President's Corner

January 27, 2012

Dear AME Members:

You may have read news articles recently attacking the public sector Triborough Doctrine since our nation’s 2008 recession. Sadly, it is always easy to place blame somewhere other than the true source.

This is synonymous to the standard “anti-union” rhetoric that has been on the agendas of the majority of our nation’s media newspapers, most of which are owned by billionaire CEOs (such as James Dolan, owner of Cablevision, Channel 12 News, the NY Knicks, and Newsday.)  Believe me, their agendas dwell solely on profits… not public safety; which is why they can never fully understand the important difference between public sector and private sector workers.

The Triborough Doctrine is a 1972 amendment to the 1967 NYS Taylor Law that took 32 years for public sector workers to be granted the same collective bargaining protections that our private sector counterparts have in the Wagner Act (also known as the National Labor Relations Act) of 1935. These writers fail to mention that private sector workers still maintain the right to strike; whereas public sector workers, in agreement to the Taylor Law and its Triborough Doctrine, give up their right to strike. This piece of legislation merely guarantees that our workers will continue to negotiate, rather than strike, to reach an accord/agreement.

We, as union leaders also know we have to fight to preserve the benefits that help us stay in the communities in which we live upon retirement.  In doing so, we help sustain our local economy too.  That’s why we lobby every day locally, and throughout the year in Albany and Washington, D. C. to say public retirement benefits are:

• Funded 85% through Investment returns
• Pay an average of $19,000 per year
• Less than ½ of 1%  earn $100,000 or more (top earners)
• Valued at $30,000/yr. or less, for more than 75% of retirees and;
• Over 80% of retirees STAY in New York upon retirement, keeping their tax dollars in our state

AME has traveled to Albany every year since 2003 where we enjoyed the “captive audience” of New York State Senators and Assembly members, the Comptroller, and a representative from the governor’s office. These are all elected officials who, like AME, have the power to make a difference. These are the law-makers of our state.  We go there to lobby and talk; and they are there to listen to what we have to say. Last year we expanded the invitation to attend lobby day.  Over 180 AME members boarded 5 buses one very cold early winter morning to fight and win the annual battle to maintain the benefits we currently have.  But the fight continues each and every day. These are hard-fought-for benefits that union members deserve – and should not have to apologize for.

You won’t see many positive letters about union members in the media.  That’s because newspapers, radio and television are big business and not on our side. AME instead chooses to communicate through our public relations campaigns and with our members directly in print and on our website at www.scame.org. There, we say the truth, with no editorial board censuring our words, there is where you will find the facts; how unions protect their membership and how our work benefits the residents we serve.

The value of putting political action at the forefront of our union’s agenda will once again call for our 9^th consecutive Albany Lobby Day, on March 13^th entitled Protecting Pension Benefits (announcement to follow). And, we will continue to succeed in advancing our political efforts with help from concerned AME members.

Unity wins,

Cheryl A. Felice

President