(AMHERST, NEW YORK) – New York State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon traveled to Western New York last week to meet with Labor Representatives in both Niagara and Erie Counties, telling those Union Officials in attendance at the Suburban Buffalo get-together that Unions are not only a “critical ally” of New York, but will play in role in making sure the State “won’t be damaged by those in Washington,” D.C.

WNYLaborToday.com was in attendance for Labor’s meeting with Organized Labor at United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9’s Headquarters in the Buffalo Suburb of Amherst on Monday, June 19th – just hours after Reardon met with about 20 Niagara County Labor Leaders in Niagara Falls.  About 50 took part in the afternoon meeting, which included Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Richard Lipsitz, Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President John Mudie, Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Western Region Six President Flo Tripi and representatives from a number of area Unions, including the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Carpenters, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) – including IBEW Local 106 Business Manager David Wilkinson, who serves as President of the Jamestown AFL-CIO Central Labor Council in the Southern Tier, the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) and the Teamsters, to name but a few.

“Union density in New York is (25%), which is ‘number one’ in the country, ‘but a lot of people don’t know what Unions give back to their communities’ – but the governor (Governor Andrew Cuomo) ‘knows’ and ‘I know how important you all are,’” said Reardon, who was joined by several of her State and Local Staff, including Upstate Labor Affairs Dawn Clarry and Director of Apprenticeship Training Jane Thompson.  “You are a ‘critical ally’ (whose help will be counted on) so (New York State) ‘won’t be damaged by those in Washington’ (D.C.).  Governor Cuomo ‘is committed to being a strong Labor State.’”

Reardon has an interesting Union past as she previously served as President of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) from 2007-2012.  She was also the founding Co-President of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG)-AFTRA, a 165,000-Member Union for the entertainment industry, when SAG merged with AFTRA in 2012. After stepping down from that position in late 2013, Reardon served in a consulting role for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) as Special Liaison for Common Sense Economics.  She also taught in the Cornell/City University of New York (CUNY) Labor Relations Certificate Program.

Reardon touted a number of good things that are happening across New York State, as well as in Buffalo and Western New York, during her visit.  They ranged from passage of Paid Family Leave to the $15-an-hour Minimum Wage to the allowance of Union Members to deduct their Union Dues on the yearly State taxes.  She also pointed to New York State’s investment of taxpayer dollars into a number of area projects and companies, including the Ford and General Motors plants, the Downtown Buffalo Medical Campus, Canalside and the Buffalo Billions Initiative, which she was showed a “great trust in investing money into the local workforce.”

The Labor Leaders in attendance shared a good give-and-take with the Labor Commissioner and her staff during the meeting, ranging from the upcoming Constitutional Convention that will be on the Fall ballot – which Labor vehemently opposes, the need to stand up for Workers’ Rights across the State, going after employers who cheat Workers out of their hard-earned wages, the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on State-funded construction projects, public transportation, and Apprenticeship Training – which the Trump Administration recently touted with plans to move forward on a formal plan in the not too distant future.

For example, WNYALF President Lipsitz made Labor’s stance on a Constitutional Convention known, pledging Labor’s “high profile” involvement “to keep it from passing.”

“We are ‘wary of the attacks’ on the Prevailing Wage Rate, the Right to Organize, Health and Safety in the workplace,” he said.  “There is ‘no need’ for a convention.  Our State Constitution ‘can be amended without’ a convention.  ‘It is just a sell out to the richest in our society and there is no end game.’  ‘This could go on for two to three years.’”

IUOE Local 17 Business Manager Gary Swain, sitting in the back of the room, piped up: “Tell him (Governor Cuomo) that ‘we don’t want it.’”

But while some of the give-and-take could have been described as intense at times, the discussion was always cordial – and in many instances educational in terms of bringing to light what the State Labor Department and Organized Labor must do in the months and years to come.

Case in point, Trump’s Apprenticeship Plan – whose specific details coming from the Trump Administration both Reardon and area Labor Leaders agreed have been “very foggy.”  While several Labor Leaders asserted Trump’s program “meets the needs of employers,” Reardon admitted that those in State Government “really don’t know what it all means.”

In regards to public transportation, Reardon said the State Department of Labor was also looking to address “significant challenges for communities” that do not have adequate public transportation, which in some communities like the City of Niagara Falls – which has one of the State’s highest levels of poverty, actually hampers poor people from gaining employment. 

“In Niagara Falls, forty-percent of the population ‘can’t get’ to (nearby) Grand Island (where an employer has a number of good-paying, but unfilled jobs).  We’re having some ‘creative conversations’ (so those who are unemployed without transportation access to jobs like that can take advantage of such employment situation),” she said.

In the end, it was agreed that the meeting had a positive outcome, as it was viewed as “relationship-building in difficult times.”

Both sides have to learn “how to move forward in this ‘new world,’” Reardon said.