Taylor Law

The Public Employees Fair Employment Act (more commonly known as the Taylor Law) refers to Article 14 of the New York State Civil Service Law, which defines the rights and limitations of unions for public employees in New York.

Details

The Taylor Law grants public employees the right to organize and elect their union representatives. It defines the boundaries for public employers in negotiating and entering into agreements with these public unions. The law also defines the terms for the foundation of the Public Employment Relations Board, a state agency that administers the law in matters related to public strike negotiation. The board consists of three members appointed by the governor. Each member must be approved by the senate, and only two can be of the same political party

One of the most controversial parts of the Taylor Law is Section 210, which prohibits New York state public employees from striking. The fine for striking is twice the employee's salary for each day the strike lasts.

History

• The law was put into effect in 1967, following costly transit strikes the previous year.
• Since its declaration, the law has been cited in averting several potential transit strikes. The fine was applied during the New York City Transit Authority 1980 transit strike and was applied again in the 2005 New York City transit strike.
• During the 2005 transit strike, both the workers and the employers violated portions of the Taylor Law. Section 210 states that the workers are not allowed to strike; Section 201 Part 4 states that employers are not allowed to negotiate benefits provided by a public retirement fund or payment to a fund or insurer to provide an income for retirees.
• As of December 20, 2005, the New York State Supreme Court in Kings County (Brooklyn), declared the Transport Workers Union Local 100 in violation of the Taylor Law, and issued a fine of $1,000,000 per day, pursuant with the guidelines set forth in the law.

Criticism and Reform

While goverment officials support the Taylor Law as a way of preventing strikes by municipal unions in New York, the unions contend that the law is harsh on them. The labor unions also contend that the Taylor Law does not provide government agencies the incentive to negotiate contracts on a timely basis and negotiate the terms of the contract in good faith.

There have been lobbying efforts by municipal unions to the New York state legislature to reform the Taylor Law, making it fairer for both the union and agencies in negotiating worker contracts. There is some resistance or reluctance on reforming the law.

Free Market

From a free market point of view, the anti-strike provisions of the Taylor Law are direct State interference in a private contract between two individuals. One individual (the transport company) offers a contract to another individual (the worker). They both fully understand the contact and voluntarily assent to it. A third individual (the State) then uses the force of law to amend the contract (in this case, to the advantage of the State and the company and to the disadvantage of the employee, who has removed from him the ability to strike).

It is certainly in the interest of the State to amend the contract in this way, since strikes disrupt city commerce and increase city expenses. However, there are an almost infinite range of acts which are in the interest of the State which require arbitrarily depriving citizens of a degree of freedom, without the consent of the citizen and to his detrement; the fact that the State may benefit greatly from an action does not in any way make it correct.

According to free market principles, the State is brought into existance by a group of individuals to protect the freedom that they naturally possess. The problem is how then to prevent that State becoming a Frankenstein and depriving those individuals of the freedoms that the State was created to protect (Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, page 2).

From a free market perspective, the Taylor Law and its activation are an example of the State persuing its own interest, seperate from the interest of the people who agreed to bring it into existance.

External links

• What is the Taylor Law from the New York state website
• Full Text of the Taylor Law from the New York State Public Employment Relations Board website.
• TWU 100 Blog.The Transport Workers Union Local 100 provides up-to-date posts on the status of the New York City transit strike.

• Reforming the Taylor Law for the 21st Century - Article about reforming the Taylor Law from the New York State AFL-CIO (PDF file)

• The History of the Taylor Law - Article providing background information about the Taylor Law. From the New York United Federation of Teachers