Nassau County Workers Protest Layoffs

Workers in Nassau County, New York are getting let go and they are getting mad about it. Rather than simply beginning the quiet search for new jobs or, as so many other soon to be displaced workers have, simply negotiated a new union contract that makes some big concessions but keeps everyone in their jobs, these workers are making their voices heard.

Several thousand Nassau County workers, most of them members of the statewide Civil Service Employees Association, met outside of the Nassau County Executive offices on Monday to make sure that they knew these layoffs were completely unwelcome and that they would be remembered.

Danny Donohue, the president of the statewide Civil Service Employees Association, was at the protest on a megaphone chanting the slogan, “We will remember November, this November, next November, and the November after that!” Implying that these layoffs will have a significant effect on voting in future elections in Nassau County.

During his speech to the mostly union crowd Danny Donohue gave a speech that was impassioned, if a little bit extreme. During the speech he described the laying off of the union employees with terms such as un-American, unfair, and even unconstitutional. While there is no guaranteed right to a civil service job with full benefits listed in the U.S. Constitution, no one at the rally seemed to care. The crowed cheered on the speech with vigorous enthusiasm.

Of course, the union leaders were no the only ones who were turning up the rhetorical dial to 10. Both sides have been getting amped up.

In a statement released by the office of Ed Mangano, a Nassau County executive, he derided the union leadership with the following statement, “Rather than waste members dues on t-shirts and juvenile signs, union leaders would serve their members responsibly by getting their butts to the negotiation table. “. The same statement then went on to blast the union leaders by saying, “It is a sad day in America when union bosses are arrogant enough to claim that asking for concessions is Anti-American. Tell that to the veterans of World War II who are struggling to pay their property taxes. Tell that to the soldiers of Vietnam, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan who struggle to live in Nassau County. How dare Nassau’s union bosses insult anyone who is fighting for lower taxes!”

The final point from Mangano’s statement was clearly directed not at the leadership, but at the worker when he said that “the fact remains if union bosses fail to negotiate more of their members will lose their jobs or will be furloughed.”

The number of jobs that would be lost, should the union and the county not be able to come to an agreement was not disclosed by either side at the current moment. Though give then fact that Nassau County is currently facing a budget shortfall of roughly $310 million, it is safe to assume that that they are not negotiating over a small number of positions that could be lost.