State Worker Unions Remain a Force

By Karen DeWitt

Albany, New York – Labor unions in the United States have suffered in recent decades, as their membership and influence has declined. Here in New York, though, state employee labor unions are going strong, winning several key battles in the most recent budget cycle.

The state's Civil Service Employees Association, which has the most members of any state worker union, is celebrating its 100th year this year.

Formed in a time of corruption, Tammany Hall was in it's ascendancy, the original intent of the union was to provide a civil service, merit based system of hiring to counteract the rampant patronage in state government.

100 years later, in a time when state government has had more than it's share of corruption, Steve Madarasz, the long time spokesman for CSEA, says the union seems stronger than ever, but he says, with the sever fiscal crisis, "the stakes have never been greater".

When workers in other sectors were taking pay cuts and facing lay offs, state worker unions successfully fought off Governor David Paterson's attempts to delay a scheduled 4% pay raise, and to impose five furlough days on workers, despite amore than $9 billion dollar budget deficit. The unions took Paterson to court and won.

The governor holds a different view of the union's victories. He's said the union leaders are being selfish. And he's said the inevitable result of their wins in court will be lay offs, of possibly thousands of workers.

"Some unfortunate people who don't deserve it are going to get laid off, and it burns me," Paterson said earlier this summer. "We didn't get any cooperation from the unions."

Private sector workers, who have given up many benefits, and forgone raises in recent years, are also often resentful of union members. Madarasz says they are looking at it backwards.

"More workers would do better if they had unions representing them," said Madarasz.

The state budget is still calling for $250 million dollars in workforce savings. Paterson and his budget officials believe that a new early retirement program, with nearly 5000 workers signed up, won't generate enough to meet that goal, and later this fall they will likely proceed with lay off plans.

The governor signed a memo, though, last year with unions saying he would not impose lay offs in 2010, after union leaders agreed to a new pension tier for new employees that offers fewer benefits. Madarasz says the unions would likely go to court, if Paterson tired to break that agreement.

If you start breaking contracts, then nothing is sacred," he said.

No such pact restrains the new governor, who will take over in January.

Another powerful asset of the state worker unions is their ability to help political candidates. Union volunteers staff phone banks and distribute campaign literature door to door. In the past, candidates for governor have sought out the unions for their endorsement. This year, though, with the frontrunner Democrat Andrew Cuomo running as a fiscal conservative, and talking about a swage freeze for state workers, and Republican candidates openly calling for state cut backs, CSEA has not endorsed anyone.

The other major state worker union, the Public Employees Federation, has endorsed Cuomo. PEF President Ken Brynien, at the time, said while his union may not agree with all of the Attorney General's ideas, they want a seat at the table.

"The state ship has been drifting aimlessly," Brynien said at the time.

Madarasz, with CSEA, says if the unions are treated with respect by the next governor, then the union leaders will reciprocate. But he has a warning for whomever becomes the next governor, who will be facing an 48 billion dollar structural deficit. He says be ready for a spirited battle.

"When you're trying to take us on, we're going to fight as fiercely as need be," said Madarasz, who says in the century- long history of the union, they've seen "governors come and go".

Before that happens, the state worker unions will likely have at least one final fight over the proposed lay offs with outgoing Governor Paterson.