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Labor hangs its hopes on Skelos’ rapid rise in Albany

June 27, 2008

The State Senate’s lightning-quick election this week of Dean Skelos as majority leader prompted a wave of verbal salutes and fond greetings from labor union officials.

From the AFL-CIO to the Civil Service Employees Association, top operatives expressed hope and even faith of retaining the same access and consideration they enjoyed under fellow Republican Joseph Bruno.

“I know Dean very well,” said Denis Hughes, the state AFL-CIO president. “He’s been in the legislature a long time, and I’ve been up there a long time. We’re friends.” Hughes cited Skelos’ 95 percent rating from the organization’s political-education arm.

But behind the scenes, the fast transition also unleashed whispers, twinges and suspicions that some understandings and alliances crafted during Bruno’s 13-year rule could change.

A close observer of the legislature speculated that Skelos, of Rockville Centre, is at least a bit more likely than Bruno to react angrily if, say, a teachers’ union becomes “overbearing” in its dealings with the Senate. A Capitol political veteran added that under Skelos, “certain public-sector unions do not have the same influence - today - that they had with Joe.”

But don’t bet on Skelos’ rise to prompt an instant shift in loyalties. Labor organizations such as CSEA, which has concentrations of members in heavily Republican districts such as Skelos’, realize that “a Democratic Senate would be very New York City-centric,” a former labor official said.

Coziness was part of the Bruno profile. Federal investigators have been probing his role in an investment firm’s dealings with unions that had business before the Senate. And for years, Bruno’s links to a Capital District restaurant workers’ local raised eyebrows.

Fault lines between business and labor, and between government and its employees, sometimes present politicos with the threat of having to take sides in a fight between key constituencies. This month, for example, the movement for a cap on property-tax increases quickly met heated resistance in Albany from teachers’ unions.

Skelos appears well aware of the terrain.

“He has set two priorities,” said a colleague of Skelos’. “Restraining property taxes, and creating jobs. He has directed staff to look at the property-tax issue, the options available, and come up with something that can get done. He’s done the same with jobs.”

“Dean has always said that to get things done we’d have to have a great relationship with labor and with the business community - and it’s got to be both,” the associate said.

“On a personal level,” an influential union chief said, “I’m still reeling from the abrupt timing of Bruno’s departure. He’s a one-in-a-million guy, but we’ve had great relations with Dean Skelos. … It takes a while for each leader to make a mark on the chamber.”

Skelos draws contributions from police unions in Nassau, New York City and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and from organizations that represent rail conductors, sheet-metal workers, city fire officers, correction officers and court clerks. Also on the list are health care workers for whom the Senate GOP fought hospital cuts last year.

Unions differ, though. One force that has worked to install Democrats in the Senate majority is the Working Families Party, which is largely supported by an array of union locals.

In contrast, Danny Donohue, CSEA president, said in a statement the “productive working relationship” with the Senate would continue under Skelos. “He has earned our confidence and respect particularly since his Senate district has one of the highest concentrations of CSEA members in the state,” Donohue said.

“We have supported the state Senate majority in the past and are committed to continuing that support into the future.”

Source: Newsday

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