New York City Mayor's Closed Meeting With CWA Violates State Educations Laws, Possibly Conflict of Interest Rules, Report Says
A Communications Workers of America (CWA) meeting in July with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio violated state education laws and city Department of Education (DOE) regulations, the city's Department of Investigation (DOI) and DOE Special Commissioner for Investigation…
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Richard Condon said Tuesday in a report. The meeting, held at Public School 66 in Brooklyn while CWA Local 1182 was negotiating a new contract with Cablevision, was billed as a way for CWA workers to tell de Blasio about their dispute with the cable company. De Blasio, a Democrat, said in prepared remarks for the meeting that he was with CWA workers “every step of the way.” CWA barred media and the public from the meeting, which violates state laws regarding access to public school property, New York City DOE and DOI said in the report. The meeting also may have violated New York City Charter rules on conflicts of interest, the state DOI said. A de Blasio spokesman said the mistake was “inadvertent” and that de Blasio’s office will work to ensure it’s not repeated. CWA apologized for violating New York City DOE rules on open meetings and “will be sure to comply with such rules in the future,” Bob Master, CWA political director-District One, said in a statement. “We hope that likewise, Cablevision will move expeditiously to comply with federal labor law, which it has repeatedly and flagrantly violated for the last three years.” Cablevision criticized de Blasio and CWA in a statement, saying they had “cooked up this secret political meeting on behalf of the CWA in a New York public school.” Cablevision employees in Brooklyn have twice sought and failed to receive National Labor Relations Board approval of a vote to decertify from CWA, the company said.