TALC Letter to Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello Regarding Her Failure to Sign CSEA Contract

The following letter was sent to Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello and Troy City Council Members regarding the Mantello administration's ongoing failure to sign the ratified CSEA contract.

Dear Mayor Mantello,

It has come to the attention of the Troy Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO that your administration refuses to communicate in a timely and effective manner about signing the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Rensselaer County Local 842 and its City of Troy Unit. To be specific, it seems that your administration has engaged in an ongoing pattern of refusal to communicate about whether it will sign the agreement or what concerns preclude signing it. What few communications CSEA has received have provided no clarity about the City's position, denied responsibility to engage in the process in a timely manner, and made a bizarre and arbitrary demand (i.e., reading the draft out loud, word-for-word) for CSEA representatives to fulfill. 

This pattern of behavior effectively amounts to a refusal to sign the agreement. This refusal comes after the conclusion of negotiations and the subsequent ratification of the agreement by Troy CSEA members and the Troy City Council last year. We understand that since November 2025, your administration has been in possession of a draft agreement and, despite numerous inquiries by CSEA representatives, your administration has offered no substantive feedback whatsoever and yet refuses to sign the agreement.

While TALC appreciates that due diligence is required to ensure the mutually agreed-upon terms of the agreement are reflected in a final draft before signing and executing the agreement, your administration’s actions do not indicate any such thoroughness. Instead, by refusing to sign the agreement, you are showing a lack of respect for Troy’s workforce and, whether intentionally or not, undermining their ability to exercise their rights as union members by denying them a crucial reference to their contractual rights and the negotiated terms and conditions of their employment. As a result of your stalling, you have forced CSEA to pursue improper practices charges with the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, which will drain precious City resources and capacity, all because your administration refuses to meet its basic legal obligations with its workforce and their union representatives.

We write to urge you to do something very simple: do your job. You are the city’s chief executive officer and members of your administration negotiated and secured an agreement with Troy CSEA that was ultimately ratified by the union and the Troy City Council. Direct the City’s Corporation Counsel to review the draft agreement prepared by CSEA’s representatives, resolve any remaining discrepancies in collaboration with the CSEA’s representatives, and finally sign the agreement. Troy’s workforce works tirelessly to make Troy work and the least you and your administration could do to show them respect for these efforts would be to ensure they understand their rights and obligations as city employees.

Sincerely,

Sean Collins
President, Troy Area Labor Council