Triborough Amendment Repeal Campaign

Opponents of the Triborough Amendment, the provision that discourages good-faith bargaining by public employee unions, have a standard barrier in Assemblyman Robert Caselli, who has introduced legislation (A08115) to suspend the law for two years.

Caselli has also introduced legislation to identify and quantify state mandates that drive up the cost of local government, arguing there is little transparency in this area.

Caselli represents the 89th Assembly District (Westchester County).

Poll Question on School Drop-Out Age

In the State of the Union address Pres. Obama suggested states raise the school drop out age to 18. This week the Empire Page Poll Question of the Week asks you whether you agree with the President on this issue.

Pension Reform

Last week we asked people to grade Gov. Cuomo on his pension reform plan. That question drew the largest participation in any poll question ever offered on the Empire Page — nearly 5,000 people voted. The results? 84% gave the governor a failing grade of F; 5% an A, 3% a B and 8% a C.

We thank everyone who participated in that poll and urge them to vote this week as well.

From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy My Employer

If the “99%” can feel justified in taking property away from the “1%” on the grounds of fairness, then why can’t workers take a bigger share of a company’s revenue on the same basis? That’s the logic behind a campaign launched by CWA 1199 against Cablevision. Why do Cablevision’s employees need a union according to 1199? Because a former company COO earned more than twice as much as his employees.

Fairness as a determinant of a person’s pay level is also behind the drive to raise New York State’s minimum wage and behind living wage legislation on the agenda in New York City and elsewhere.

The fairness doctrine is predicated on the notion that one’s pay should be more a matter of want than one’s contribution to the enterprise in which one is employed.

Hence, performance as a basis for rewards of pay and status should be downgraded because that criteria undermines the opportunity for those who do not perform well to get their fair share.

Further the ability of the enterprise to pay — whether public or private — should not be considered when it comes to compensation of the work force. Such considerations undermine the ability of those who are unproducitve to gain their fair share.

Let’s be clear that fairness is a subjective value. In the past fairness was balanced against the need of the enterprise to be successful and survive (either make a profit or do the job with available resources). Today, there’s an underlying assumption that no company or government entity is paying its workers a fair wage. Rather, they are hoarding their resources and giving them to the 1%.

A company that pays its workers above the value of the contribution they add to the product or service will not long remain in business. The history of the American car industry is about that very issue. By giving in to union wage and benefit demands, GM, Ford and Chrysler had to charge so much for their cars that they opened the door to foreign manufacturers which were able to sell a superior product at a lower price even when the cost of shipping foreign made cars to the US was taken into account.

The history of the public sector over the past 40 years parallels that of the automobile industry. Elected officials gave in to union demands without consideration of the ability of taxpayers to foot the bill, often by ignoring the future pension obligations they were agreeing to. That lack of political courage has harmed both public sector employees and the general public, as it contributed to the belief that public sector employees are overpaid and underworked relative to private sector workers.

Let’s not waste our time debating whether fairness as a basis of compensation is socialistic or communistic. Labels are not important. What’s important is to recognize the long-term implications of undermining ambition and achievement.

Taken to its logical conclusion doing well in school and working hard in order to obtain a job that gives one decision-making authority and pays well should be discouraged. Why? Those values place the successful individual above the norm and undermine the ability of those who are below average to get their fair share.

Like pay, school grades should not be given out on the basis of performance but rather on the basis of want. Minority and handicapped students have a greater want of good grades since many come from low-income households and enter school with “unfair” disadvantages. Since they will not need to learn skills or work-world values in order to get a fair wage why require that they master subjects or compete with other students!

Grades, jobs and compensation should not be based on merit or performance but rather want — the measure of fairness.

Since the majority in any country skew to the average, the tendency of democractic societies is to elect officials who are in favor of policies that focus on results rather than contribution, on rewards rather than worth, on outcomes rather than effort.

The question we must ask ourselves is will that kind of society be able to compete against those that reward success based on enterprise, competition and equal opportunity and that provide a model for young people justifying effort and ambition? We only need to read the daily accounts of the problems facing Europe to gain a hint of the answer.

If that’s where this country is headed, is such an outcome the kind of fairness we owe future generations?

School Mergers Work

Need evidence that merging school districts can be done with benefit to the taxpayers and students? Read today’s story in the Auburn Citizen “Union Springs, Port Byron merger working“.

To stay on top of school mergers, local government sharing, local elections and all the local government news around NYS, subscribe to the Empire Page. The cost is less than a quarter a day.

