The collective bargaining law for public employees has stood the test of time

Forty years after it was enacted, the state's Taylor Law  - passed at a time of significant labor unrest within New York's public sector  - continues to stir considerable debate.

By giving public employees the right to bargain collectively, the legislation helped promote cooperative relationships between government and its employees, which proponents of the statute maintain must be protected today.

Yet critics contend the law is outdated and disproportionately favors unions.

Is there need for reform? That was the question debated by labor and government officials at a recent two-day conference held by the state Public Employment Relations Board in Albany.

Timothy Kremer, executive director of the state School Boards Association, said what's become lost in public contract negotiations, especially during tough economic times, is government's ability to pay.

NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi said the union and its members fully recognize and understand the state's economic woes. However, he said, there is an obligation to pay for and deliver services that New Yorkers need and expect  - particularly when it comes to the education of its children.

"We can't have it both ways," Iannuzzi said, adding the "social cost" of not providing services such as special education would be significantly greater than any dollar amount.

Gary Johnson, director of the governor's Office of Employee Relations, said one possible "tweak" to the Taylor Law could be reforming the Triborough Amendment, which requires that salary increases and other terms of an expired contract continue until a new settlement is reached.

Critics call it a disincentive to negotiate. Iannuzzi, however, adamantly disagreed, pointing out that 80 percent of contract disputes involving NYSUT locals get resolved within a year of expiration.

"The argument that Triborough allows us to drag out negotiations to the benefit of teachers just doesn't add up," Iannuzzi said, noting he recently joined 1,000 union members on a picket line on Long Island, where teachers in Port Jefferson were urging school board officials to return to the table to end a longstanding contract dispute.

Two presidents of NYSUT locals, Maggie Bouck of Cherry Valley-Springfield Teachers Association and Christine Koblensky of Shenendehowa TA were joined in panel sessions by their district superintendents.

The conference also featured a panel of attorneys from both labor and management, who discussed PERB's adjudication process.

John Gross, a Hauppauge attorney who represents management, said he believes there's been "a wholesale shift" by PERB's current board, which has made significant departures from prior standing decisions.

Gross said PERB is headed down the same road as the National Labor Relations Board, which critics charge has been polluted by politics.

Pauline Kinsella, NYSUT's executive director and a former PERB chairwoman and counsel, disagreed. Kinsella said she believed PERB was actually returning to positions long held by numerous former boards.

"I think there's a reversion back to longstanding precedents," Kinsella said, adding that she believes there's "tremendous stability" at PERB.

 - Matt Smith