Crains New York - February 11, 2013 - (Page 6)

Rockefeller vs. Rockefeller on paid sick days debate BY CHRIS BRAGG The Rockefellers, one of the world’s most generous philanthropic families, apparently find themselves on both sides of New York City’s rancorous debate over a bill mandating that businesses offer employees paid sick days. Over the past several years, the Rockefeller Family Fund, a nonprofit established in 1967 by New York Republican Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, has given at least $250,000 toward the union-led push to require companies to offer paid time off. The nonprofit’s $7 million 2010 operating budget came from outside donations and interest accrued from an endowment funded by the family fortune, initially earned by Standard Oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller more than a century ago. Money for mayoral forums Then, in December, the far larger Rockefeller Foundation announced a $100,000 grant to a nonprofit arm of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. The mon- ey will be used to hold 2013 mayoral forums highlighting business issues—and for many small businesses, especially restaurants and retailers, there is no concern more pressing than legislation that would require them to pay for time off if an employee calls in sick. “If this was a way to say the Rockefeller family was split on the issue, it was a smart way to do it,” said one left-leaning source, noting that the Rockefeller Foundation’s grant was smaller than the Family Fund’s, despite its annual spending being much greater. The net assets of the Rockefeller Foundation, established in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller, are $3.5 billion. In 2011, it gave away $132 million, according to its most recent tax return. The Rockefeller Family Fund, meanwhile, has $92.7 million in net assets. It gave out $14.8 million in 2010, tax records show. A spokesman for the Rockefeller Foundation stressed that the grant was not intended to push against paid sick leave. The president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Carlo Scissura, said the paid sick leave push is one of “a dozen” business issues that will be discussed at the mayoral forums. Still, small businesses consider opposition to paid sick leave a top legislative issue. A left turn The split may be explained in part by family dynamics.The fourth generation of Rockefellers, the children of the famous five “Rockefeller brothers” that included Nelson, took a liberal turn from their predecessors, which has helped shape the leftleaning direction of the Rockefeller Family Fund. The group also promotes environmental and women’s issues. Every member of the board is either a Rockefeller or the spouse of one. An official at the nonprofit declined to comment. Meanwhile, the multinational Rockefeller Foundation at times has not had a family member on its board in recent years, though its chairman is David Rockefeller Jr., the current patriarch of the family. The irony of the potentially dueling grants has not escaped some interested observers. “They should just pick one side and stick with it,”said Bronx Chamber of Commerce President Lenny Caro, an opponent of the paid sick leave bill. Ⅲ ‘They should just pick one side and stick with it’ is pleased to be appointed by Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation as Exclusive Leasing Agent 622 Third Avenue East 40th and 41st Streets 135 East 57th Street Park and Lexington Avenues Three Park Avenue 34th Street Bruce E. Mosler 212.841.7900 Charles R. Borrok 212.841.7550 David B. Nevins 212.590.5228 David B. Glassman 212.841.7827 Scott A. Silverstein 212.713.6797 Marc Horowitz 212.590.5224 bruce.mosler@cushwake.com david.glassman@cushwake.com 6 | Crain’s New York Business | February 11, 2013 charles.borrok@cushwake.com scott.silverstein@cushwake.com by Chris Bragg dnevins@cohenbrothers.com mhorowitz@cohenbrothers.com newscom Nelson’s foundation funds union-led push, while David’s gives dough to biz effort THE INSIDER Cracks form in labor coalition T he labor-backed Working Families Party for four years has pushed the City Council to require businesses to offer paid sick days. As the 2013 mayoral race heats up, however, cracks are forming within the movement between backers of two Democratic contenders, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio (above). Two big unions within the WFP, the retail workers’ RWDSU and the food workers’ UFCW Local 1500, recently endorsed Ms. Quinn, despite her blocking a vote on the paid sick leave bill. Nonetheless, the WFP continues to pressure Ms. Quinn, creating quite a bit of awkwardness for unions that support paid sick days and the speaker’s candidacy. Several union leaders within the party who lean toward Ms. Quinn charge that the party’s staff is attacking her to help Mr. de Blasio, a labor darling who is seen as party leaders’ favored candidate. Mr. de Blasio is trying to catch Ms. Quinn in the mayoral race by promoting his enthusiastic support for mandatory paid sick leave. Quinn supporter Patrick Purcell, UFCW Local 1500’s political director, said sick-leave proponents should wait for 2014, when a much stronger bill would likely pass with the mayoralty and speakership in different hands. “There has been a shift where this became less about good policy and more focused on political football,” said Mr. Purcell. Any bill that could pass the council now would likely be watered down by Ms. Quinn, who is courting business support for her candidacy. In 2011, she weakened and passed living-wage legislation, cutting off that line of attack from her rivals. Mr. Purcell says he came to see the WFP’s paid sick leave push as more political than policy-driven when Manhattan Councilman Dan Garodnick—without the sign-off of some key union officials within the party—proposed amendments in September to make the paid sick leave bill more palatable to the business community. At the time, Mr. Garodnick was running for city comptroller. Adding to the intrigue, lefty consulting firm BerlinRosen is pushing the candidacies of Mr. Garodnick and Mr. de Blasio while also working for a nationwide advocacy campaign for mandatory paid sick leave. “The more we look at the role that various consultants are playing, we come to the conclusion that this is more about the politics of the mayoral race,” Mr. Purcell said. Other union officials agreed. “Why is the [Working Families Party] still pushing this so hard when it has no chance of passing this year? Knowing them, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it were political,” said Michael McGuire, political director of the Mason Tenders PAC, a WFP member union that is neutral in the mayor’s race but might endorse Ms. Quinn. By going public with their allegations, union leaders favoring Ms. Quinn could be seeking to blunt the attacks on her. Donna Dolan, co-director of the Paid Sick Leave Coalition, of which the WFP unions are members, said it was “ridiculous to call a three-year campaign that has the support of the majority of City Council members and the majority of New Yorkers a stalking horse for any candidate’s political agenda.” WFP Deputy Director Bill Lipton said his party would “love nothing more than to stand side by side with Speaker Quinn as she passes the paid sick days bill into law.” A spokesman for BerlinRosen noted that the firm was promoting mandatory sick leave well before Mr. de Blasio retained its services. Ⅲ Crain’s Insider, our award-winning politics newsletter, is now a blog. Read it every day at www.crainsnewyork.com/insider http://www.crainsnewyork.com/insider

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - February 11, 2013

IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
CORPORATE LADDER
OPINION
GREG DAVID
REPORT: SMALL BUSINESS
THE LIST
CLASSIFIEDS
DIGITAL NY
FOR THE RECORD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - February 11, 2013