Nyack Nurses Ratify Contract

Agreement maintains comparable health insurance for RNs

NYACK, NY, July 30, 2010 – Registered nurses who are members of the New York State Nurses Association yesterday voted to ratify a new three-year contract with Nyack Hospital. The agreement maintains comparable health insurance for the registered nurses, a key point of contention in negotiations which had been going on since last fall.

As the nurses worked to negotiate a fair contract, they were mindful of strengthening an environment that supported quality care and ensured the best possible patient outcomes. One important goal was to make the hospital’s nurse retention and recruitment efforts more competitive, which was addressed by improvements in benefits including staff development and tuition reimbursement.

“We are pleased to have reached a satisfactory agreement and are moving forward to continue working with hospital management to provide the high quality care our community deserves,” said AnnaMarie Perkins, RN, president of the Nyack Hospital bargaining unit.

The contract, which is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010 and runs through 2013, includes a 9.1 percent wage increase over the three years for the Nyack Hospital RNs, as well as maintaining a comparable health insurance benefit as the hospital changes health insurance providers.

“We provide health care to people every day, and understand how important good health insurance is,” Perkins said.

The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 36,000 members, it is the state’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.

Carthage Area Hospital Nurses Reach Tentative Agreement

CARTHAGE, July 29, 2010 – New York State Nurses Association members at Carthage Area Hospital reached a tentative agreement for a new contract on July 27, just four days before their current contract would expire.

The contract includes a wage increase for all Carthage RNs. Additionally, the Nurses Association persuaded hospital management to increase differential pay for nightshift RNs by 12.5 percent to remedy a 34 percent nightshift RN vacancy rate. Obstetric RNs also won the right to receive hourly specialty differential pay, compensation that was previously only offered to critical care unit and emergency department RNs.

RNs and hospital management will also develop and launch a mentoring program that offers workshops and in-service training to newly hired nurses.

“The nurses really pushed hard to keep their priorities on the table. During negotiations, both parties affirmed that patient care is our mutual goal,” said Annie Rutsky, labor relations representative, NYSNA. “This is an agreement that will help the hospital provide the high quality care that this community deserves.”

The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 36,000 members, it is the state’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.

Layoff Threat Looms Anew

by Casey Seiler

ALBANY — As the Legislature prepares to return to Albany, Gov. David Paterson issued some of his toughest words yet for lawmakers and another group he’s been at odds with for months: state worker unions.

“I think the planning for layoffs is going to have to begin immediately,” Paterson told reporters Monday morning after throwing out the first pitch at a tee-ball championship in Lincoln Park.

Elaborating on comments made last week by state Budget Director Robert Megna, Paterson said the move was necessary because of unions’ ongoing resistance to granting concessions that would trim $250 million from the work force budget.

Last week, Megna said the number of layoffs and the timetable for implementing them will depend on the results of an early retirement option designed to cull the public employee rolls.

“I don’t know what the date would be that we would have to have layoffs,” Paterson said, “but since the work force would not negotiate a lag period, which would have been a shared sacrifice for everybody, or a furlough, which would have been a process where everyone gave a little so everyone could stay working, some unfortunate people who don’t deserve it are going to get laid off.

“And it burns me to have to say it, because I don’t think it’s fair to them. But it’s the only way we’re going to be able to balance our budget,” Paterson said.

The furlough plan, which Paterson forced past the Legislature in an emergency budget extender, was struck down by a federal judge two months ago.

Paterson said last year’s “memo of understanding,” or MOU, between his administration and the powerful state workers unions PEF and CSEA — guaranteeing no layoffs through 2010 in exchange for labor support of the now-instituted Tier V pension package — was “a plan” that was going to have to be adjusted along with the state’s fiscal outlook.

“I sat down and worked out an agreement with the unions a year ago, but that presumed that we would get greater stimulus money from Medicaid. We lost what may be a billion dollars from that source, and everybody is going to have to make a sacrifice,” he said.

“Everybody finds a way that someone else should make the sacrifice, and that they shouldn’t,” he said. “And I don’t think that’s a very good culture, or the spirit of New York. It’s not the way New Yorkers addressed this problem 80 years ago.”

In a response statement, CSEA President Danny Donohue insisted that the MOU was a binding agreement. Also, “talk of layoffs under these circumstances is counterproductive, impractical and bad for New Yorkers all around,” he said. “They may also constitute bad-faith bargaining.”

