LEGISLATURE PASSES MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BILL
NYC COUNCIL UNVEILS PROPOSAL ON HOUSING FUNDS
DCA ANNOUNCES CULTURAL CHALLENGE GRANTEES
SUIT OVER MUSIC PRICING IS SETTLED
802-ENDORSED CANDIDATES PREVAILED IN PRIMARIES

LEGISLATURE PASSES MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BILL

Legislation passed in the New York State Senate and Assembly that would forbid the use of state funds or taxpayer dollars to deter union organizing initiatives. It requires companies that receive state funding to keep financial records and submit to audits to ensure that no money is used to discourage organizing drives.

“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. This is also a victory for taxpayers of this state. They will now be assured that their hard earned tax dollars will be used toward the services for which they were originally appropriated,” said New York State AFL-CIO President Dennis Hughes.

The legislation does not prohibit employers from using their own funds to wage an anti-union campaign.

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NYC COUNCIL UNVEILS PROPOSAL ON HOUSING FUNDS

City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and Councilmembers Alan Gerson, Bill DeBlasio, James Sanders Jr., Maria Baez, and Madeline Provenzano have called on Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg to use federally authorized Liberty Bonds to build more affordable housing units in New York City.

Congress passed legislation authorizing the city and state to issue $4 billion each in tax-exempt bonds to help rebuild Lower Manhattan. The program allows for $1.6 billion in total ($800 million for New York City and $800 million for New York State) to develop residential rental real estate located in the New York Liberty Zone, defined as the area south of Canal Street, across to East Broadway, and Grand Street from the Hudson to the East Rivers.

The City Council’s proposal would require that no less than 35 percent of the total units built, or 1750 units, are affordable to families making between $50,240 and $94,200; and no less than 20 percent, or 1,000 units of the total units built, are affordable to low and very low-income families.

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DCA ANNOUNCES CULTURAL CHALLENGE GRANTEES

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Department announced awards to 156 grantees, totaling $5 million, for its Cultural Challenge Program, which is designed to encourage private giving to New York City’s artistic and cultural organizations through a publicly-funded matching effort. The grants were divided into three categories: Art in Natural Settings (29 awards total), Careers in the Arts (34 awards), and Creation of New Work (93 awards).

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SUIT OVER MUSIC PRICING IS SETTLED

Five large music labels and three national retailers settled a lawsuit that charged them with price fixing. Although none of the companies admitted to wrongdoing, they agreed to refund $467.4 million to consumers who purchased compact discs from 1995 to 2000 and to eliminate policies that set minimum prices for advertised CDs.

New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer led the plaintiffs, which included 40 states, in a lawsuit that charged the music industry and retailers with unlawfully colluding to keep prices of CDs artificially high through policies that require retailers – who accept subsidies from music companies for advertising CD’s – to not promote the items below an agreed price.

The record industry defendants are the Bertelsmann Music Group, EMI Music Distribution, the Warner-Electra-Atlantic Corporation, Sony Music Entertainment and the Universal Music Group. The retailer defendants are Trans World Entertainment, Tower Records and Musicland.

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802-ENDORSED CANDIDATES PREVAILED IN PRIMARIES

Local 802 congratulates primary winners Carl McCall (governor) Danny O’Donnell (69th assembly district), Kevin Parker (21st senate district), Jose Peralta (39th assembly district) and Eric Schneiderman (31st senate district) for their successes in the New York State primary races. The general election is Nov. 5.

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