Union Head asks Board to Give Up Salaries to Save Union Jobs

Bill Walsh, president of Suffolk Local 852 of the Civil Service Employees Union,  presented a proposition to members of the Riverhead Town Board: Give up your salaries and use the money avoid town layoffs.

At Thursday's Town Board meeting, Walsh said, "I would hope that you all consider – or reconsider, if you have already – foregoing your salaries and your stipends so that four or five residents of the Town of Riverhead and their families won't face the unemployment line."

Councilman John Dunleavy was the first to respond. He wanted to know whether Walsh would be willing to make the same proposal to his wife, Kathleen, a sitting councilwoman on the Brookhaven Town Board.

"Wife or no wife, friend or no friend," he replied, "I will be advocating the same exact thing of the Brookhaven board that I'm advocating for all of you. Let me assure you that you will see me advocating for the same thing if even one person loses his or her job in Brookhaven."

Walsh also charged that the jobs of council members were only "part-time positions anyway," a characterization that angered Councilman George Gabrielsen.

"I just want to correct you one second," Gabrielsen interupted. "It's not a part-time job in Riverhead. Those days are long gone. You find people here at night at 9 or 9:30. Let's not diminish it as just a part-time thing."

"As far as I know, the hours that you put in are hours you chose to serve the residents," Walsh countered, "but it's still listed as a part-time position."

Supervisor Sean Walter told Walsh that two of the six full-time jobs eliminations called for in the town budget for 2011 have already been avoided by moving people into slots that will been funded but currently remain open.

He also said that another two jobs could be saved if the union would agree to forego an across-the-board pay increase next year as called for in its contract.

"If the union gives up the 1.25 percent automatic step increase, we will immediately put back two people," Walter told Walsh. "It's in your court."

Walsh said he couldn't respond since his committee was still studying the proposal. He also suggested that Supervisor Sean Walter give up his use of a town car.

"It's come to my attention that you also have a town vehicle that provides you with free gas and insurance," he told Walter.

The supervisor replied that he would be happy to give up the car if it could be proven – which it hasn't been, he said – that the car the town provides costs more than if he used his own vehicle for town business but charged the town 50 cents per mile.

Walter described a discussion he had had with Bill Rothaar, Riverhead's financial officer, about the 2007 Crown Victoria he had acquired from Phil Cardinale, the former supervisor he defeated last year.

"I was told it's cheaper for me to keep a town vehicle because there's no way I'm not going to charge the town for mileage" he said.  "If it was cheaper for the town to go the other way, I would do it.

"I'm not a rich guy," Walter continued. "I'm not working for free and I don't expect the council members to work for free. I also don't expect your wife to work for free, either."

Walter said there was no way the town could avoid laying off seven part-time workers, as called for in next year's budget.

"We have part-time people making $8,000 a year but also getting 100 percent of their medical insurance costs payed by the town to the tune of $18,000 a year," he said. "We can't do that any more."

Next year's town budget calls for an annual salary of $47,598 for council members and $115,000 for the supervisor. Both numbers are unchanged from the current year.