PEF President Kenneth Brynien said it was “unconscionable for the governor to continue scapegoating state employees and their families for the fiscal crisis, or use them as pawns in his negotiations with the Legislature.”

Brynien said the governor would be better off ordering agency heads to make the retirement incentive available to as many workers as possible. When a similar incentive was offered last year, it fell short of its target number — in part because agencies were reluctant to give up the positions that would be eliminated after the worker’s retirement.

Paterson spokeswoman Jessica Bassett said that the Budget Division was currently receiving final plans for the incentive program — including the specific titles of those slated to get it — from the individual agencies.

She said the administration was encouraging the agencies to be “aggressive.”

All told, the state hopes to lose between 3,000 and 6,000 workers this year through the incentive, although retirements from the judiciary and SUNY won’t be complete until the end of 2010, Bassett said.

State workers can take a degree of comfort from the fact that Paterson had equally hard words for lawmakers.

“The type of budget the Legislature is proposing will put us back in the hole,” said the governor, whose agenda for Wednesday’s extraordinary session includes many of his original revenue proposals — including a tax on sugary beverages and the introduction of wine sales in grocery stores — that lawmakers have shown little appetite for. Also on Paterson’s agenda: a contingency plan for the possible loss of Medicaid funds, and a plan to revise tuition-setting power for some SUNY and CUNY campuses.

While the governor can compel lawmakers to come to Albany for the extraordinary session, they can gavel in and out without taking up any of his proposals. Paterson was asked if he would look at the Legislature’s refusal to even accept his revenue bills as a slap in the face.

“I think it’s already a slap in the face — but it’s not personal,” he said. “It’s not my face they’re slapping. It’s the faces of the people of the state of New York.”

The current plan is to hold a session at 6 p.m. Wednesday, with a Thursday session to follow if sufficient progress isn’t made. Paterson said he wanted to see the results of those sessions before deciding whether or not to call both houses back for additional ones.

Paterson met Monday afternoon in New York City with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson. Emerging from that meeting, the governor said he wouldn’t comment on the Legislature’s alternative proposals until his staff analyzes them.

Statement of PEF President Kenneth Brynien on Paterson’s threat of layoffs

Albany – It is unconscionable for the governor to continue scapegoating state employees and their families for the fiscal crisis or use them as pawns in his negotiations with the Legislature.

The governor was irresponsible in his remarks at an event today to suggest the possibility of layoffs within the state work force when it is still unclear how many state employees will leave state service through the early retirement incentive (ERI).

The governor also once again suggested he is not bound by the no layoffs agreement he made with the Public Employees Federation (PEF). This time, Paterson claims he can no longer comply with his no-layoffs pledge because of the lack of federal stimulus funding. PEF fully intends to hold the governor to his promise and will take whatever measures are necessary to do so.

We would hope that before the governor determines layoffs are inevitable, he would press his agency heads to allow as many workers as possible to leave through the incentive. The Paterson administration failed miserably in implementing the voluntary severance program offered last year, as hundreds of PEF members who were willing to leave state service were denied the opportunity to participate in the program.

Now, it appears the governor is giving up on the early retirement incentive as well, instead of using his authority to direct agency heads to fully comply with the ERI.
It is disingenuous to limit participation in the ERI while claiming layoffs are necessary. We call on the governor to focus on making the ERI program a success, rather than planning for failure.

In addition, PEF reminds the governor of the millions the state could save by relying less on high-priced consultants, when research proves state employees can often do the same work for less. One step in the direction of realizing recurring savings is passage of the cost-benefit analysis bill. The bill has already passed in the Assembly. It would require a cost-benefit analysis before contracting out state services. PEF is calling on the Senate to stop taxpayer abuse and pass the cost-benefit bill.

PEF is the state’s second-largest state-employee union, representing 58,000 professional, scientific and technical employees.

Statement of PEF President Kenneth Brynien on renewed threat of layoffs

FOR RELEASE: Thursday, July 22, 2010

Albany – It is irresponsible for the Paterson administration to suggest the possibility of layoffs within the state
workforce when it is still unclear how many state employees will be leaving state service through the early
retirement incentive (ERI).

The director of the state Divison of Budget (DOB) is quoted in the press suggesting the early retirement
program may fail to reach a savings goal of $250 million and if that is the case, plans for layoffs may have to
be developed. Before deeming the ERI a failure, the DOB should, instead, be pressuring its agency directors to
fully comply with the program.

