CUOMO SHOWING TRUE COLORS; NO FRIEND TO THE POCKETBOOKS OF NEW YORK'S WORKING CLASS

Gov. Andrew Cuomo
photo provided

Rochester, N.Y.-- Last Friday, right after the Cuomo administration leaked contract information to the media about his latest priorities, the Public Employee Federation (PEF) thought it would be responsible to its members and released details regarding its contract negotiations with the state.  Contracts with state worker unions expired on March 31. Until now, there has been very little public knowledge regarding the on-going negotiations between the state and CSEA and PEF, as determined by the articles and ground rules of collective bargaining.

Despite this long-held practice, Governor Cuomo has violated a basic premise of bargaining in good faith by going public and also by threatening to lay off 9,800 workers while negotiating these contracts.  His plan goes something like this:  out of a total labor force of 187,000 full-time positions under his control, and if an annual cost reduction of $450 million, termed “Labor Management Partnership Savings” included in the state budget adopted at the end of March is not achieved through contract concessions, he will commence with the cost-cutting measure.  This cost reduction proposal would require between a $2,000 and $3,000 annual give-back per employee, according to our union sources.

Even before the labor talks began, the governor consistently promised the layoff threat while at the same time, his administration was well into the process of developing lists of those who would lose their jobs beginning in mid-July. Notices to employees who may be laid off are expected to go out shortly. These job cuts would come on top of a loss of nearly 9,000 employees, a 3.2 percent reduction in the state workforce, since 2008, which has been achieved through a combination of unfilled vacancies, early retirements, and layoffs.

This loss of staff has already affected the ability of state agencies to deliver essential services at a time when the economic crisis has forced ever-increasing numbers of people to rely on these services for their well-being and even survival. Furthermore, throwing nearly 10,000 additional people onto the unemployment line will have substantial repercussions not only on the workers’ families, but on the local economies of the communities where these people live.

The layoffs of state agency employees would occur at the same time as an estimated 16,000 to 18,000 public school teachers and staff across the state are expected to lose their jobs due to a combination of federal and state budget cuts.

In another effort of Cuomo’s coordinated attack on state workers, this past week the governor proposed the creation of Tier VI in the state employee pension system. This would be costlier and provide even lower benefits to newly hired workers than Tier V, which was instituted only last year under Cuomo’s predecessor, David Paterson, also a Democrat. Tier VI would raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to 65 for state workers and from 57 to 65 for teachers.

The governor is continuing his old-school divide-and-conquer strategy of seeking to pit public and private sector workers against each other. In his announcement, Cuomo states, “This bill institutes common-sense reforms to bring government benefits more in line with the private sector while still serving our employees and protecting our retirees.” The average pension of public employees is only $18,300 a year. The New York State public employee pension system is not in crisis; it is fully funded, according to a recently released Pew Center on the States report.

PEF contract details

According to the PEF’s announcement, the main points of Governor Cuomo’s contract proposal include a six-year contract (previous contracts have been for four years) with a pay freeze for the first four years, then raises of 1 and 2 percent in years 5 and 6, respectively; numerous give-backs regarding health insurance, including 10-20 percent increases in premiums for individuals and 25-35 percent for families, and increases in prescription co-pays.

Hospital outpatient co-pays could in some cases reach nearly $600. By the PEF’s calculation, Cuomo’s proposal would constitute an annual loss of up to $10,000 per employee, substantially more than what was envisioned in the enacted state budget. The members of a smaller union that represents various state police entities recently rejected a similar contract proposal by a 2-to-1 margin.

The PEF’s counterproposal includes its own mix of substantial concessions. The union claims it would meet its share of the reductions required by the state budget, but provides no estimate of their cash value. Among the proposed give-backs is a one-year wage freeze, with increases tied to inflation in the remaining three years; four furlough days and four days of deferred pay in the first year; “consideration” of changes to co-pays for medical services and prescriptions; and an increase in the vesting period for current employees to establish eligibility for retiree health insurance from 10 to 15 years. The union proposal also includes a number of work-rule and other “enhancements,” which are negligible in comparison to what it offers to give up.

Should working families accept the premise that rank-and file workers should soley pay for the budget shortfall? We think not.

Enact the Millionaire's Tax; reform New York's tax codes



END MILLIONAIRE BAILOUTS
PEF members at March 2, 2011 "We Are One" Rally
in Rochester, N.Y.  photo:  Ove Overmyer

The irony here can not be overstated.  In state after state, if our public employee unions concede, indeed embrace, the need for massive spending cuts in employment and social services to compensate for the economic crisis brought on by the rampant greed and speculation of the financial elite-- well, we are truly fighting a losing battle.

And, at the same time, our Democratic and Republican state governments’ across the nation are shamelessly and simultaneously enacting tax cuts for the wealthy-- in New York’s case, the elimination of the “millionaire’s tax” and other benefits for the very same elite. This is not "sharing the pain" and is truly reprehensible to most well-adjusted tax-paying citizens.

Workers must reject the lie that “there is no money.”  The truth is, the state has a huge budget (132.9 billion)-- we just have misplaced our priorities.  The brutal attacks on both public and private sector workers cannot be fought as individual, isolated trade union battles that leave workers open to a divide and conquer strategy.

The facts are clear-- Wall Street and our Fortune 500 companies are doing very well-- they are just not kicking in their fair share of profit revenue, paying somewhere near 6 percent of their income while middle-class folk pay twice as much percentage-wise.  Income inequality has never been greater in the U.S. since 1928.  Does that year ring a bell? 

And, most multi-national corporations that do business in New York do not pay one dime of taxes-- in fact, they get a tax give-away every April.  This is the same money that average working stiffs are responsible for generating-- and should be going to pay for our "quality of life" vital services.  Federal and state taxes have not been this low since, well-- the mid-twentieth century.

Neither concessions nor protests aimed at pressuring the political establishment will avert the deepening assault on the working class. The fight against the conspiracy between the financial elite, their political representatives in the Democratic and Republican parties and the unions can only go forward as a united, political movement through the formation of an agressive, independent committee of public and private sector workers to fight for a progressive program guaranteeing jobs, education, health care, and the other essentials of life for all workers.

-The views expressed here are that of the Voice Reporter only and do not reflect the opinion of CSEA, Inc. as an organization.