Free trial subs are available at https://www.empirepage.com/subscribe.

Education Merger Cold Feet

School district officials — elected and appointed — who have cold feet about considering merging with neighboring districts might consider the discussion taking place in Maryland. The State Legislature is considering merging the University of Maryland with the University of Baltimore. The reasons are the same ones that should propel school districts mergers in New York state — the ability to offer students more choices, cost savings by eliminating inefficient use of capital equipment — from buses to copy machines, better use of personnel and the ability to devote resources to education which are now wasted on administration. The points of resistance are also the same — people who have a vested personal interest in their fiefdoms don’t want change. They try to rally others around the myth of their unique identity, claiming individuals will be lost in the larger institution. That could happen of course if the new administration isn’t conscious of the need to maintain open communications channels for all participants, but the time to recognize that consolidation is not just a good thing, but a necessary thing, is now.

Culture is Answer to Times Query

The NY Times wonders why no whistle blowers stepped forth to expose the massive defrauding of the public by employees of the Long Island Railroad.

Why indeed? Why is this not the only example of fraud in the public sector? Need a refresher? Read my post of September 19, 2010 for some other cases.

The problem is the culture of victim-hood and entitlement that permeates our society. Too many public sector employees apparently feel they are entitled to rip off the system. Too many are on “work-to-rule” when its to their benefit. Too many feel once you’ve been hired by the state, county or other government agency, you should be able to work their until you retire. Too many feel you need to commit murder in order to be fired from a public sector job and even then you get to keep your benefits.

That’s why people who see other people commiting fraud whether in such outrageous terms as the LIRR employees or just taking care of personal business on state time don’t blow the whistle…It’s because they think it’s okay. It’s because they’re doing it too.

There are exceptions of course. My hat’s off to those of you who resist ripping off the public, but the next time you see someone taking advantage of lax management, pick up your whistle and do the right thing.

Roundtable on What’s Next for NYS

We published today comments by a number of friends and colleagues of the Empire Page on the question of what next for NYS. Based on the premise that Andrew Cuomo’s first legislative session was more positive than negative, we wondered what can be done to continue to bring fiscal, economic and social health to NYS in light of a national — if not world– economy that is barely moving forward.

Anyone interested in NYS’ future will gain insights and ideas from reading our experts’ comments. Feel free to use the comment form at the bottom of the page. (Comments will be moderated.) And if you feel you have a unique viewpoint on the problems and can present your ideas coherently, send them to editor@empirepage.com. If they pass muster, we’ll add them to the page.

Are Progressive Era Workrules Obsolete?

NYC Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith thinks so. Writing March 18 in the Wall Street Journal, Goldsmith states:

• “New York City has more than 300,000 employees who work under more than 100 collective-bargaining agreements…”
• “Seniority rules . . . prevent any significant rewards for outstanding performance and make dismissing bad apples . . . all but impossible.”
• “Antiquated and overly complex procurement rules lead to year-long delays and waste millions of taxpayer dollars.

The Empire Page asked two dozens expert observers to comment. The initial posts — two supporting and two against — have been published in the Improving New York section of the website. Additional contributions will be posted in the coming days.

The Empire Page is also soliciting the views of its readers in its Poll Question of the Week, which can be found on the Home Page.

Toward Civic Integrity, A Book Review

After more than six years of haggling, the final hurdles were overcome recently for the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter within the city limits of Gloversville in Fulton County in upstate New York. While Gloversville City Court Judge Vincent DeSantis, author of “Towards Civic Integrity; Re-establishing the Micropolis,” (2007) understands the motives of the public officials who pushed the project through, he believes that this is exactly the wrong kind of development that’s needed for cities like Gloversville to function successfully in the 21st century.

In his self-published extended essay, Judge DeSantis chronicles oft-repeated accusations against Wal-Mart centered communities. In addition to the charge that they drive locally-owned stores out of business, do not provide living wages to their employees and “suck” money out of the community, DeSantis points out that big box top managers have no personal involvement in or commitment to the local communities in which their stores are located.

When the new Wal-Mart opens in 2011, the company will close its current store, which is located on Gloversville’s outskirts. That will negatively impact the stores, restaurants and bank branches that chose to locate in that area because of the traffic Wal-Mart generated. One can picture driving past those stores in the not too distant future and seeing empty parking lots. This is precisely the kind of social cost that DeSantis rails against in his book.

Ironically, the location of the current Wal-Mart was once occupied by Gloversville’s minor league baseball stadium – an institution representative of an era when communities the size of Gloversville, which at the time had a population of around 20,000, were largely self-contained.

