June 11, 2009

Permitting employee strikes

The fate of several proposals by Senate Democrats to gut the anti-strike provisions of the Taylor Law may now depend on the outcome of the internal battle for control of the state Senate.

The bills in question are:

• S4357, sponsored by Senator Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, which would permit strikes if the collective bargaining process has been "completely utilized and exhausted". According to the bill memo:

  Individuals in a free nation will not work under terms and conditions which they find to be intolerable. Granting a right to strike adds a degree of flexibility that is sorely needed in the Taylor Law.

  As to "fiscal implications," the bill memo says "none". Kruger, who was--or is--the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, may have forgotten the 2005 New York City transit strike that paralyzed the city for two-and-a-half days, causing hundreds of millions of dollars of economic damage in the midst of the Christmas shopping season.

• S4440, also sponsored by Kruger, which would repeal the Taylor Law's 2-for-1 penalty (a loss of two days pay for every day on strike) for workers who violate the statute.

• S3892,sponsored by Sen. Diane Savino, which would require taxpayers to partially refund union dues whose collection is suspended in response to a strike.
  
  The bill says the employer could be forced to pay 50 percent of any lost dues if the Public Employment Relations Board later determined the strike was caused by "acts of extreme provocation" by the employer.

  The bill was first introduced in 2006, a few months after strike by the Transport Workers Union; it has also been introduced in the Assembly (A5858, sponsored by Asssemblyman Adriano Espaillat).

After the strike, the TWU narrowly defeated a proposed contract. Union members approved it in a second vote, but the MTA said the contract was no longer on the table. The contract dispute was resolved by binding arbitration.

The bill would allow unions to call another ratification vote on a contract that members previously defeated. The measure applies only to New York City so it might not affect a future TWU vote, because the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is a state agency.

Posted by Lise Bang-Jensen

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