The 2019 NYS Fiscal Budget was completed two days before its April 1st deadline. While $1 million was allocated to investigate wage theft, new legislation introduced into the budget to soften the blow that the Supreme Court case Janus vs. AFSCME ruling could have.

The budget that was allocated to investigate wage theft is part of a larger goal to return nearly $40 million to individuals who fell prey to poor business practices in in the past two years. The money is meant to expand the DOL’s investigatory staff, according to the Governors website.

The bill meant to act as a safeguard for the potential Janus ruling will narrow some services offered by unions to dues-paying members only. According to an article posted on The Chief Leader, the bill limits representation in arbitration and grievance hearings to union members, and will not be covered under fair-share fees. Originally, these services were covered under fair-share dues-the issue at the heart of Janus. “The lead plaintiff in the case before the high court, Janus v. AFSCME, has contended that because public-employee unions are dealing with government employers, all their activities are political in nature, including wage negotiations and matters involving working conditions.”, noted the article on The Chief Leader, linked below.

About a week after that, Cuomo signed another bill to help New York’s unions. The secondary bill, signed on the 12th, provides incentives rather than budget protection like the legislation signed into the 2019 budget. The perks, according to amNY, require unions to protect member’s benefits during leave, allow members to pay dues electronically, allows a 30-day window for public employees to notify their union of the position they’ve been hired to and to sign up for membership. It also makes all union benefits immediately effective at time of hire. Many union officials, namely leaders from UFT as well as the president of AFL-CIO, came out in support of the bill when it was signed.

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