CSEA, the largest employee union in Monroe County, declared a contract impasse on May 2. Impasse was declared with the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) after the negotiating team polled members and determined that a final contract could not be reached without assistance from a mediator.

The fact remains Monroe County has not bargained in good faith as they report—if they did nearly 1,800 CSEA represented employees would have not filed for contract impasse with PERB; we would not have six out of eight bargaining units without contracts and we wouldn’t have county employees picketing on the steps of Monroe County Office Building. Due to the apparent inability of the county to negotiate in good faith, CSEA believes employee morale has been completely undermined and county operations have been seriously compromised.

Monroe County communications director William Napier responded in a statement to the media on

August 9, saying in part, “The union’s health insurance benefits are unsustainable, so the county asked unions to make health insurance concessions in exchange for raises.”

Here are the facts. What is unsustainable is the spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars to an

outsourced law firm and not using qualified lawyers who are already employed in the county law department. For several years in a row, taxpayer dollars have been needlessly wasted on padding private salaries of top donors to the local GOP. These same tax dollars could have prevented the loss of 41 experienced law enforcement officers and settled nearly all the costing out calculations of every contract the county negotiates.

County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo has the opportunity to stand with thousands of workers who deliver vital public services—or she can stand with one bad agent in senior management and a law firm motivated by profit. Please sign this petition to ask County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo to fire Harris Beach law firm and to negotiate labor agreements in good faith.