it failed, everyone would be without health insurance. Motor vehicle departments would be closed down.”

The measure passed in both chambers along party lines. The Senate vote was 32 to 29, with all Republicans voting against the bill, and the Assembly voted 82 to 56, with some Democrats joining the Republicans in opposition.

“We were told as soon as they blew by the April 1 budget deadline that negotiations were continuing and that weekly emergency extenders were necessary to keep government functioning,” Dean G. Skelos, the Republican Senate leader, said in a statement. “By voting against the budget extender, Senate Republicans are delivering a message that enough is enough.”

As lawmakers prepared to vote, about 2,000 state employees rallied outside the Capitol, heckling and even cursing Mr. Paterson in a show of emotion that underscored his low standing with lawmakers and the public.

“We know the governor is furloughed at the end of the year,” said Danny Donahue, the president of the Civil Service Employees Association, referring to Mr. Paterson’s decision to abandon plans to run for election this fall. “If we could get rid of him now, we would.”

Gesturing to a large inflatable rat, which unions typically deploy outside nonunion work sites, that was tethered to the lawn, Mr. Donahue added: “Some say the rat is a good symbol for our governor. I say that’s an insult to rodents.”

Union leaders said Mr. Paterson and his staff did not try to negotiate concessions until after the budget deadline and had refused to consider their suggestions for saving money, like replacing independent contractors with unionized workers.

Protesters waved signs reading “Cut the waste, not the workers,” “I Love N.Y., It’s Gov. Paterson I Can’t Stand” and “Where Is Your 20% Pay Cut, Governor?” (Mr. Paterson voluntarily gave back 10 percent of his salary last year.)

Joe Fox, the vice president of the Public Employees Federation, issued a blunt warning to state lawmakers. “Do the right thing, and we’ll remember you in November,” Mr. Fox said. “Do the wrong thing, and we’ll remember you in November.”

Workers said it was unfair for Mr. Paterson to blame them for the state’s cash problems.

“I live paycheck to paycheck,” said Paula Sheahan, 59, who said she has worked in state data-entry jobs for 17 years. “I can’t lose 20 percent of every paycheck.”

Those feelings were echoed by Andrew L. King, 62, who works for the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

“We work hard,” Mr. King said. “Cuts have to be done, but there are better ways to do it.”

DEC’S COOLING WATER INTAKE PROPOSAL: BAD POLICY FOR NEW YORK STATE.

On Thursday, May 6 New York AREA hosted a stakeholder meeting to brief its members and interested parties on a draft policy released by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The policy concerns cooling intake structures for facilities across New York State, and will impact over 50 percent of New York’s electric generation.

In conjunction with the briefing, New York AREA has released an issue brief, “DEC’s Cooling Water Intake Proposal: Bad Policy for New York State” which provides a background and details the resulting consequences of the policy for New York, including:

• Higher utility bills
• Compromised electric system reliability
• Potential job losses

To read the full issue brief, please click this link: WATER

Thank you,
The New York AREA Team