End of a state authority leads to layoffs, labor boycott of
state fair  All candidates for statewide office in Albany
promise (or threaten) reform to state agencies and authorities,
and the labor situation at the New York State Fair is a preview
of what happens when the state dismantles administrative
structures dating back to the Great Depression.  Last year, the
Legislature dissolved the Industrial Exhibit Authority, set up
to handle federal money provided in the New Deal era to build
and improve buildings at the State Fairgrounds in Geddes. At the
time, state representatives made incorrect predictions about the
effect that dissolving the IEA might have on the Fair’s
employees. According to the Syracuse Post-Standard:  A
spokesperson for the state agriculture department said at the
time that there would be no layoffs and the public would not
notice a difference in the fair’s entertainment and exhibits.
The State Fair laid off 20 year-round workers back in May, and
the Syracuse Post-Standard reports that in