The law provides for mediation and binding arbitration to give voice to unions, but work stoppages are made punishable with fines and jail time.
Following a 2005 strike, Transit Workers' president Roger Toussaint was incarcerated for three days under a Taylor Law ruling.
One of the most controversial parts of the Taylor Law is Section 210, which prohibits New York state public employees from striking.
For certain unions, primarily law enforcement, it provides for compelling binding PERB arbitration in the event of an impasse in negotiations.
For all others, except for law enforcement unions, it provides for non-binding "fact-finding," in which a panel of arbitrators make a recommendation to the parties on what is considered a fair settlement of the dispute.
The law was put into effect in 1967, following costly transit strikes the previous year and is named for George W. Taylor, chairman of the commission appointed by NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller to propose amendments to the 1947 Condon–Wadlin Act.
Some unions believe it would be fundamentally unfair to eliminate the Triborough Amendment but at the same time continuing the Taylor Law's prohibition against strikes.
[citation needed] The Buffalo Teachers Federation, for instance, illegally struck in September 2000, which delayed the start of the school year.