While its minor league ballpark was on the outskirts of the city, 60 years ago Gloversville’s downtown supported a high school, a hospital, two movie theaters, locally-owned banks, department and clothing stores, a public library, a YMCA, a YWCA, a Jewish Community Center, etc. – all within walking distance of the majority of its residents. The downtown in those days was symbolic of a city that had achieved a certain amount of prosperity. Gloversville even had both morning and afternoon newspapers.

In reviewing the history of Gloversville, DeSantis blames the beginnings of post-WW II globalization for undercutting the industry that served as the foundation for Gloversville’s self-contained prosperous community. He understands he writes the decisions of the factory owners who sought cheaper labor in Haiti and elsewhere. They had to relocate in order to remain competitive DeSantis argues. He fails to mention, however, the other reason that owners started moving shops overseas in the 1950s – a factor that undercuts his picture of Gloversville as an idyllic, balanced community.

One incentive for owners to move out of Gloversville was the strength of the labor movement in the tanneries and glove cutting and sewing shops.

In the early 1930s, one in four residents worked directly in the industry. The tanneries employed approximately 2,100, 3,500 worked in shops cutting leather and sewing gloves, while an unknown number worked out of their homes. (See Philip S. Foner, The Fur and Leather Workers Union, Nordan Press, 1950, p. 542-43.)

The mechanization of the glove industry after World War I reduced skilled craft people to easily replaceable laborers, which not surprisingly spurred the work force to organize for better pay and working conditions. Those efforts culminated with the formation of the Independent Leather Workers Union of Fulton County.

For insight into how bad some of the working conditions were in the tanneries and glove shops and the impact those conditions had on workers’ families, I recommend reading Gloversville native and novelist Richard Russo’s essay in issue 111 of Granta, a British literary publication.

In 1933, tannery workers held an 8-week strike that resulted in recognition of shop committees, 15 to 30 percent wage increases and the right to collective bargaining. After World War II, Taft-Hartley strengthened the employers’ bargaining position and the glove owners took advantage, seeking to break the union by demanding that it sign a contract without any pay increase. When the union refused, the owners of 18 tanneries imposed a lock out of union members, which in turn led to an-industry wide strike.

For the next eight months, owners tried all sorts of tricks to break the strike. They set up company unions, endorsed competing AFL & CIO unions and accused the leaders of Local 202 of being communists. Finally on January 25, 1950, they broke the strike by using the local police department assisted by paid goons to escort scab workers into the tanneries.

One shouldn’t make light of the extent of the division that existed in Gloversville between factory owners and workers during these years. My father, a doctor who came to Gloversville as a refugee after Hitler annexed Austria, was ostracized for providing medical care to members of the IFLWU and their families. For a while he thought he would have to move out of Gloversville in order to support his family.

Which brings me to my biggest concern with Judge DeSantis’ vision of the future. I have little quarrel with his criticism of the damage inflicted on communities like Gloversville by globalization of the world’s economy, but I do have questions about where that leaves us and whether his prescription for the future will do the trick.

DeSantis argues that the global economy is not sustainable. He believes that the damage being done to the planet by our oil-dependent economy will result in public policies that restrict economic activity such as shipping products from China to be consumed by Wal-Mart shoppers. The political will for such may or may not appear. Yet, he accurately describes efforts by more and more people to move off that stage – advocates for smart growth and people who produce food and other goods for local consumption. (See “The Internet Might Save Main Street,” by Peter Funt, WSJ, September 20 for a supporting trend).

The other factor that DeSantis believes militates against the global economy is the cost and availability of oil. However, his prediction that cost of oil will eventually become too high to sustain that economy seems no closer to coming to pass than when it was first voiced 40 years ago. Further, technology may find solutions to oil dependence that result in our being able to have our cars and drive them too.

But, the globalization of business is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it meant that a lot of locally owned stores in cities like Gloversville went out of business which in turn undermined the downtown-centered culture DeSantis admires. In Wal-Mart’s defense, however, Gloversville’s downtown was dying long before they built their current store. They just took advantage of the fact that area residents already had to get in their cars to do their shopping and that they were happy to find a store that had so many inexpensive products under one roof.

On the flip side, robust international trade enabled Europe and Japan to rebuild after WW II, which contributed to tremendous prosperity in Europe and the US for several decades. That prosperity eventually flowed downhill, helping to bring countries like India, Brazil, South Africa and China out of the throws of underdevelopment. Without globalization, there would be no middle class in China today and that country might still be under the thumb of Mao’s Culture Revolution where teachers and doctors were sent to re-indoctrination camps and peasants were given power because their poverty made them pure.

