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Suffolk Leg. OKs layoffs
Largest union makes concessions to save jobs
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April 30, 2009 | 01:37 PM
The Suffolk Legislature Tuesday authorized the county executive to lay off over 20 employees as part of his plan to counteract a projected $117 million 2009 deficit.
With sales tax revenue falling in the recession, County Executive Steve Levy had called on Suffolk's unions to collectively agree to $30 million worth of concessions or face up to 347 layoffs. An agreement reached Monday with leadership of the Association of Municipal Employees, the county's largest union, to institute a two-week payroll lag on its members protects them from layoffs this year and generates over $13 million toward fighting the county's deficit. Levy had previously struck a similar agreement with the correction officers union.
While Levy is now authorized to eliminate 67 positions, only 23 of them are currently filled, according to Presiding Officer Bill Lindsay (D-Holbrook) spokeswoman Kara Hahn. With AME workers protected, the brunt of layoffs will fall on the probation officers, who stand to lose around 15 currently filled positions, Hahn said. Other unions that have yet to agree to a payroll lag include those representing Suffolk police, superior officers, detective investigators, parks police and deputy sheriffs. While no police positions were included on the layoff list, the county executive is still seeking to negotiate concessions from the Police Benevolent Association, according to Levy spokesman Mark Smith.
"Employee costs are one of the largest percentages of our budget, and we cannot attain structural budget reform without addressing this area," Levy stated in an April 20 release. However, he added, "No layoffs will occur in any bargaining unit that agrees to the rational concessions on the table." The county would save $26 million in 2009 if all unions agreed to the payroll lag, according to Levy.
Four of the 18 legislators voted against the layoffs, but seven would have been required to defeat the measure because it required a two-thirds majority to pass, as it was altered at the last minute after the AME agreement and skipped the committee phase.
Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-East Setauket) said she opposed using a layoff list as a "heavy handed" intimidation technique to force concessions from employee unions. The presidents of the probation officers and detectives' unions "have been working in good faith and working very hard" to broker a concession deal to spare their members, Viloria-Fisher said, adding, "therefore I see no need to keep this threat over their heads." The legislator said she believes the two units will reach an agreement with Levy.
"I really believe we need to bring people to the table without causing the kind of panic the layoff list caused," Viloria-Fisher said.
But the tactic is not unique to Suffolk, countered Levy spokesman Mark Smith. Nassau, for example, brought unions to the bargaining table by threatening layoffs as well as a 7 percent pay cut, he said. If the county waited until the bargaining units made concessions of their own accord "ultimately the taxpayer would end up facing a large tax increase because the unions would run out the clock," Smith argued.
The unprotected unions still have time to reach an agreement to stave off layoffs, Smith said Monday. In a week, the Levy administration will mail workers notices of their potential layoff 60 days in advance of actually eliminating the jobs. In the meanwhile, "we're continuing to talk with those units," Smith said.
A payroll lag would gradually postpone the biweekly payday until an entire two weeks had been excised from the county's payroll for 2009. But workers may stand to gain in the long run: Each employee would recoup their lost weeks' salary when they leave county employment, and at their final rate of pay. All nonunion county employees will also participate in the payroll lag; while legislators are not included, Viloria-Fisher requested Wednesday to participate in the payroll lag "in solidarity with county workers," according to a release from her office.
The AME also agreed to reduce meal stipends during overtime shifts for six months, Newsday reported Tuesday. Levy's spokesman would not confirm this report, declining to comment on specifics of the deal until AME had formally agreed to the concessions. The union board is expected to "finally codify" the agreement Friday, Smith said.
The potential elimination of 16 correction officer positions was taken off the table when the county Correction Officers Association agreed to make the unit's "proportional share of concessions" two weeks ago, according to a Levy release.
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