By Hector Flores and Dana Williams
³I purchased my house in 2004,² Wise said. ³But because of the reassessments, my taxes have been going up. In fact, so have my day-to-day expenses. There¹s little I can do.²
Wise, who is employed by the Nassau County Sheriff¹s Department, added that he and his co-workers have seen other departments, most notably the police, reach contract agreements with the county Legislature. The sheriff¹s department, however, has been without a new contract for over two years. ³I¹m in a two-income household,² Wise said. ³We are currently looking [to move] outside of the Island because without a new contract, we won¹t make it out here. I also have two small children, and it¹s a tight squeeze.²
Wise¹s plight is mirrored by that of fellow correction officer Michael Manera of Long Beach, who said that he and his neighbors have recently seen a dramatic increase in their property taxes. ³We haven¹t had a raise in three years and no new contract for two and a half years,² Manera said. ³My taxes went up by 25 percent ‹ that is, $2,400 a year. You have to work more hours to make ends meet, and that leaves little time for my family. I have a sick father that I don¹t get to see. All I do is go home, sleep, shower and go back to work, and that¹s how it¹s been for the last three years.²
It was complaints like these that led Wise, Manera and some 250 other county correction officers to rally in protest in front of the legislative building in Mineola on April 11. The officers, all members of the Sheriff Officers Association union, held signs that read, ³Over two years without a contract,² ³Fair contract equals tax saving² and ³Let democracy work,² and called on the Legislature to agree to binding arbitration, which, they believe, would help solve the impasse.
According to a union spokesperson Bill Corbett and other union sources, correction officers starting pay is $25,000 a year, which increases to a maximum of $72,000 after 12 years.
Correction officer Kenneth Banschback of Wantagh, a member of ShOA¹s board of directors, attended the rally and said that most contracts run for five years, but in his 20 years with the department and as a member of the union, he has seen only two successful contracts passed by the Legislature. ³Every [contract] has been a problem because they have been shot down by the legislators,² Banschback said. ³From our knowledge, no one has ever had a contract shot down by the county when they were in negotiations, but this has happened to us twice. This goes on every time we¹re up for a contract and every time we have to hit the streets. We don¹t want to do that, but we want a fair and negotiated contract.²
Banschback said that the union had negotiated a contract a year and a half ago, but it was shot down. ³The contract was fiscally sound, and [County Executive Thomas] Suozzi supported it, but now here we are, back here again,² he said. ³Our families are hurting and we need [a new contract] and that¹s why we¹re here today.²
Banschback added that the union is trying to persuade the Legislature¹s presiding officer, Judy Jacobs, and the rest of the Legislature to put on the agenda a binding arbitration bill, which would give the union a means to an end. ³Our contract lags and lays in the wind every time and there is never finality to it,² he said. ³Binding arbitration would give us the ability to end the contract dispute in a fair and equitable manner for everyone in Nassau County. ... All of us officers out here want our voices heard. We just want a fair raise, and that is all that this has been about.²
John Duer, ShOA¹s president, said that the union has not had meaningful negotiations with the county since last June, and that he favors binding arbitration as a sound solution. ³With the exception of the Nassau County Sheriff Officers Association, binding arbitration is a method that is used by virtually every other law enforcement bargaining unit in lower New York state,² Duer said. ³Why is ShOA the glaring exception? Law enforcement unions from Nassau and Suffolk counties, New York City, New York state, Westchester and Rockland counties have all been granted the option of using binding arbitration to resolve their contract disputes. We are interested in sitting down with the county and negotiating a fair deal for our members, but since the county is refusing to meet with us, we see no other course than to seek and obtain binding arbitration.²
Duer added that there is currently a bill before the Legislature that would grant the union binding arbitration, but Jacobs is preventing it from moving forward. ³We strongly believe that she should allow this legislation to be reviewed by the appropriate committees and brought before the full Legislature for a vote,² he said. ³We urge the presiding officer to allow members to vote their conscience on this legislation.²
Jacobs disagrees with Duer, and said that binding arbitration would be the wrong course of action. ³I am in full support of seeing the correction officers union get a fair contract,² Jacobs said. ³However, I will not send this contract to binding arbitration. Binding arbitration takes the decision-making process out of the hands of those the taxpayers elected. It is not the answer.²
Although Jacobs may want to continue to negotiate with the union, many in its ranks are beginning to lose hope. Jeffry Angelino, an East Meadow resident who has been a correction officer for 19 years, said that morale in the sheriffs department is at its lowest. ³We have one of the toughest jobs, and we are just asking for what is fair,² Angelino said. ³I¹m at top pay and I haven¹t had a raise in two and a half years since the new contract [in July of 2004]. I have three kids, and everyone is entitled to a cost-of-living increase. How do you expect someone to live in Nassau County? It just gets frustrating.²
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
