"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 22:42:03 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

New York public employers have been hiding behind the Taylor Law for
generations, using it as an excuse to avoid negotiating in good faith.

========================================

And New York public employee union members have some of the best
retirement and medical benefits that you have ever seen. These jobs
are so popular that there are something like 100 applicants for every
position that opens up. It is costing the state and local government
a fortune, to the point that people and businesses are leaving because
of the high taxes. Businesses are also tired of being held hostage
every time one of these contracts comes up for negotiation.


I'm familiar with the fringe package of some New York municipal and state
employees. It's decent, but no more than any worker should have for
offering up his or her labors over a lifetime of employment.

I had a delightful time with the Taylor Law in NYS some 30+ years ago,
since it was part of my job at the time to provide technical assistance
(not legal assistance) to local teachers' unions during labor
negotiations. One summer we had more than 50 local strikes set to go right
after Labor Day, all based on the refusal, despite the provisions of the
Taylor Law, of school boards to negotiate in good faith. I forgot how many
of the strikes actually happened, but the number was large enough to teach
the school boards that classroom teachers outside of New York City finally
found their cojones.

Yours truly got fined $50,000 for criminal contempt of court as a result
of activities connected with a teachers' strike. The union bailed me out
later that day, and in the end the judge rescinded his order and returned
the fine money.

The problems of that era remain. The law requires good-faith bargaining,
but there is no penalty if the employer refuses to negotiate in good
faith. There's a 2-for-1 penalty if the workers strike. Thus, there is no
balance.

At that time, some of us were recommending manadatory binding arbitration
as a peaceful way to settle negotiating deadlocks.

Here's an interesting tidbit of info:

As you were typing this, I was treating a patient who I just found out is
one of the current Executive Council Members of the AFL-CIO. In fact, he's
the current President of a national union that has more than a million
members.

I recognized his face and name, but couldn't quite place it. A quick google
search made me realize who he was.

He has a home in Naples, but lists his primary home in one of the "blue
states" not far from you.

If I had recognized him when he was in here, we could have had a very
interesting discussion on the current NYC transit strike, since I had a 30
minute gap in my schedule at the end of his appointment. Oh well. A missed
opportunity. :-(