As was the case with the voluntary severance program offered earlier this year, many PEF members who were
willing to leave state service were denied the opportunity to participate in the program. We anticipate the same
will hold true for the ERI.

It’s unnecessary and irresponsible to threaten to layoff state employees at a time when so many people are
turning to state services during these difficult financial times. We call on the Paterson administration to focus
on making the ERI program a success, rather than planning for failure.

In addition, PEF reminds the governor of the millions the state could save by relying less on high-priced
consultants when research proves state employees can often do the same work for less. One step in the
direction of realizing recurring savings is passage of the cost-benefit analysis bill. The bill has already passed
in the Assembly. It would require a cost-benefit analysis before contracting out state services. PEF is calling
on the Senate to stop taypayer abuse and pass the cost-benefit bill.

PEF is the state’s second-largest state-employee union, representing 58,000 professional, scientific and
technical employees.

Love him or hate him, hard to ignore him

‘Living wage’ fight brings both positive and negative attention to retail union chief Stuart Appelbaum.

by Daniel Massey

He doesn’t boast the money, members or political might of some of New York’s heaviest hitters in labor, but these days retail union President Stuart Appelbaum is creating a ruckus that belies his organization’s size.

In December, he engineered the defeat of the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment by demanding that all the retail jobs created by the project pay at least $10 an hour, plus benefits—the only time a City Council land-use vote has gone against Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Mr. Appelbaum wasted little time after that in pushing a citywide living-wage bill that ticked off administration officials, developers and even some unions, which contend that it would be a job killer.

Last week, the bill got a boost when the powerful building workers union, 32BJ SEIU, threw its weight behind it.

The 57-year-old was the most vociferous union leader to call for Gov. David Paterson to step aside and clear the way for Andrew Cuomo to run for governor, again angering other unions, who would have preferred a more understated approach. And he was the first labor leader to back Mr. Cuomo, making headlines for his union, but simultaneously providing the gubernatorial hopeful with cover to unveil bold policy pronouncements that could hurt public-sector unions.

All that came after a fall election cycle in which Mr. Appelbaum confounded politicos and made himself persona non grata at City Hall when he flirted with endorsing Mr. Bloomberg, but ended up a gung-ho supporter of his rival, William Thompson, garnering plenty of ink and airtime.

No subtlety

Most labor chiefs prefer to conduct their lobbying and advocacy behind closed doors, quietly building transactional relationships with elected officials, but subtlety is not Mr. Applebaum’s forte. The president of the 100,000-member Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union operates very much out in the open, skillfully making use of the press to inflate a power he otherwise lacks in terms of money or members. In 2009, the union donated just $96,125 to candidates in local, state and federal races and to political committees. Its 45,000 members spread among various locals in the city lack the get-out-the-vote operation that makes candidates covet the endorsements of other unions.

“It seems like every time you open a newspaper or turn on a TV, you see him standing there with some Democratic leader,” says Jack Kittle, political director of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades DC 9, who was angered by Mr. Appelbaum’s handling of Kingsbridge. “I don’t know if he believes getting in the newspaper makes him an effective labor leader, but I’d prefer to see him out organizing in the stores.”

The other unions don’t disagree with the message Mr. Appelbaum spouts—that workers deserve to earn a wage that will let them live in the city—but they say his style often drives wedges between labor groups and can be counterproductive. His go-it-alone approach has sparked particular tension with the building trades, who were so angry after Mr. Appelbaum killed the Kingsbridge deal and the 1,000 union construction jobs that would have come with it that they’ve requested a meeting with his parent union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, to discuss potential changes to their support of local labor’s anti-Walmart pact.

Creating a firestorm

Mr. Appelbaum doesn’t consider Kingsbridge a victory, but he says that, had the project proceeded, “we wouldn’t be talking about living wage today.”

Indeed, Mr. Appelbaum has succeeded in creating a public policy firestorm around living-wage mandates on publicly subsidized projects, upending an uneasy truce that had existed between developers, unions and activist groups in which they typically negotiated deals on a project-by-project basis. The mayor has repeatedly said that living-wage mandates for retail jobs would make projects economically unfeasible and stifle development. The ensuing commotion prompted the city to commission a $1 million study on the feasibility of tying a living wage to public projects.

