Nicole has a New York Post op-ed today on how last week’s budget-busting arbitration award to transit workers has underscored the need for more openness in public-sector collective bargaining.

If the MTA had had to release details of its generous offers in the fall, the press would’ve had a chance to ask MTA officials to justify their generous offers back then — and to ask the governor whether he supported generous raises not available in the private sector, too, even as taxpayers were being asked to fork over more.

New York’s state and local governments don’t just negotiate union contracts in secret; in many cases, they also attempt to keep tentative agreements secret until it is too late for the public to object.    The Empire Center’s November 2008 Policy Briefing paper documents the problem–and explains what needs to be done about it.