Addabbo Given TWU Nod, Urges Taylor Law Reform; Toussaint: He Carries Through

City Council Civil Service and Labor Committee Chair Joseph P. Addabbo Oct. 27 picked up the endorsement of Transport Workers Union Local 100 in a final push to gather enough labor support to unseat longtime Queens State Sen. Serphin Maltese.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow JOE THE UNION-BOOSTER: Councilman Joseph P. Addabbo promised to make the Taylor Law more worker-friendly if elected to the State Senate while receiving Transport Workers Union Local 100's endorsement last week. Flanking him are Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, left, and State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith.

The day this newspaper hit the stands Nov. 4, the two candidates put their campaigns in the hands of voters in a race that could tip the balance in Albany to full Democratic control by giving the party a majority in the upper house of the State Legislature.

Councilman Addabbo's campaign has focused on reforming the Taylor Law, which he calls an employer-friendly law that bars public-sector work stoppages and carries Draconian penalties for those who break it.

SERPHIN MALTESE: Also has strong labor support.

 

 

 

 

TWU Still Suffering

Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, whose union is still feeling the sting of ongoing Taylor Law punishment for its 2005 strike, gathered with his members under the elevated Fresh Pond Rd. station platform on the M line in Queens to offer support.

"We have watched Joe work over a number of years in the City Council, diligently on behalf of labor and the communities," Mr. Toussaint said. "He's a hard worker, shows up for meetings; this can't be said of some others. And he carries through, and it's time that this district gets someone in the Senate that carries through and shows up."

Local 100 was fined $2.5 million and Mr. Toussaint was imprisoned for leading the three-day walkout. The union also lost dues check-off in June of 2007. Two courts have since ruled that to have dues automatically deducted from members' checks again, Local 100 must vow never to strike, a condition Mr. Toussaint has refused to accept, citing the union's First Amendment rights. As many as half of the affected members are now in bad standing for allegedly failing to stay current with their dues payments, draining the union's treasury.

Mr. Addabbo saw this as a raw deal, calling the extended loss of dues rights a "whip" on the backs of workers. He has promised to seek revised language that put more pressure on employers to negotiate timely contracts rather than force workers to work under expired wage pact terms while talks drag on. Last week, he faulted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for refusing to budge on issues such as health-care contributions in 2005, with Local 100 ultimately forced to agree to have members contribute 1.5 percent of their earnings toward their health coverage.

'Taylor Law Didn't Work'

"I think it was evident during the problems that Roger was having for his members during that time that the Taylor Law didn't work," Mr. Addabbo said. "His workers were out there working, and without any negotiations going on. His workers are dedicated; it showed no good faith on the other side."

He added that his amendment would be crafted "to make people keep working under the understanding and they have faith that the process is going forward in negotiating a fair contract. These workers represent all that's wrong with the Taylor Law."

Mr. Addabbo suggested that Local 100 could work with him if elected on the specifics of reforming the law.

Toussaint: Must Balance Scales

"There is no question that the Taylor Law represents an uneven playing field that places all the burdens and punishments on unions and on labor and no obligations on the other side, on the employers and municipal authorities," Mr. Toussaint said. "We need a more-balanced law that carries at least equal burdens on both sides to negotiate in good faith."

The endorsement was substantive as well as rhetorical, as 1,700 of Local 100's 38,000 members reside in the contested 15th State Senate District of Queens.

As the Civil Service and Labor chair, Mr. Addabbo has banked on labor support to defeat Mr. Maltese, who has represented the district since 1988. Mr. Addabbo has several endorsements from private- and public-sector unions, including two locals of the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Communications Workers of America. He also has the nod from the Hotel Trades Council, which includes locals from various international unions, and two District Council 37 affiliates — Locals 375 and 983 — even though DC 37 supports the incumbent.

Cop, Fire Unions Favor Maltese

Mr. Maltese has boasted of his support from private- and public-sector labor in the past and present, as well as his contribution to labor-backed legislation. He has said that despite his conservatism he recognizes the value of unions for his constituents, many of whom are working class. The NYPD and FDNY unions are among his supporters, and Detectives Endowment Association Legislative Director Lou Matarazzo cited Senator Maltese's continued support for cost-of-living adjustments for line-of-duty police widows and widowers.

"We're not going to be critical of Joe Addabbo," he said. "We just think [Senator Maltese is] the better candidate."

Civil Service Employees Association spokesman Stephen Madarasz said that his union has benefited from decades of Republican control of the State Senate.

"It's not about the party affiliation," he insisted, but added the Senator Maltese was able to push CSEA-backed bills with the help of a party majority.

'Free Choice,' Reclassifier Stands

In the last year Mr. Addabbo has curried favor with private-sector unions by pushing a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to form unions more easily. He also drew applause from union members and leaders during a hearing in June when he questioned a portion of a plan by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to reduce provisionals by holding more civil service exams that would shift titles from the Competitive Class to the Non-Competitive Class, a move many unions opposed.

With the Republicans holding a slim majority in the State Senate, unseating Mr. Maltese could help give control of both legislative houses in Albany to the Democrats.

The contest is considered the closest for Senate in the city, and for that reason, veteran political consultant George Arzt said, "There's such a huge amount of resources going into that race, on both sides."

May Ride Obama Coattails

And where earlier in the month he predicted Mr. Maltese would hold off his Democratic challenger, Mr. Arzt said Oct. 28 that there was no way to predict a winner, and that a strong turnout for Barack Obama in the district might carry Mr. Addabbo to victory.

Edmund J. McMahon of the conservative Manhattan Institute in a phone interview disagreed sharply with Mr. Addabbo's assessment of the Taylor Law, saying that it ensured that unions had binding contracts even through fiscal crises, leaving employers unable to renegotiate the wage terms in order to save money. He noted that no union besides Local 100 in the past two decades had conducted strikes, which he said was evidence that the Taylor Law worked well for workers.

"He's encouraging them in their belief that the Taylor Law is unfair to them?" he said of Mr. Addabbo's assurances to Local 100. "That's really something."

Mr. McMahon feared that if Mr. Addabbo was able to reform the Taylor Law, it would be a determent to state and city financing.

'Taxpayers Will Foot Bill'

"The budget gap on the city and state level and in the MTA will be even larger," he said. "The immediate impact is the added cost of billions of dollars. New Yorkers will have to pay for that."

Mr. Addabbo was confident that other State Senators would join in his effort to restructure the state labor law if he was elected, especially if there was a Democratic majority.

"I think it's an easy sell," he said.