ALBANY --
In an op-ed column published in the New York Daily News over the Labor Day holiday, Democratic nominee for governor, Andrew Cuomo, asks state workers unions to make the same kind of sacrifices today that their predecessors made 35 years ago. Reaction from the unions was cautious.
Back in 1975, at the request of Governor Hugh Carey, union leaders made unprecedented concessions to prevent New York City from going bankrupt.
Who can forget the front-page headline featuring the words that President Ford didn't actually say. Ultimately, the unions did indeed sacrifice, but not selflessly as Cuomo claims. If New York had gone bankrupt, union contracts would have been null and void.
Kenneth Brynien, President, Public Employees Federation (PEF), went out on a limb, backing Cuomo's candidacy even as other unions decided not to.
It should be noted that last year, unions did agree to a pension reform initiative called Tier V that may ultimately save the state $35 billion over 30 years.