Mr. Appelbaum’s stand against “institutionalizing poverty” in the city was born out of a sense of justice, he says, that developed early in his life. His father was a postal clerk and his mother a file clerk. Neither was politically active, but Mr. Appelbaum developed a political consciousness by reading his father’s union newspaper and attending synagogue. In his east midtown office, he displays his father’s American Postal Workers Union card and a poster featuring a line from Deuteronomy: “Justice, justice shalt thou pursue.” He holds up the framed print and says, “It’s the moral imperative for what I do.”

Hooked on organizing

Shortly after graduating from Harvard Law School, he landed a job as chief counsel for the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. There, he worked with various unions and got hooked on organized labor.

“I felt the real politics were the sort practiced by unions because they were truly looking to make a difference in people’s lives,” he says. “With electoral politics, it wasn’t value-driven, but more about people trying to achieve positions.”

He joined RWDSU as special projects coordinator and rose through the ranks to become secretary treasurer and, in 1998, president. A year ago, Mr. Appelbaum announced that he is gay, a fact he made public so that he could speak out in favor of marriage equality legislation.

He commands a union in an industry that is notoriously difficult to organize because of its low profit margin and high worker turnover. And so a citywide living-wage mandate is perhaps his best chance at raising the floor for retail workers, 44% of whom earn less than $10 an hour, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. Under Mr. Appelbaum, RWDSU has added about 25,000 new members—including some 1,400 Filene’s Basement workers who signed up with the union last week—but that’s been just enough to make up for losses as traditional, unionized department stores have consolidated or shut down.

To help with organizing, he’s formed strategic alliances with various community groups Mr. Appelbaum’s Retail Action Project has won small, but significant victories—like organizing workers at the Yellow Rat Bastard retail chain and securing millions in unpaid wages for retail workers across the city.

New alliances

“He’s created a new paradigm for organizing by forging deep partnerships with community organizations and investing in those relationships,” says Andrew Friedman, executive director of Make the Road New York, one of RWDSU’s community partners.

And he’s formed an alliance with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., whose strong stance in favor of living wages was instrumental in swinging the Kingsbridge vote and in raising his profile for a potential 2013 run for City Hall.

“Stu’s ideas and visions are not myopic,” Mr. Diaz says. “They’re long-term and expand beyond just retail workers. He truly wants a better future for all New Yorkers.”

Few would doubt that. But the question remains: Will he be able to parlay the attention to living wage into tangible gains for his members and other retail workers? Or has he isolated himself to the point where his biggest “victory” could end up being the defeat of Kingsbridge?

Megna: Layoff planning starts next month

A top Paterson administration official said Wednesday that planning to lay off state workers — needed to realize $250 million in workforce savings counted in the budget — will begin in earnest next month.

“We have, as you know, an early retirement program that we’re working through with state agencies,” Budget Director Bob Megna said in an interview with New York Now to be aired Friday.

“I don’t think we can get to the $250 million just through the early retirement program, but I think we want to see where we are with that program over the next week, 10 days, where we think savings are,” Megna said. “And then after that, I think we need to sit down with the governor … and decide if we need to take further actions, including layoffs.”

Paterson has attempted to lag pay for state workers and furlough employees one day a week in order to achieve his savings. He also asked employees to forgo a scheduled raise earlier this year. All the proposal were rebuffed by unions representing public employees, and the furlough attempt was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge.

The unions have argued that concessions required by the governor unfairly abrogate their existing collective bargaining agreements, and have proposed finding workforce savings by replacing outside consultants with unionized employees. They also claim Paterson is bound by a pledge to not lay off workers until 2011, an agreement forged when unions acquiesced to the creation of a new, less-generous pension tier for new employees.

Paterson originally said he would wait until the first of the year to lay off workers, but later said he felt it would unfairly “kick the can” to the next governor were he to do so. Paterson is not seeking another term in office. Megna said that planning now was necessary given the “complicated” nature of planning for layoffs.

“It’s not something where you can say, ‘oh, I’m going to lay off people tomorrow,’ and then make it happen,” he said. “It’s a lengthy process, so it is a process that would certainly, in all likelihood, extend into the next governor’s administration, so I think you have to take it very seriously and very careful.”

Saratoga Advance Trust Technology & Communications Fund is Rated a 5 Star Fund By Morningstar

Don’t stumble in Race to the Top

By RICHARD C. IANNUZZI
First published in print: Monday, July 19, 2010

In the coming days, when U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan unveils the next round of Race to the Top finalists, the question of how to best measure teacher effectiveness will again make headlines.

