Raises snared in state fiscal vice

Raises snared in state fiscal vice
By SHERRY HALBROOK
That’s the sound of teeth grinding and jaws clenching, not the gears of government turning that you hear coming from the state Capitol.

Money in vice

No state budget agreement is in sight as this issue of The Communicator goes to press in late April. The governor is holding PEF members’ 2010 pay raises hostage until a budget is enacted, and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli warns the state’s cash flow could run dry in June.

“We ask PEF members to call and e-mail their legislators and urge them to resolve this budget crisis,” said PEF President Ken Brynien. “We have posted on our website a list of recommendations, including reduced dependence on consultants, for how the state can save money and help close the budget gap.”

Withholding the employees’ raises that should have begun in April is not the answer, Brynien said. “That violates our contract, and we will take every action necessary to ensure our members get their negotiated raises.”
members rally at the State Capitol in March to save correctional facilities

members rally at the State Capitol in March to save correctional facilities

Brynien met with the governor in early April to urge better budget solutions, and testified before a state Senate committee reviewing fiscal efficiency at the state Department of Correctional Services (DOCS), which would close several correctional facilities under the governor’s budget proposal.

Considerable savings could be achieved just by improving staffing at this one agency, Brynien told the senators.

“DOCS has taken a meat-cleaver approach to achieve the needed savings, while ignoring the long-term savings that can be achieved by appropriately staffing program areas,” Brynien said.

“Inmates earning a high school degree or successfully completing a substance abuse program in prison have significantly lower recidivism rates than those who don’t complete these programs. Yet program staff was reduced by 140 positions during the current fiscal year, and more than 30 percent of DOCS’ authorized program and health-service positions are vacant. Reducing recidivism by just 5 percent could reduce the number of inmates returning to prison by 1,400, and save taxpayers $42 million.”

Brynien said full staffing could save DOCS and other state agencies millions of dollars in overtime costs.

“According to the state Department of Labor, DOCS is the worst offender under the new law restricting mandatory overtime for nurses,” Brynien said. “Currently, DOCS has 139 nursing vacancies.”

Brynien and many PEF leaders talked with state legislators about the budget at this annual Somos El Futuro hispanic legislators’ conference.
TV AD

Phase 2 of PEF’s advertising campaign on the budget kicked off April 5. Phase 1 ran in the first two weeks of March.

Phase 2 also ran two weeks and included television, radio, print and Web advertising to educate the public and legislative leaders on the importance of making wise budget choices.

The ads featured a “Mad Scientist” character declaring, “It’s not rocket science. Cut the waste, not the workers!”

The ads ran on broadcast and cable television statewide and on radio in the Albany and New York City markets. Print ads ran in nine newspapers throughout the state and were supported by ads on six newspaper websites including those of The New York Times, New York Post and NY Daily News.

This time, PEF also used an “illustrated” truck or mobile billboard that traveled throughout the Capital District for three days encased in the rocket science ad.

If you missed them, they’re available on the PEF website at www.pef.org.

“While the ads sound a humorous note, PEF recognizes all too well the seriousness of the current economic crisis,” Brynien said. “The governor’s budget has the potential to seriously affect services on which New Yorkers rely.

“In fact, withholding the 4 percent raises poses an additional serious threat to many of New York’s struggling local economies. In the Capital District alone, which is home to about 27 percent of the state work force, loss of the raises for a year would take more than $275 million out of the economy and the ripple effect could cost more than 7,300 local jobs. That’s just one community. The sooner the raises are restored, the sooner we all will benefit.”

Rank and file PEF members pitched in with hundreds of letters to legislators and letters to local newspapers.

To add your voice to such efforts, go online to the PEF Action Center on the PEF website.