STOP THE LIES: THE UNRELENTING ASSAULT ON THE MIDDLE CLASS CONTINUES

Rochester, N.Y. -- It appears that anti-labor forces and the business community are pushing their message full tilt these days. And, freaking media types like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times cannot let go of this smaller government narrative: "If we are going to solve our state's budget problems, we need to blame "spending" and public employee unions and those bloated pensions they have-- they are evil people."  

Of course, we all know that public employee unions (which are comprised of average working folks, not fat cats living the high life like right-wing pundits want you to believe) did not cause our budget meltdown or fiscal insolvency-- it was deregulation, bank bail-outs, greedy Wall Streeters, a bursting housing bubble, dipping revenue and host of other nefarious deeds perpetrated on the American people by the GOP and the richest U.S. corporations. And, this all came at a time when taxpayers need public services more than ever.

At the same time, Wall Street private equity firms and hedge fund managers are doling out a record 44 billion in bonuses at the end of this year.  Some estimates take that number as high as 90 billion as the biggest firms set aside more than the GDP of 13 entire countries.  Does that sound reasonable to you? It's as if 2008 never even happened.  And public employees are the problem? And let's not forget-- all those top end private sector executives get a nifty tax bonus on top of all that earned income courtesy of the Senate GOP! 

American politics have been reduced to "who gets what."

It's much easier to point the boney finger and blame someone else for your mistakes and the troubled economy you are responsible for tanking, and that's just what is happening here. Slight of hand and trickery-- psychologists and social scientists call this ego defense phenomena "projection."

Politicians are throwing unions and working people under the bus

Once nearly unthinkable politically, now many New York State lawmakers are actually talking about a proposal that will freeze public employee salaries-- even Democrats.  And, the climate to make that happen has never been more permissive than it is today.

One month after President Barack Obama proposed a two-year standstill on the pay of 2 million federal employees, The New York State Conference of Mayors and the New York State School Boards Association held a press conference and released reports urging wage freezes for all public sector employees.

They also are pitching these ideas: a property tax cap; that all new state employees switch to defined-contribution plans; require local government employees and retirees to contribute more to their health insurance; eliminate the Triborough Amendment-- which would give the state authority to stop raises now guaranteed under contractual law through annual "step" increases even when a labor contract expires. The Triborough Amendment is the heart and soul of the Taylor Law for those working without a contract.

For example, last Thursday night the Sullivan County Legislature froze salaries despite labor contracts that called for 4 percent raises on Jan. 1. "The legislators have declared war on workers of Sullivan County by doing what they've done," Adrian Huff of Teamsters Local 445 told the Times Herald-Record of Middletown.

Cuomo started the process during his campaign

Democratic Governor-Elect Andrew Cuomo gave this effort momentum and forced this issue into the public spotlight because he campaigned on a proposal to freeze the salaries of the state's nearly 200,000 employees. It also doesn't help when the NYT does a huge story reporting that Cuomo is wooing the business community to raise 10 million dollars to fight unionized public employees.

They pull no punches about their class warfare objectives: they want to destroy public employee unions altogether, gut Social Security and dismantle the Taylor Law. If it's a fight they want, well-- it's a fight they are going to get.

"(Cuomo) said he wanted to come in and change things, we wanted to help him, we want to work with him," CSEA President Danny Donohue said on December 12. "He started off by getting a war chest to fight us on it. That's a great way to make friends and influence people."

And Donohue makes it very clear; he considers the war chest issue an insult to every public employee. He's vowing to fight for every worker who lost a job and he intends to convince the public who’s to blame when things go wrong.

"Somewhere somebody is going to pay for all this," said Donohue. "And I believe the Governor is responsible for the first person in a mental hospital that's not being treated well to the person on a highway who gets hurt because there are not enough snow plow drivers."

He added, "When those things happen, don't look at my members. They're out there doing the job. It's the governor and the politicians that are backing him on this. Yes there will be a fight. The fight is to maintain those services that New York State is paying for and wants."

Governor Paterson sent out nearly 900 layoff notifications that began last Friday. Public employee union leaders from PEF, NYSUT and CSEA say the projected 250 million in savings are minimal in light of a $9 billion budget deficit. These job cuts will start to fragment the quality of life for all New Yorkers immediately. Expect public safety to erode, a longer commute on that snowy morning drive, longer lines at the DMV and endless games of phone tag with case managers and clients.

CSEA is looking for partners in good government

"You have to negotiate in good faith," said CSEA's Stephen Madarasz. "Things brought up to a negotiating table, you have an obligation to negotiate," he told local reporters. "We certainly understand the state has considerable financial issues ... it's certainly about as difficult a set of circumstances CSEA has seen in a generation, no doubt about that."

Our union refused Paterson's attempts at concessions this year because it would have set a precedent for reopening labor contracts. The state's contracts with unions including CSEA are up in March, where a freeze could be negotiated.  What is it about not honoring legally binding contracts that politicians think is acceptable?

We at the Voice Reporter think most reasonable people believe CSEA and its members want to begin the new year with a positive working relationship with our new governor. But when the press and anti-labor forces continually stoke the fire of dissent and unrealistically portray public employees as selfish do-nothings and the "problem," it's hard to remain stoic.

No matter what the outcome, it's going to be a difficult year for the middle class working families and taxpayers of New York State. And, the sooner we come to understand this reality it will become totally obvious that our working families will end up paying the price for balancing a state budget that was altered by reckless politicians, business profiteers and greedy bankers.

-Ove Overmyer  (This content reflects the opinion of the author exclusively and not CSEA as an organization.)