The cold and wind didn’t stop nearly 200 New York state workers from holding a candlelight vigil last Wednesday, Dec. 29, to lament close to 900 people losing their jobs.
As one of the many demonstrations both the Civil Service Employees Association and Public Employees Federation have held, the event at West Capital Park was meant to mourn the loss of the 898 state employees former Gov. David A. Paterson told they would have to return to job hunting two weeks before Christmas in an effort to help the cash-strapped state of New York.
The sad part is that this is sad commentary and this is also the end for those 900 people that are being laid off for nothing more than the governor’s viciousness, said CSEA PresidentDanny Donohue. `The only saving grace is he [Paterson] is not going to be here. We hope that the new governor gets the message that public workers are valuable and necessary. And if he wants to come and work with us, we want to work with him.`
While Donohue and PEF President Kenneth Brynien expressed a positive outlook on their working relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the newly elected executive has already promised during his inauguration that the layoffs will occur.
Some public employees were not so optimistic, as they said Cuomo would most likely just follow in his father’s footsteps.
`I’m not very hopeful at all,` Tracy Carnavale, president of local CSEA 660 in Albany Office of General Services said. `I think he’s going to be laying-off a lot of people, I think the numbers are going to increase and I think that’s what his mission is. I hope I’m wrong on that one.`
Brynien disagreed, and said the unions have and will always fight with the current governor but added that the only way negotiations will work is if the other party will listen and consider the unions’ options.
`He [Cuomo] says he wants to reduce waste and he says he wants to partner with the stakeholders to get that done,` he said. `Well, we’re some of those stakeholders, we’ve been here and we see the waste in our offices every day. So if you just ask us, we’ll share that knowledge with him so he can make an informed decision.`
Carnavale, a Colonie resident, said there were several options sent to Paterson as cost cutting measures, such as getting rid of outside consultants, but said that the governor was not willing to negotiate.
`He’s just in for union-busting,` he said. `It’s not a cost thing with him.`
The former governor, however, did offer other options besides the layoffs, such as a lag in pay, where workers would still receive the money when they left, and a delay in bonuses. Serious opposition came when Paterson suggested a one-day- a-week furlough in April, but CSEA and PEF were able to block the act in federal court.
Marty Lahait, Vice president of local Albany CSEA 660 OGS, said the average state worker only makes around $40,000 a year with a $20,000 pension, nothing like the six figures earned by some of those who work in the governor’s office.
`The people he [Paterson] shouldn’t get rid of are the state employees, he should be getting rid of the political appointees,` he said. `We are the workforce, we run the state of New York and we’re the ones being targeted by the politicians.`
Now with negotiations for renewing contracts with union members approaching, Donohue said that people would have to face reality, adding that unions have been able to find alternatives to layoffs over the years.
`We’ve always been able to find another way because we can negotiate with them [past governors], this governor [Paterson] never gave us that chance,` he said. `We hope that when Andrew [Cuomo] gets inaugurated and becomes the governor that he realizes he’s the governor and that he not only has to work with the legislature but that he also has to work with us.“