CONTRACT '07 Update #3

GOER Director Named

Governor Eliot Spitzer has named Gary Johnson to serve as the Director of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER). GOER is the State's labor-relations agency responsible for negotiating and administering 14 state employee contracts. In the absence of a Director none of the unions have begun negotiations despite imminent expiration of several of the contracts. This appointment clearly signals that the State is now in a position to begin scheduling negotiations for those units with a lead negotiator assigned. Director Johnson will now need to appoint a lead negotiator to the PEF unit to fill the vacancy left by a resignation.

Mr. Johnson has most recently served as Associate Counsel for the New York State United Teachers and previously served as Associate Counsel and Director of Litigation for the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the agency responsible for the state's public employee fair employment law.