Bringing this back to Upstate New York, the car-centered economy actually helped communities like Gloversville, Schoharie and Saratoga survive the past four decades because people could enjoy small city life while being able to drive to good-paying jobs using the Thruway and Northway.

Today, the Internet offers the potential for new companies to locate in cities like Gloversville. However, as DeSantis admits these jobs will not be the factory jobs of the 1930s and 40s – either in the number of people employed or in their being able to employ unskilled, uneducated workers. Good jobs today require a more educated work force –programmers, technicians, graphic designers, people with language and writing skills, etc.. The question is whether business owners will be willing to locate in cities that unable to contend with the negatives of blight, poverty and high taxes.

The survival of cities like Gloversville in upstate New York may come down to whether the state of New York and the federal government get their acts together. Currently the state of New York is an albatross on the back on the upstate economy. Rather than helping communities meet the challenges of the 21st century, the state has failed to address the increasing problems localities have paying for basic services. Governors have done what they always do – look for some large scale project where they can hold a ribbon cutting ceremony and the leaders of the Legislature act as if everything north of Westchester County is someone else’s problem.

Yet Judge DeSantis does offer some valuable concepts for localities that have sufficient resources to fight the decline. Saratoga represents one example where community involvement worked; Amsterdam represents what happens when the community lacks sufficient local strengths. Whether it’s too late for Gloversville, time will tell, but ironically the taxes generated by the Super Wal-Mart may help pave the way for its revival.

Public corruption in New York and what needs to be done

(This post is my contribution to an Empire Page Rountable discussion on Public Corruption in NYS. Click here to read other contributions and to learn how to submit comments or a longer opinion piece.)

You might have the perception that public corruption is on the rise. (If someone has statistics on this please, let me know.) My guess is that our awareness of public corruption has been heightened in recent years in part by the state’s fiscal crisis. At a time when there’s not enough money to cover basic expenses, to learn about fraud and malfeasance by public officers gets your attention. But there’s another factor at play I believe which explains why public corruption is high and why people who see it taking place don’t report it.

Working for government at one time was considered to be a sacrifice. People who worked for government – teachers, prison guards, motor vehicle clerks, etc – knew their wages were lower than people working in the private sector. That began to change in the 1970s and 1980s as states and municipalities began to increase benefits (in lieu of comparable salaries) followed by repeated increases in public employee salaries in the ensuing decades.

I saw the change first hand twice when secretaries for my company resigned to take state jobs – one for a lower salary than I was paying her. Her husband wanted her to take the state job for the benefits she explained. At the time I paid 100% of my employees’ healthcare and had offered a SEP IRA for retirement.

Despite the increase in pay and benefits to the point where people who work in the public sector today often earn more than their private sector counterparts, the attitude that one is sacrificing still persists. To some that attitude justifies practices such as taking home office supplies, padding expense reports by staying at the most expensive hotels possible and buying the most expensive meal on the menu, taking sick days just because you have them, and engaging in personal activities while at work.

I believe there is a scale of this kind of behavior in the public sector ranging from those who are scrupulously honest to those like the Corrections Department food director and the State Fair director who openly defrauded the public to the tune on hundreds of thousands of dollars. I don’t know whether the state’s whistle-blower law ought to be amended, but if those who see another person doing something that’s clearly illegal or unethical are also engaging in questionable behavior or believe the person is entitled to extra benefits because they work for the state, then they are much less likely to turn that person in.

Then there’s the question of why the Comptroller and Inspector General’s offices are not able to catch the wrong-doers sooner? Rather than too few people doing the policing, the problem is that there are too many agencies to be policed.

Corruption is another cost of living under a governmental structure built in and for the 19th century. If you read the reports issued by the Comptroller and IG carefully you will see that for every case of outright fraud, there are a dozen of cases of poor management practices and poor judgment. Too many people who are responsible for putting the tax-payers’ dollars to use are poorly trained and poorly supervised, resulting in frequent mistakes and missed opportunities achieving for better results for less.

That’s why government consolidation in New York is not something that maybe should be, could be considered if we get around to doing it, some year. It’s a must do now imperative if New York State is to avoid sinking into third-world conditions by mid-century or sooner.

If I was one of those public employees who are scrupulously honest – and I believe that covers most public employees, I’d be crying out for government consolidation. Get rid of the bad apples or watch the whole barrel turn rotten.