Village Board Addresses CSEA Statements

The Garden City board of trustees believes it's necessary to address statements made by CSEA Local 882 representatives at the May 16 meeting. The following was provided to Garden City Patch by trustee Brian Daughney on behalf of the entire village board:

"The Village Board of Trustees is currently negotiating with CSEA Local 882, the union representing the Village’s non-uniformed workforce, including our recreation, sanitation and public works staff and the Library employees.

"The current contract with the CSEA expires on May 31, 2013. In general, the Board of Trustees does not favor conducting labor negotiations in the press or by way of public relations releases. All negotiations involve multi-faceted considerations that are best addressed in a thoughtful give and take. At the same time we are also quite sensitive to our obligations as a public body to provide residents with as much information as possible about proposals and counter-proposals that will, in the end, have an effect on the operational and fiscal health of the Village. Within these conflicting positions we work to achieve a balance that we believe will be in the best interests of all parties.

"Regrettably, the CSEA has decided to undertake a public airing of the contract negotiations. Therefore, the Village Board finds it necessary to address the CSEA statements.

"First and foremost, the CSEA is well aware of the potential for layoffs. Both representatives of the union and members of our workforce were personally present during the recently completed budget meetings, all of which were held in public. The potential for layoffs was openly discussed. The recent downsizing of the paid fire staff is a matter of record, and the Board’s public budget discussion of the revised budget worksheets clearly referenced the possibility of additional workforce reductions.

"Second, the union was specifically advised weeks ago by our counsel and by our Village Administrator that layoffs were part of the upcoming budget.

"Third, the CSEA has recently complained that a meeting scheduled for May 14th was cancelled without explanation; that is not the case. CSEA was notified that a meeting would not be held on May 14th because the Board needed to meet to discuss terms and proposals as they had been developed up to that time. Importantly, the Board withheld proceeding with formally laying off any workers at our public meetings of May 2nd and May 16th to permit continued negotiations with the CSEA. We took these steps in good faith. We could have acted otherwise.

"Fourth, contrary to the comment made by the CSEA’s representative at the last Board of Trustees meeting, Garden City does not have $34 million in unrestricted cash. The monies referred to by the CSEA representative are designated reserves for specific future purposes, including insurance claims and monies held for accrued claims for employee termination payments as required by existing contracts. We cannot draw on these funds at will.
"The Board of Trustees knows and admires our many hard working employees and we appreciate their dedication to the Village. Additionally, members of the Board of Trustees are fellow residents who, like all residents, want to preserve our Village and the services we expect and desire.

"At the same time, as representatives of the taxpayers of the Village, we are absolutely committed to achieving meaningful productivity changes and sustainable expense controls, rather than mere deferrals of current expenses to future periods. We all are private business persons and are well aware of what private sector businesses must do to survive and move forward. We would not be true to our office if we did not ask the same effort of our public sector partners."