Allegro
Legislative Update
Volume CII, No. 10October, 2002
LEGISLATURE PASSES MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BILL
GROWING NUMBERS OF NEW YORKERS ARE UNINSURED
WORKERS PAY MORE FOR INSURANCE
NYFA ANNOUNCES NEW YORK ARTS RECOVERY FUND GRANTS
AFL-CIO KICKS OFF ONLINE LABOR DAY
LEGISLATURE PASSES MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BILL
In the last two weeks of the 2002 legislative session, bills were passed in the State Senate and Assembly that would forbid the use of state funds, or taxpayer dollars, to deter union organizing initiatives. Gov. Pataki signed the bill at the end of July.
The legislation requires companies that receive state funding to keep financial records and submit to audits to ensure no public money is used to discourage organizing drives. It does not prohibit employers from using their own funds to communicate with workers fairly and freely.
“This legislation stands for the principle that the government should not use taxpayer dollars to subsidize an employer’s costs related to influencing their employees’ decision about whether to form or join a union,” said New York State AFL-CIO President Dennis Hughes. “That decision should be left to employees, without state-funded employer interference.”
In addition, legislation was passed by both houses to enact the New York State Apparel Workers Fair Labor Conditions and Procurement Act, authorizing SUNY and CUNY, as state agencies, to consider labor standards and working conditions when purchasing apparel.
GROWING NUMBERS OF NEW YORKERS ARE UNINSURED
Despite the creation of programs to provide health coverage, the percentage of uninsured individuals in New York City grew in the late 1990s, according to a study by the United Hospital Fund. The study found that 25 percent of New York City residents under the age of 65 lacked coverage in 2000, a slight increase over the 1995 level. That is far higher than the rate of 16 percent uninsured nationwide in 2000.
WORKERS PAY MORE FOR INSURANCE
Sharply rising health care costs and the downturn in the economy have resulted in higher premium contributions and cost-sharing requirements for workers, and cutbacks in the scope of health benefits offered by firms, according to a new survey. The annual survey of employer health benefit plans was released on Sept. 5 by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust. It was conducted between January and May of this year, and surveyed 3,262 randomly selected public and private firms ranging in size from three to more than 300,000 employees. Findings appear in the September/October issue of the journal Health Affairs.
NYFA ANNOUNCES NEW YORK ARTS RECOVERY FUND GRANTS
The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) announced on Aug. 12 that the New York Arts Recovery Fund, created to respond to the post-Sept. 11 fiscal crisis for individual artists and arts organizations, has distributed $4,635,000 to 135 organizations and 352 individuals in New York City.
The grants enable resumption of artistic work in New York City, and were based on proof of measurable financial loss due to the World Trade Center attacks, including loss of income, physical loss and damage to property or health, relocation costs, or other specific economic harm. Grants to nonprofit arts organizations were made up to $50,000 each; grants to artists and small businesses were made up to $10,000 each.
The Arts Recovery Fund was launched in November 2001 with gifts from the Rockefeller Foundation and Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, and later received a $2.65 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which made similar grants to the American Music Center and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York.
AFL-CIO KICKS OFF ONLINE LABOR DAY
The AFL-CIO opened the third annual Online Labor Day Festival on Aug. 21. Workers visited the “biggest hometown Labor Day festival in the USA” at laborday.aflcio.org to nominate working heroes, vote for “corporate zeroes,” meet former Enron and WorldCom workers, take action through online campaigns and e-activism, and send Labor Day e-cards. According to a recent AFL-CIO survey, 70 percent of union members are currently online. “This festival brings together the best of the union movement’s culture and history in a powerful way that’s building for the future,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.