New York unions have a sweet deal going: Many municipalities pay workers’ salaries and benefits while they’re on leave for union-related business.
But a lawsuit filed in Suffolk County on Wednesday aims to stop the practice.
“Enough already. This is unconstitutional,” said former Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, a backer in the suit filed against the county and its police and other public-employee unions.
“You can’t use public funds for private enrichment,” said Levy, who heads the Center for Cost Effective Government.
The suit cites the gift-and-loan clause of the state constitution, which bars state and local government from using tax dollars to provide “gifts or loans of money or credit to private corporations or individuals,” the suits.
Levy said union-release time costs the state and local governments $25 million a year.
In New York City, there are 181 workers on “city-funded release time” — down from 185 when Mayor de Blasio took office, said City Hall spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein. “Union release has been in effect for more than a half-century as part of the city’s collective-bargaining process, but we’re doing what we can to bring down city costs.”
Levy said the case, if successful, would have ripple effect across all levels of New York government, including New York City.
Similar suits are slated to be filed against the Syracuse school district and the state by the Albany-based Government Justice Center.