Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Wayne Spence took the helm of the Public Employees Federation on Monday — leading an often fractious labor group of mostly white-collar state workers that has feuded with Gov. Andrew Cuomo during much of his first term.
Spence becomes president at a key time for the labor group: PEF’s contract is up for renewal, a year after its membership voted to endorse Cuomo’s primary opponent, Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout.
At the same time, Spence raised concerns — as have other labor leaders — over the ramifications of a pending decision in the Supreme Court case Fredericks v. California, which could determine whether employees are compelled to pay union dues.
Spence was elected PEF president this year ousting Susan Kent, who only two years ago defeated longtime PEF leader Ken Brynien following a particular arduous contract negotiation with the Cuomo administration.
In his speech before several hundred at the union’s headquarters in suburban Latham, Spence vowed to have a respectful conversation with the Cuomo administration in the upcoming contract talks.
“We must have a courteous dialogue with this governor,” Spence said. “But do not think collectively the kindness of PEF is weakness.”
Those present at the swearing-in ceremony for the new slate of PEF leaders included Capital Region Democratic Rep. Paul Tonko, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan and former Assemblyman Sam Roberts of Syracuse, who recently joined the Cuomo administration.
In an interview, Spence said the state’s sounder fiscal footing should lead to a more generous contract this time around.
“I felt that members sacrificed in the last contract when the state was in bad fiscal shape,” he said. “The state is not in that fiscal shape anymore.”
In another challenge to the union, PEF’s has lost 3,000 members since 2012 — a reduction that Spence in his speech attributed to attrition in the state workforce.
“The state workforce is at a 40-year low,” he said.
Cuomo and the state’s public workers unions — including PEF, the Civil Service Employees Association and the New York State United Teachers — have had a particular truculent relationship since the governor took office in 2011.
Cuomo pushed for what labor leaders saw as austerity contracts for both PEF and CSEA, threatening to enact thousands of layoffs should rank-and-file members reject the contracts. At the same time, he has sought to weaken teacher tenure protections overall, angering NYSUT.
The governor further angered public-sector labor unions in 2012 after he successfully pushed through a new, less generous pension tier.
None of the labor groups endorsed his re-election bid last year.
Nevertheless, Cuomo has found a much warmer reception with private-sector labor groups, while he has also pushed for union friendly measures such as increasing the state’s minimum wage.
“We continue to work with the governor on issues that are important to working men and women — like the minimum wage and protections for nail salon workers,” said AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento. “We have a good, solid, working relationship with him.”
Spence, meanwhile, said a Supreme Court ruling in the pending Fredericks versus California cases could have broader ramifications for labor.
“It could severely weaken New York state unions and to have that decision come down and not have a meaningful contract will have union members not see the benefit of being in a union,” he said. “Union density would certainly fall should a bad Fredericks versus California come down from the Supreme Court.”