SUFFOLK, NY - Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy is blaming the Suffolk County Corrections Officers Association (SCCOA) for an impasse in arbitration between the Association and the Nassau County.

Last week, the Nassau County Legislature was considering a resolution to ask the State to provide mandatory arbitration for a contract impasse with a correction officers' bargaining unit. Mr. Levy called for the SCOAA to agree to allow their impasse to be resolved by a neutral third party, which he says worked in achieving a two-year contract between the Association and Suffolk County last year. Levy's office, on behalf of the Suffolk County government, singled out SCCOA President, Vito Dagnello, saying that Mr. Dagnello was harming his membership by not agreeing with the county to allow their impasse to go to mediation.

Suffolk County's Labor Relations Director, Jeffrey Tempera, said, "It is unheard of for a public safety union head to not utilize the avenue of arbitration when the opportunity exists. This is the first public safety union we know of that has refused to settle a contract by refusing to allow the neutral arbitrators to make the decision."

Mr. Tempera went on to say, "This refusal of Mr. Dagnello to agree to the County Executive's request for arbitration to resolve the negotiations confirms our theory that Mr. Dagnello's ultimate goal is to simply push off any contract until after his union president election campaign has concluded in January, 2007. We believe Mr. Dagnello does not want a contract so that his opponent in the race for union boss will not have the settled contract as an issue in the campaign. Unfortunately, this ploy is selling out his membership which has been without a contract approaching two and one half years."

"We have been ready, willing and able to follow state law and allow this matter to go to arbitration, with either county or state neutral arbitrators," said County Executive Levy. "The ball is, as it has been, in Mr. Dagnello's court."

The Suffolk County Correction Officers Association SCCOA has been without a contract since December 31, 2003. After 13 bargaining sessions over the past two and one-half years, Suffolk County declared an impasse in the talks last month and requested a mediator. If a third party mediator can not resolve the talks, the matter, by law, would be turned over to binding arbitration.