COMPTROLLER LIU CALLS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF PEP / VERIZON VOTE

Here is more from NYC Comptroller Liu's office weighing in on the Panel for Educational Policy to postpone tonight’s vote to approve Verizons $175 million contract with the NYC DOE.

A balance protecting our middle class and corporations from unfair competitive practices needs to be found. Is Verizon at a disadvantage if it does not outsource workers or if it pays health benefits to its employees? If so regulation needs to be passed. In addition, transparency must be a top priority for all government contracts. It’s our money!!!!

Tonight’s rally and PEP meeting should be interesting. Major issues related to how labor, management and regulators interact are at stake. Hopefully the middle class will not be bull dozed over. Hopefully the middle class will keep track of who our champions are during negotiations and remember them at the ballot box. Once again our long term corporate profits and our democracy are tied to the American middle class. Choking America’s middle class would only provide short term profits for a select few and prevent a needed recovery at the cost of what our nation stands for; a strong middle class.

Gregory
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COMPTROLLER LIU CALLS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF PEP / VERIZON VOTE
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NEW YORK, NY – City Comptroller John C. Liu issued the following statement in response to questions about tonight’s Panel for Educational Policy vote:

“The members of the Panel for Educational Policy should act appropriately and postpone the vote to allow the DOE to pay Verizon $120 million until a resolution is reached in the company’s ongoing labor dispute. Now is not the time to fund new projects, especially as thousands of New Yorkers and their families are in danger of losing their benefits. No City agency should take sides in a disagreement between labor and management, and a ‘yes’ vote would equate to a validation of Verizon’s demands. Instead, the suitable action would be to wait until an agreement is reached. My office remains available to assist both sides in any way possible.”

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NOTE: In May, Comptroller Liu registered a contract between the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications and Telesector Resources Group, Inc. (a Verizon subsidiary) to provide citywide landline and voicemail services as part of an agency-wide consolidation effort.

The contract is valued at $175 million and specified that DoITT was the lead agency, with a number of additional city agencies able to utilize Telesector services. Today, the NYC Panel for Education Policy is set to vote to allow DOE to allocate $120 million to Telesector, while an ongoing labor dispute is taking place.