Left-wing pressure on Albany’s centrist Independent Democratic Conference is having an effect, as the IDC has introduced a pro-union bill that would scrap a decades-old protection for public employees.
The bill from Sen. Marisol Alcantara (D-Washington Heights) would make it nearly impossible for government workers not yet covered by a union contract to change their mind about paying union dues.
For four decades, New York law has allowed anyone who voluntarily joins a union to quit paying dues at will. This bill could force them to keep paying for up to 11 months.
It’s a big gift to the United Federation of Teachers and the Civil Service Employees Association, which lost the right to collect involuntary dues from people who aren’t “full-fledged” public employees (like many day-care workers) in a 2014 US Supreme Court ruling.
Yet it’s co-sponsored not only by the other seven IDC senators but also by Sen. Patrick Gallivan (R-Erie), and supported in committee by Sens. Marty Golden (R-Brooklyn) and Patty Ritchie (R-St. Lawrence).
An IDC spokesperson defends the bill as pushback against a supposed national attack on worker rights — when it actually increases union power over workers.
It has enough votes (at least 34) to pass if it gets to the Senate floor, and easily enough Assembly support. But it’s exactly the sort of thing Republicans are supposed to stop.
If Majority Leader John Flanagan lets it go through, he’s giving New Yorkers one less reason to vote for the GOP.