From the ranks of those loosely defined as education experts, a new breed of reformers will no doubt be critical of those states not chosen, contending they didn’t demand enough from teachers and teachers unions. At the same time, hard-core teacher activists will wail that states picked as Round 2 finalists went too far, undermining what they believe is most important in education. The use and misuse of standardized tests will be rallying cries for both.

I spent 34 years as an elementary school teacher. After brushing aside the rhetoric, the issue for me is simple:

Whenever I marked a paper or graded an exam, I wanted to know how my students performed. I felt pride when I saw progress and angst when I did not. I wanted to know I made a difference — and couldn’t hide the disappointment from myself when I didn’t. Like all teachers, I wanted my students to grow and to learn. I wanted to be given credit when my students made progress, and I had to accept the reality I wasn’t without responsibility when they did not.

I taught in a school district with little tax base and significant poverty. Sometimes the district was overwhelmed by the consequences of deprivation and transience while neighboring districts flourished, benefiting from more than adequate household wealth and stability.

We knew that comparing test results unfairly labeled our students and wrongly criticized our efforts. We were angry that test scores were used to blame teachers for society’s failure to meet its obligation to those most in need.

Similarly, our colleagues in wealthier districts were angry because they saw the reliance on test scores as bogus and stifling.

For better or worse — mostly worse — the Obama Administration has seized upon standardized tests as central to evaluating educational progress and measuring teacher effectiveness.

How teachers are evaluated — through the use of test scores and other measures — will undoubtedly weigh heavily in Round 2 of the Race to the Top’s scoring.

New York State United Teachers and the state Education Departmently agreed on legislation, now signed into law, that changes how teachers are evaluated. Standardized test results will account for 20 percent of a teacher’s and principal’s evaluation, later moving to 25 percent.

When standardized tests are not given, locally designed tests will be used. Other measures — some already in use, such as classroom observation, and some new ones, such as a student’s body of work — will make up the rest of the evaluation.

A number of teachers in my union worry that we went too far; many of our critics say we didn’t go far enough.

Ultimately, I fear that all that will matter is how New York’s percentages compare with those states that made the Race to the Top cut and those that didn’t — and that’s unfortunate.

Far too many will ignore the full impact of all that is gained by New York’s entire plan to improve teacher effectiveness, and how it supports teacher and student growth.

Lost in the posturing will be the renewed emphasis on teacher preparation, mentoring and ongoing professional development.

Overlooked will be the collaborative support for teachers as they meet the challenges they face every day, and the recognition for those who excel, including providing highly effective teachers the opportunity to share their knowledge and skills with others. The goal of having practitioners control their own profession and define excellence will be lost in rhetorical frenzy.

Research points to teacher effectiveness as the most critical factor in improving student performance. Teachers overwhelmingly take pride in that, and most accept the converse — that ineffective teaching hampers student growth. Measuring that growth must play a part in understanding what makes an effective teacher, but it must be measured in a reasonable and appropriate way that takes into account all that goes into the learning environment and the art of teaching.

When the finalists are announced, we will find out if Race to the Top is a comprehensive strategy for improving education for our country’s students or just a race about numbers and dollars.

Richard C. Iannuzzi, who taught fourth-grade in Central Islip for most of his 34 years in the classroom, is president of the 600,000-member New York State United Teachers.

BALCONY and USI Affinity host ‘The Long Goodbye’ in Seattle, A Celebration of the Retirement of NYSUT VP Alan Lubin

The New York State United Teachers have lost a giant. Alan Lubin, the inveterate Executive Vice President of NYSUT, has officially retired after 17 years at that post. On Wednesday, July 7th, BALCONY, the Business and Labor Coalition of New York, along with co-sponsor USI Affinity hosted a celebration of Mr. Lubin’s retirement. The event took place at the Sharaton hotel in Seattle and was attended by more than 75 friends and colleagues who gathered to celebrate the long and illustrious career of Mr. Lubin and to send him into retirement in style. Various members of the American Federation of Teachers voiced their respect and admiration for Mr. Lubin and expressed their deep regret that he would no longer be with them. Lubin, 66, is expected to continue to have a role on boards, including his post as Co-Chair of BALCONY, post-retirement. His influence helped persuade lawmakers to continue record levels of public investment in schools, including an override of gubernatorial vetoes in 2003 when Gov. George Pataki desired cuts.