Montefiore Nurses Win New Contract, January Strike Averted

2,300 Bronx nurses make gains on staffing, wages, affordable health care

BRONX, Dec. 30, 2011 – The New York State Nurses Association has successfully negotiated a new, four-year contract with Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

The 2,300 professional registered nurses who work in the hospital made important advances in safer patient staffing, affordable health care, and fair wages, comparable to their colleagues at other New York City unionized hospitals. The nurses had given the hospital a strike notice for Jan. 10, 2012, because of their staffing concerns.

“Our members at Montefiore stood together to get a contract that’s good for our patients, our nurses and our families,” said Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, president of the Montefiore’s Moses Division bargaining unit. “The nurses give their very best every day to patients, and deserve a contract that treats them and their work with dignity and respect.”

The contract will provide about 125 new RN positions, salary increases of 7.5 percent over four years, a $750 lump sum payment on ratification and affordable prescription benefits.

The strike notice for Tuesday, Jan. 10, has been withdrawn.

The nurses will vote on the proposed contract in January.

The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 37,000 members, it is New York’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. The association represents registered nurses, and some all-professional bargaining units, in New York and New Jersey. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.

New York State Unions File Federal Lawsuit Over Retiree Health Increase

Cuomo Administration unilateral action hits retired state employees hard

ALBANY — A coalition of CSEA, PEF, UUP, NYSCOPBA, NYSTPBA, NYSPIA, and
AFSCME Council 82, unions representing virtually all of New York State employees have filed
lawsuits in federal court challenging the Cuomo Administration’s unilateral increase in the
percentage of health insurance contributions required of state retirees.

The legal challenge applies to changes made by the administration this fall and covers state
employees who have retired and seen their share of health insurance premium increase beyond
the level at which they retired.

Retirees have long contributed 10 percent of individual coverage and 25 percent of family
coverage for their health insurance coverage in retirement based on the percentages included in
the state contracts when they retired.

The changes imposed by the Cuomo Administration increase the percentage of contribution 2
percent for both individual and family coverage. The changes have severe and unexpected
consequences on retired employees. The coalition of unions asserts that it is illegal for the state
to increase those rates for already retired members. The unions did not negotiate such increases.
Contrary to popular perception, most public employee retirees have contributed to their health
insurance and retirement costs over decades of service and receive only meager to modest
benefits. For example, individuals who retired prior to 1983 receive an average pension benefit
of $8,760. Those who retired between 1983 and 1990 have a retirement benefit of $13,786
annually.

Out of their fixed income, retirees must pay rising food, fuel, and gas prices along with all other
living costs. A retiree on fixed income covered under the Empire Plan would pay about $150
more annually for individual coverage and about $460 more for family coverage. Costs for other
health insurance options would vary according to the plan. Making matters worse, the Cuomo
Administration has indicated that it will unilaterally impose a 6 percent increase for retirees who
retire on or after Jan. 1, 2012, these changes will result in a 60 percent increase in contribution
costs for individual coverage and a 24 percent increase for dependent coverage.

All of the employee groups appealed to the Cuomo Administration not to impose this change on
retirees before its imposition. The state must now respond to the legal filing in the next month.
“CSEA is disturbed and disappointed that the Cuomo Administration can be so heartless about
imposing higher costs on people who have devoted their lives to the service of New Yorkers,”
said CSEA President Danny Donohue. “Nobody bargained for this and these increases will hit
retirees hard – it’s not right and they don’t deserve this treatment.”

“What the Cuomo Administration is trying to do is pull the rug out from under state retirees
many of whom planned their retirements based on when they felt they could afford to retire.
These decisions were based on a promise and expectation of what their health insurance costs
would be. Changing the rules after the fact is outright wrong,” said PEF President Ken Brynien.
“Our members selflessly work to protect New Yorkers in some of the most dangerous
environments in the state. They have earned these benefits, and they are entitled to the coverage
that the state agreed to when they retired,” said NYSCOPBA President Donn Rowe. “Not only is
this change unconstitutional, it’s just unfair. The Cuomo Administration should recognize its
legal obligations to its retirees and not shift its financial burdens on those least able to absorb the
hit.”

“The New York State Troopers PBA will continue to fight for the well-being of our retired
members. It is imperative that the active members of the PBA protect those members who came
before us and proudly wore the gray uniform while sacrificing so much in the name of public
safety,” said PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer.

Joseph Barrett, president of the New York State Police Investigators Association (NYSPIA),
stated: “It is unfortunate that, after risking their lives for the citizens of the State of New York
during their careers, that same State of New York now chooses to impose unprecedented health
care cost increases on its retired State Police members and the widows and widowers of its
deceased members. The State’s decision to force this cost increase on our retirees in these years
when they live on a fixed income is particularly disturbing”

“The hardworking public safety professionals of New York State are particularly outraged by the
Cuomo administration’s targeting of retirees,” said Council 82 Executive Director James Lyman.
“Council 82’s retirees are men and women who dedicated their lives to providing a safer New
York and deserve to be respected and honored for their service, rather than have the state turn its
back and break its promise to its retirees.”

