Post by onthejob on Nov 3, 2011 17:06:55 GMT -5
State workers ratify contract, avoid layoffs
November 3, 2011 by TED PHILLIPS / ted.phillips@newsday.com
Members of the second largest state employees union ratified a four-year contract Thursday, staving off 3,496 layoffs.
The labor agreement was approved by 70 percent of 39,363 New York State Public Employees Federation members who cast votes. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had ordered the layoffs after union members rejected a deal in September.
"Although this was a difficult decision for our members, it demonstrates they are willing to do their part to put New York State on a stable financial footing, as all New Yorkers should, and are helping to resolve a fiscal crisis for which they were not responsible," said PEF president Ken Brynien in a news release.
The first vote was a rare rebuke to the governor, who initially refused to budge on renegotiations. Cuomo softened his stance, but said any new agreement had to be revenue neutral.
Like the rejected contract, the revision keeps three years of salary freezes, furloughs and increased employee health care costs. Some differences are that workers can be reimbursed for their furlough days so that won't affect final average salaries that are used to calculate pension, and vacation days can be used to offset increased health care costs.
November 3, 2011 by TED PHILLIPS / ted.phillips@newsday.com
Members of the second largest state employees union ratified a four-year contract Thursday, staving off 3,496 layoffs.
The labor agreement was approved by 70 percent of 39,363 New York State Public Employees Federation members who cast votes. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had ordered the layoffs after union members rejected a deal in September.
"Although this was a difficult decision for our members, it demonstrates they are willing to do their part to put New York State on a stable financial footing, as all New Yorkers should, and are helping to resolve a fiscal crisis for which they were not responsible," said PEF president Ken Brynien in a news release.
The first vote was a rare rebuke to the governor, who initially refused to budge on renegotiations. Cuomo softened his stance, but said any new agreement had to be revenue neutral.
Like the rejected contract, the revision keeps three years of salary freezes, furloughs and increased employee health care costs. Some differences are that workers can be reimbursed for their furlough days so that won't affect final average salaries that are used to calculate pension, and vacation days can be used to offset increased health care costs.
