February 28, 2011
By Bob McCarthy
There may be nobody in New York State more focused on faraway Wisconsin these days than County Executive Chris Collins.
That’s because if ever two political leaders were more simpatico in dealing with municipal unions, it would be Collins and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
“What they’re doing is potentially revolutionary,” Collins said of Wisconsin last week. “It’s what taxpayers are demanding, and it’s what we’re sure not delivering in New York State.”
Like Walker, Collins was elected on promises of new and tough dealings with municipal unions. And like Walker, he takes a hard line in contract negotiations that he believes are revolutionary in their own right. That includes offers to the county’s four top unions featuring givebacks on summer hours, loss of retiree health insurance for new hires and health insurance contributions for new hires.
In return, for the two unions that accepted his offer (two others overwhelmingly turned thumbs down), 3 percent pay hikes were reflected in their checks.
“This is not about take-home pay,” he said, “but benefits that are unaffordable, unsustainable and unavailable for the people who pay for them.”
Management, Collins and Walker both say, should “take control” of such matters — leaving wages to the bargaining table.
Walker takes it further—demanding an end to collective bargaining. And Collins agrees.
“Gov. Walker recognizes you just can’t negotiate these things,” he said. “These people are in denial. They want to go back to ‘Leave it to Beaver’ days. I’m sorry. Those days are gone.”
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo talks about the same things. But this is New York, where the Triborough Amendment allows contracts to continue in effect after their lapse.
Still, when you come right down to it, Cuomo will fix his $10 billion deficit because the state Constitution says he must. And he will do it without nixing collective bargaining.
While Cuomo’s stance is gaining generally good reviews even from conservatives, Collins is far from satisfied. He thinks the same situation will result from the same cause next year.
“Instead of basic reform of Medicaid or repeal of binding arbitration and Triborough,” the county executive said, “he’s talking about new taxes on hospitals and cuts in education. There’s a lot of rhetoric, but as we go through that budget, it’s loaded with cost sharing.”
But doesn’t the Walker approach amount to good, old-fashioned union busting, County Executive Collins?
Municipalities don’t go out of business or move away, Collins counters, they simply raise taxes to cover costs. Then he adds a favorite argument — that all of this is codified into law by politicians dependent on municipal unions for contributions.
But once again, is it union busting? “I support what the governor is doing,” the county executive answered. “Frankly, in the real world, there is no other way.”
This is all especially pertinent as Republican Collins seeks re-election in a part of the world that’s not only heavily Democratic but still unionized. This is the same Erie County that liked his message in 2007, but seems to like Cuomo, too.
Collins will tell voters this fall that he did what he said he would do as he runs a 2011 campaign of “promises made, promises kept.” It will now prove interesting in this election year if he still dwells on ideas like ending collective bargaining.
If he is successful in Democratic and unionized Erie County, the bet here is that he would like to try the same ideas in Democratic and unionized New York State.
And the bet is also that he believes the best venue for that venture just might be that big house on Albany’s Eagle Street.