Flushing Hospital Threatens to Terminate Nurses’ Health and Pension Plans

RNs to protest with informational picketing on Jan. 5

FLUSHING – Upset that management plans to stop payments to their health and pension plans, registered nurses at Flushing Hospital Medical Center are planning a protest for next week.

The RNs are currently negotiating a new contract with management and are seeking to improve their working conditions. But hospital CEO Robert Levin has refused to sign interim agreements that continue the benefit plans.

To show management they won’t be intimidated, the nurses will conduct an informational picket from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, in front of the hospital at 4500 Parsons Blvd.

The current contract for the 350 nurses, who are represented by the New York State Nurses Association, will expire on Dec. 31, 2011. The interim agreements would guarantee continuation of both for six months after contract expiration while the parties continue to negotiate. Health benefits continue 90 days after expiration whether the interim agreement is signed or not. But their pension plan would end on Jan. 1, 2012.

The RNs say that comprehensive health and pension coverage is necessary because RNs are likely to suffer from health problems developed while on the job – such as neck and back injuries, high stress, and risk of exposure to contagious disease – and often cannot continue working until the average retirement age of 65.

Quality health coverage is also a key element in encouraging RNs to come to Flushing Hospital and convincing experienced nurses to stay. Improving recruitment and retention, in turn, is crucial to improving RN-to-patient staffing. Studies have shown that hospitals with better staffing have better patient outcomes.

CEO Levin has also put proposals on the table that would cost each nurse $150,000 in lost lifetime pension benefits, while offering no wage increase for three years.

The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 37,000 members, it is New York’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. The association represents registered nurses, and some all-professional bargaining units, in New York and New Jersey. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.

Final Report on Mandate Relief

Originally posted on December 26, 2011 by Jimmy Vielkind

Jim Odato devoted his column this morning to the final report of the Mandate Relief Redesign Team, which issued its 70-page document, it seems, without all of the team members even knowing it was coming out.

Business and local government groups, in part bubbling through the regional economic development councils, will be making a major push on the subject this year. Lawmakers enacted a property tax cap last year without a corresponding mandate relief package, and it’s thought to be at the top of the list come January.

CLICK HERE FOR THE REPORT

NYSNA, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Reach Agreement-Strike Notice Withdrawn Pending Ratification

MANHATTAN – The New York State Nurses Association, which represents the 1,300 registered professional nurses at St.Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan, has reached a tentative agreement with hospital management.

Members will vote on the proposed four-year contract on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012.

The tentative agreement addresses the nurses’ principal concerns throughout the negotiations – affordable health care, relief for members with high prescription costs, safe staffing levels for patients and nurses, and fair wages.

With this tentative agreement, negotiations continue at two remaining major New York City hospitals – Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

An agreement was ratified by the nurses at New York-Presbyterian Hospital earlier this month.

The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 37,000 members, it is New York’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. The association represents registered nurses, and some all-professional bargaining units, in New York and New Jersey. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.

Democrats May Say No Dice to New York Casinos, Sheldon Silver Warns

Democrats may say no dice to New York casinos, Sheldon Silver warns
Assembly Speaker supports idea, but can’t guarantee bill will fly with Dems

BY Kenneth Lovett

ALBANY — The push to legalize casinos in New York is no sure bet to pass in the Assembly, the Daily News has learned.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) supports the idea, but he told the Daily News on Monday that he can’t guarantee such a bill would fly with his Democratic conference, which holds a majority in the chamber.

“I just don’t know,” Silver said.

Gov. Cuomo has said he will call on the Legislature in 2012 to make the first of two needed approvals of a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling, which would then require a referendum, no earlier than 2013, before it becomes law.

“The last time it came up in the late 1990s, it was a close vote in the conference,” Silver recalled.

In particular, the speaker said he does not know if there is support in his New York City-dominated conference for a casino specifically within the five boroughs.

The News reported in Monday’s editions that Cuomo opposes a casino in densely populated parts of the city, but is open to one at a place like Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, which already has a virtual casino. Silver’s views are the same on both points.

But much has changed since the Legislature took up the issue in the 1990s, Silver acknowledged.

Not only is the deficit-plagued state desperately in need of new revenue and job creation, but casinos have sprouted up in surrounding states and even on Indian reservations within New York.

“There may be an attitude of ‘Let’s take some of the revenue and keep it [at\] home,’” Silver said.

In addition, there are now nine virtual casinos at New York racetracks, including at Aqueduct, and their existence may help generate support for full-blown casinos.

Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos, of Nassau County, has said he supports a constitutional amendment to legalize casinos. But a Skelos spokesman said Monday that the chamber has not taken a position on where casinos should be located.

Assemblyman Karim Camara, a Brooklyn Democrat who chairs the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, says the group has not taken an official position on casinos. But while Camara opposes the idea of casinos in areas with high concentrations of poverty, he is open to legalizing them at existing racetrack “racinos” like Aqueduct.

Silver and Skelos recently promised Cuomo that they would pursue within their respective chambers the first of two needed legislative votes on the constitutional amendment.

Some insiders took that to mean the approvals would be automatic. But Silver and Cuomo both told The News that the speaker promised the governor he would raise the issue with his members, but couldn’t ensure the measure would meet with success.

Cuomo wants the constitutional amendment to legalize casinos in the state, but not necessarily spell out how many casinos would be allowed or where they would be located. Those matters would be decided later on by the governor and Legislature before the needed public referendum.

Silver said it is possible that his members will want the constitutional amendment to be more specifically defined than the one Cuomo has talked about.

klovett@nydailynews.com

A Living Wage, Long Overdue (NYT Editorial)

A Living Wage, Long Overdue

New York City provides hundreds of millions of dollars a year in taxpayer-financed subsidies to private developers. It is only right that the jobs created by those projects pay a decent wage. The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, widely known as the living-wage bill, would nudge these employers in the right direction.

The bill now before the City Council would require future development projects that receive $1 million or more in discretionary financial assistance from the city to pay $10 an hour plus benefits for full-time workers and $11.50 an hour without benefits for at least 10 years. That may not be much, but it is an improvement over the minimum wage of $7. 25 an hour.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is fighting this change, arguing that a wage increase might scare off new developments and cost the city thousands of lower-paying jobs. That has not been the experience elsewhere.

A similar law enacted in 2003 in Los Angeles requires companies receiving city subsidies to pay workers $10.42 an hour or $11.67 without benefits. Despite warnings that the city would lose projects, Donald Spivack, a development official in Los Angeles, said at a Council hearing last month that those predictions were wrong and that he was unaware of any project that was canceled because of the wage requirement. The Center for American Progress found that 15 cities with living wage laws, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cleveland and San Francisco, “had the same levels of employment growth” as other similar cities without the requirements.

Mayor Bloomberg’s arguments against this modest wage increase contrast with his endorsement of a 2002 city law that now sets a minimum of $10 an hour for about 60,000 workers employed by service contractors hired by the city, many of them home health care workers. Home care workers got a similar increase as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Medicaid redesign this year.

The City Council has revised the bill after earlier criticisms that it was confusing and too restrictive. It now has clear exemptions for manufacturers and smaller businesses with revenues of less than $5 million. The bill’s sponsors should also consider exempting grocery stores in areas that need fresh food markets. That said, this bill makes sense. A wage of $10 an hour would help lift thousands of New Yorkers above the poverty line.

Gov. Cuomo Puts Full-tilt Casino in City on Table

Gov. Cuomo puts full-tilt casino in city on table

EXCLUSIVE: In wide-ranging interview, Andy reflects on successes in his first year, and the “eye-catching” moves he wants to make in 2012

BY Kenneth Lovett

Updated: Monday, December 26 2011, 2:00 AM

ALBANY — Looking back on a successful first year in office, Gov. Cuomo vowed to make “eye-catching” moves in 2012 — and for the first time said he is open to rolling the dice on a casino in New York City.

“Do I support casino gaming at a New York City location? . . . Yes,” the governor told the Daily News in a year-end chat.

Like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Cuomo said he doesn’t want to see a casino in a densely populated part of the city, but would be open to putting one at a place like Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, which already has a virtual casino.

Cuomo expects to call on the Legislature in his Jan. 4 State of the State address to give the first of two needed votes to a state constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling in the state.

He stressed he is not “preselecting” New York City or any other area for possible casinos.

“I’m not excluding any locations at this time,” he said, adding that establishing a casino in a part of the city “certainly can” make sense because the operation would capitalize on the massive population.

“New York City is a real location,” he said. “Albany is a real location. Buffalo is a real location.”

Cuomo wants the Legislature in 2012 to pass the amendment without specifying how many casinos would be authorized or where they would be located.

He would spend the year coming up with a casino plan, then finalize details in 2013 — the earliest the issue could go before the voters for a required public referendum.

He argued that the economic boost from casino gambling far outweighs the increase in crime and compulsive gambling and other social ills that critics say the industry fosters.

During the wide-ranging interview, Cuomo reflected proudly on his accomplishments in his freshman year as governor — legalization of gay marriage, the creation of the state’s first property tax cap, a new ethics reform law and an on-time budget that cut state spending.

