Not Charity but Justice: Charles Gore, Workers, and the Way
![handle is hein.journals/cathl50 and id is 281 raw text is: NOT CHARITY BUT JUSTICE: CHARLES
GORE, WORKERS, AND THE WAY
JOHN F. WIRENIUSt
INTRODUCTION
In New York, public policy favors collective bargaining for
public sector employees. Legislators have enshrined this policy
in the Taylor Law' and its local equivalents, such as the New
York City Collective Bargaining Law (NYCCBL).2 The New
York State Court of Appeals has described this public policy as
strong and sweeping, and even where disputes implicate the
contours of collective bargaining, the fundamental importance of
its role has not been seriously questioned.3 However, an ongoing
t J.D., Columbia Law School; B.A., Fordham College; Deputy General Counsel of
the New York City of Collective Bargaining. The opinions expressed herein are
solely those of the author, and do not reflect those of the Office of Collective
Bargaining. The author would like to thank his wife, Catherine Pugh Isobe. This
Article is dedicated to the Rev. Deacon J.D. Clarke, who walks the Way.
1 See N.Y. Civ. SERV. LAW § 200 (McKinney 2011) ([It is the public policy of the
state ... [to grant] public employees the right of organization and representation
[and to] requir[e] the state, local governments and other political subdivisions to
negotiate with, and enter into written agreements with . . organizations
representing public employees... .); see generally id. §§ 200-14 (encompassing
Article 14 of the Civil Service Law).
2 For example, Section 212 of the Civil Service Law allows municipalities to
enact a local option, pursuant to which New York City enacted the New York City
Collective Bargaining Law (NYCCBL). Mayor of N.Y. v, Council of City of N.Y., 9
N.Y.3d 23, 28, 874 N.E.2d 706, 708 (2007); see N.Y. CIV. SERV. LAW § 212 (McKinney
2011); see also NEW YORK, N.Y. ADMIN. CODE tit. 12, ch. 3, §12-302 (West, Westlaw
through L. 2010, ch. 568 and Local Law 65 of 2010) (It is hereby declared to be the
policy of the city to favor and encourage the right of municipal employees to organize
and be represented . . . .). The principal work on the Taylor Law and the NYCCBL
is 1 PUBLIC SECTOR LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW (Jerome Lefkowitz et al. eds., 3d
ed. 2008). For a discussion of the passage of the Taylor Law see 1 PUBLIC SECTOR
LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW, supra, at 24-26. For an extensive description of the
NYCCBL, see id. at 979-1021.
3 See City of New York v. Patrolmen's Benevolent Ass'n, 14 N.Y.3d 46, 51-52,
57, 58 n.11, 924 N.E.2d 336, 338, 343 & n.11, 897 N.Y.S.2d 382, 384, 389 & n.11
(2009) (discussing the Taylor Law, NYCCBL, and New York State and City labor
policy in general); see also City of Watertown v. N.Y. Pub. Emp't Relations Bd., 95
N.Y.2d 73, 78-79, 733 N.E.2d 171, 173-74, 711 N.Y.S.2d 99, 101-02 (2000)
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Not Charity but Justice: Charles Gore, Workers, and the Way
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