Post by onthejob on Oct 17, 2011 22:13:27 GMT -5
Mangano union proposal is window dressing
October 17, 2011 by JOYE BROWN / joye.brown@newsday.com
Nassau County legislators should save time and pointless debate by calling up legislation that would force union concessions and defeat it. It's just one more detour away from where the debate ought to be -- on the seriousness of Nassau's financial condition. A similar proposal put forth last year by County Executive Edward Mangano never got out of the legislature.
But instead, the legislature is going to offer amendments to Mangano's flawed 2012 budget proposal -- and, probably after Election Day, deal with Mangano's Taxpayer Relief Act.
Mangano says the bill will allow him to reopen contracts so he can get millions of dollars in union concessions.
But the proposed legislation -- according to every labor expert I've asked -- will do no such thing. It's window dressing, like much of this year's debate over Nassau's shaky finances.
For two years, Mangano has pushed hard against county unions, with no success.
Monday those unions -- joined by thousands of union members from Suffolk, Albany, New York City and other areas -- pushed back.
More than 2,000 members rallied outside the executive and legislative building in Mineola. Language from the podium was mostly defiant and, a couple of times, salty.
The sea of workers wearing red, white and blue T-shirts roared their approval as speaker after speaker exhorted them to stand behind Nassau's union workers.
It was the first time in memory that public and private unions stood together in Nassau -- although John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor, an umbrella group for many private-sector unions, said he let Mangano know last year that the eyes of state union members were upon him.
Mangano's response to the rally came in a statement telling local unions in the headline to "get your butts to the negotiation table."
And so an extraordinary day in Nassau ended pretty much as it began, with Mangano and local union leadership at loggerheads.
Something's got to give -- soon.
Several weeks ago, County Comptroller George Maragos sent a letter to Mangano and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state panel that controls county finances, begging for someone to step forward and deal with the county's deteriorating position.
Absent any progress -- between Mangano and county unions, or Mangano and NIFA -- here's what Nassau residents can expect, according to Maragos.
Worst case scenario I: Nassau runs out of cash late this year or early in the next. Maragos is so concerned that he's asked the county to build up its cash reserves. However, Maragos noted that a projected multimillion dollar deficit for the end of 2011 also could wipe out what little cash reserve the county has left.
Worst case scenario II: The legislature tinkers, but passes Mangano's budget with all of its assumptions of union concession savings. But NIFA rejects the spending plan, raising the possibility that the county has no NIFA-approved budget in place by Jan. 1.
If that happens, Maragos said, Nassau government would have to shut down, because there would be no appropriations to fund operations.
"We're heading into uncharted territory here," Maragos warned during an interview Monday. "Nassau and NIFA need to work together. Nassau and unions need to work together."
Wall Street rating agencies are watching too. Nassau's rating hit near-junk bond status a decade ago. No one -- Nassau, NIFA, unions and, especially, residents -- wants to head that way again.
October 17, 2011 by JOYE BROWN / joye.brown@newsday.com
Nassau County legislators should save time and pointless debate by calling up legislation that would force union concessions and defeat it. It's just one more detour away from where the debate ought to be -- on the seriousness of Nassau's financial condition. A similar proposal put forth last year by County Executive Edward Mangano never got out of the legislature.
But instead, the legislature is going to offer amendments to Mangano's flawed 2012 budget proposal -- and, probably after Election Day, deal with Mangano's Taxpayer Relief Act.
Mangano says the bill will allow him to reopen contracts so he can get millions of dollars in union concessions.
But the proposed legislation -- according to every labor expert I've asked -- will do no such thing. It's window dressing, like much of this year's debate over Nassau's shaky finances.
For two years, Mangano has pushed hard against county unions, with no success.
Monday those unions -- joined by thousands of union members from Suffolk, Albany, New York City and other areas -- pushed back.
More than 2,000 members rallied outside the executive and legislative building in Mineola. Language from the podium was mostly defiant and, a couple of times, salty.
The sea of workers wearing red, white and blue T-shirts roared their approval as speaker after speaker exhorted them to stand behind Nassau's union workers.
It was the first time in memory that public and private unions stood together in Nassau -- although John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor, an umbrella group for many private-sector unions, said he let Mangano know last year that the eyes of state union members were upon him.
Mangano's response to the rally came in a statement telling local unions in the headline to "get your butts to the negotiation table."
And so an extraordinary day in Nassau ended pretty much as it began, with Mangano and local union leadership at loggerheads.
Something's got to give -- soon.
Several weeks ago, County Comptroller George Maragos sent a letter to Mangano and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state panel that controls county finances, begging for someone to step forward and deal with the county's deteriorating position.
Absent any progress -- between Mangano and county unions, or Mangano and NIFA -- here's what Nassau residents can expect, according to Maragos.
Worst case scenario I: Nassau runs out of cash late this year or early in the next. Maragos is so concerned that he's asked the county to build up its cash reserves. However, Maragos noted that a projected multimillion dollar deficit for the end of 2011 also could wipe out what little cash reserve the county has left.
Worst case scenario II: The legislature tinkers, but passes Mangano's budget with all of its assumptions of union concession savings. But NIFA rejects the spending plan, raising the possibility that the county has no NIFA-approved budget in place by Jan. 1.
If that happens, Maragos said, Nassau government would have to shut down, because there would be no appropriations to fund operations.
"We're heading into uncharted territory here," Maragos warned during an interview Monday. "Nassau and NIFA need to work together. Nassau and unions need to work together."
Wall Street rating agencies are watching too. Nassau's rating hit near-junk bond status a decade ago. No one -- Nassau, NIFA, unions and, especially, residents -- wants to head that way again.