And while he went back on a no-new-taxes pledge earlier this month by supporting a hike on the rich, he coupled it with a modest tax cut for the middle class.

The freshman Democrat spoke of a newfound spirit of bipartisanship in the Legislature, something he has repeatedly contrasted with the gridlock in Washington. His powerful performance this past year has fueled speculation of a 2016 White House campaign, but Cuomo insisted he never even thinks about running for President.

“Not at all,” he said. “I’ve been around too long. I’ve heard too much talk. I’ve seen the movie too many times.”

Of course, his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, was dubbed Hamlet on the Hudson for agonizing about a waging a presidential run — and keeping a plane waiting on the tarmac as he mulled over a last-minute entry into the 1992 New Hampshire primary.

Brushing off his clashes with Mayor Bloomberg, most recently over a compromise on a bill to approve street hails for livery cabs, Cuomo described the flareups as normal “stressors in the relationship” between a governor and New York City mayor.

“We get along well; we communicate well; we communicate often,” he said.

But Cuomo warned that Hizzoner may have trouble getting one of his major priorities done in Albany next year: pension reform.

While the governor has listed it is a priority, he said its fate will ultimately come down to whether the Legislature wants to buck the powerful labor unions in an election year.

“I don’t think the unions are ever going to agree to pension reform,” he said.

And with the state having reached multiyear contracts this year with the two largest unions of state government workers, Cuomo admitted he has very little leverage to get them on board with a pension reform plan.

In his upcoming State of the State address, Cuomo is expected to focus on the need for job creation and the importance of rebuilding the state’s roads and bridges and of reorganizing state agencies and public authorities.

Cuomo said years of budget cuts and neglect have left the agencies in far worse shape than he imagined before taking office.

“The economy is not going to come rebounding back in a way that you can buy your way out of this problem,” he said. “And by the way, you shouldn’t buy your way out of the problem — you’re going to have to manage your way out of the problem.”

That said, Cuomo said not to bet on him having a sophomore slump.

“There are going to be eye-catching things next year,” he vowed, playing his cards close to his vest.

klovett@nydailynews.com

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Nurses to Strike on January 3, 2012

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Nurses to Strike on January 3, 2012

Fighting for Affordable Health Care and Fair Pay

MANHATTAN – Early Thursday morning, the registered nurses of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan filed notice with hospital representatives that they will strike at 7.30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

The 1,300 nurses – members of the New York State Nurses Association – have been working without a contract since December, 2010, and have had 25 bargaining sessions trying to reach a new agreement.

The strike notice was given during a marathon 18-hour bargaining session that ended at 4:00 a.m.

“The hospital’s response to our concerns about affordable health care did not meet our members’ needs. We are now mobilizing in the hospital for the January 3 strike,” said Nancy Kaleda, NYSNA’s bargaining director. “While we made some progress on staffing issues in the talks, the healthcare issue carries huge weight for our members and their families.”

Two other major New York City hospitals are also in the middle of intense contract bargaining — Mount Sinai and Montefiore. The Mount Sinai negotiations continue today, Montefiore talks resume next Tuesday. Those NYSNA members have also authorized strikes, but the union has not presented the strike notice yet.

The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 37,000 members, it is New York’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. The association represents registered nurses, and some all-professional bargaining units, in New York and New Jersey. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.

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PEF Statement on SAGE Commission Recommendations

Statement of PEF President Ken Brynien on SAGE Commission Recommendations

Albany – The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) supports the concept of making government more efficient and identifying cost savings. This is supposed to be the mission of the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission (SAGE).

As a preliminary report, many of the recommendations by the SAGE Commission are lacking details. We remain concerned that without specificity surrounding the recommendations there is the potential that if implemented without safeguards in place they could lead to layoffs, increased reliance on costly contracting out and privatization, and would weaken the civil service merit and fitness system, opening the door to increased patronage and cronyism. These will cost the taxpayers more money.

We understand the need for taxpayers to get the most from their tax dollars. One of the best ways to cut costs is to combine the state’s shadow government of public benefit corporations and state authorities into state agencies; if done properly this will make them more transparent and accountable to taxpayers. So far the SAGE Commission has only scratched the surface of the hundreds of off budget public authorities.

Additionally, we would also ask the commission to examine more closely the state’s use of contractors and costly consultants who perform work state employees could do better and for less. PEF has identified potential savings of more than $300 million annually by reducing the state’s reliance on costly consultants.

There is important work to be done here. To achieve real efficiencies, New York needs to bring in its professional workers and engage them in the process by listening to their ideas.

PEF is the state’s second-largest state-employee union representing 55,000 professional, scientific and technical (PS&T) employees and other public and private employees.

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CLICK HERE TO READ THE SAGE REPORT: