Hundreds of union workers braved the rain May 16 for a rally on the steps of the Nassau County legislative building in Mineola to send a message to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano – do not balance the budget on the back of county workers.
“You can’t expect your workforce to keep solving your problems for you,” said Jerry Laricchiuta, president of CSEA Local 830, whose 10,000 members include county workers and Nassau Health Care Corporation staff.
The Nassau County Interim Finance Authority took over county finances in January after finding Nassau has a $176 million deficit. In March, after declaring a fiscal emergency NIFA imposed a wage freeze on county employees.
A financial plan to NIFA from Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano included $50 million in personnel savings that include layoffs, elimination of vacant positions, and 13 furlough days.
“CSEA has an opportunity to negotiate concessions to protect their membership and our taxpayers,” Mangano said in a statement. “If they refuse, I will lay off workers to protect homeowners from a double-digit property tax increase.”
Laricchiuta said Mangano was offered a deal that would have saved the county at least $70 million in personnel costs over five years.
“It’s disingenuous to say the union isn’t here to help,” Laricchiuta said. “We are taxpayers. Our members get it.”
He said Mangano wants $60 million in savings from unions, including $30 million from the CSEA Local 830.
“This is a song we’ve been dancing to since 2008,” said CSEA Region 1 president Nicholas LaMorte, who represents 50,000 union workers in Nassau and Suffolk counties. “Everything that we were promised under [former Nassau County Executive] Tom Suozzi is not happening.”
As a result, he said the CSEA position statewide is no concession bargaining.
“In order to [save] $30 million this year, we’d have to layoff 900 workers,” Laricchiuta said. “It’s impossible.”
If people like Louisa Fochetta and Susan Kamen do not go to work, nobody in the county would get their assistance check. Both work in accounting for the Nassau County Dept. of Social Services.
“[Politicians] don’t care about the little person making $40,000 or $50,000 a year,” Fochetta said.
She said last year the county spent millions in the transition from a paper to punch clock payroll system.
“It changed nothing,” she said. “It wasn’t necessary. It’s too expensive. Now they want to spend $400 million on the coliseum project? Politicians do whatever they want.”
Kamen asked, “What about the two aides Mangano just hired for $150,000? Where is he getting the money from?”
As an auditor with the county comptroller’s office, Larry Paster said he recognizes that the county is in bad fiscal shape. But before county officials impose more layoffs, he wants a line by line review of the budget.
“They come to county employees to solve their fiscal problems,” said 911 operator Michael Spae. “I am here today at the rally to speak to our elected officials to let them know they can’t keep working against us every time the county find itself in a position that is generally due to mismanagement.”
More than 50 Teamsters showed up in solidarity, said Nelson Nunez, an organizer with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1205, which represents clerical and lumber workers, truck driers, and 1,500 newly organized school bus drivers.
Also showing their support by participating in the rally were members of the Transit Workers Union, NYSUT, and all of the CSEA locals.
