Provision could mend union, county rift
Photo credit: Howard Schnapp | From left, NIFA members Leonard D. Steinman, Thomas W. Stokes, Ronald A. Stack, George J. Marlin, and Evan Cohen during the meeting at the Nassau County Bar Association in Garden City. (Sept. 2, 2011)
Pssssst. There's a little-noticed provision in state law that would allow Nassau's union leaders -- angry and weary over what they call nonproductive talks with Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano -- to work toward a deal. 
NIFA stops wage hikes 
Edward Mangano photos It's in Section 3369, Paragraph 3B of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority's enabling legislation, which allows unions to work directly with NIFA to cut county costs.
Under the section, a wage freeze would not apply to unions that negotiated with NIFA to reach an agreement "which has been certified by the authority as being an acceptable and appropriate contribution toward alleviating the fiscal crisis of the county."
More: Complete coverage: NIFA and Nassau
The clause could be an unconventional way to break the ongoing -- and increasingly bitter -- standoff between Mangano and the county's unions.
Last week, in releasing, as expected, an End-of-Days-like budget plan for 2012, Mangano declared a fiscal emergency.
And no wonder: There's a greater than $300-million hole to be covered. The proposal contains expense cuts for many -- although, significantly, not all -- county divisions.
And, for the first time in recent memory, it extends those cuts to the offices of independently elected officials, such as the county clerk.
The budget proposal itself offer clues to Nassau's financial challenges. It notes that Nassau -- as does every other municipality -- expects significant cuts in state and federal aid. But it also says that Nassau's surplus fund is almost gone.
The proposal quantifies the consequences of Nassau's decision earlier this year to have a fire sale of projected revenues from its Mitchel Field leases. The transaction helped in the short term, but will do nothing in the years to come.
The budget does anticipate a significant increase in revenue from parks and other service fees next year, but it also projects a big fat zero of revenue from the county's Off Track Betting parlors (although Nassau will continue to get revenue from a tax on wagers).
To meet the challenge, Mangano included deep cuts to expenses in the proposal. The problem, however, is that he has no power to unilaterally bring the most significant cuts to fruition.
Mangano said he would impose furloughs, mandate health care contributions and demand other concessions from labor unions.
That's not going to happen -- no matter how novel Mangano's legal justification. Under his theory, binding union contracts were altered when NIFA froze wages and other compensation. Therefore, Mangano reasons, he should be able to step in and do more.
He's asked the state and county legislatures to get behind him by passing laws. But New York is not Wisconsin -- which probably makes the measure DOA should it ever make it to Albany.
It's also unlikely that Mangano's fellow Republicans, who are trying to keep a majority in the county legislature, will do anything until after Election Day.
It should be noted that the county's unions have filed lawsuits challenging NIFA's power to freeze wages and other compensation in the first place.
But union leaders appear to be more upset with Mangano than NIFA right now. Last week, the county Police Benevolent Association began a campaign against the cuts, with a truck carrying a sign saying that the proposed cuts would endanger public safety.
Behind the scenes, some union leaders say, they've approached NIFA in the past with requests for intervention. And NIFA recently sent out a request for proposals for firms with expertise in municipal labor relations.
Can Mangano and labor bridge their differences? What role can -- and should -- NIFA play? These are uncharted waters for Nassau. And it's getting rough out there.
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