New York: Layoffs Still In Talks

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of the state of New York is in Albany this week attending a series of events, as the state reaches ever close to its deadline for a large series of worker layoffs. While aides to the governor are saying the he will stick to the deadline of October 19th for the layoffs of the state workers. While there is still some discussion about the issue between the governor and the union, there is only a slim chance that thing will be resolved in the few days before the deadline.

If the layoffs happen as they look like they will at the current moment then members of the Public Employees Federation, a union for civil service workers, will lose their jobs as part of a way that the state will balance their budget. In order to try to avert the job losses the union is trying to figure out if they can get to the 56,000 members of their union can be reached for a vote to potentially approve a contract that could save some, but not all of the jobs.

Today, there will be a 9 a.m. really at the union’s headquarters, but this solid public display is matched with some private delays. A meeting of the executive board of the union that was set for late last right was postponed for the next morning.

That having been said, the fact that there are still negotiations going on at this late of a point is a good thing. The Public Employees Federation is still in talks with the state and the negotiations have not ended. If the state and the union could come to an agreement then it is possible to save some, if not all of the soon-to-be-displaced jobs. Though the hope is slim. Many people who are close to the union says that it is unlikely that there will be a completed agreement that will come of it before the deadline and approved by the union members.

For those of you who have not been following our coverage of the negotiations and the potential layoffs of New York state workers the stakes are fairly high. If the layoffs cannot be avoided then roughly 3500 workers will be out of jobs, and without incomes. The city and the union have been in negotiation for several months, since a failure to ratify the contract during the summer.

The union member would not ratify the contract because it required them to allow the city to dip into their health care fund in order to balance the budget for the coming fiscal year. That does not mean that the union members have been completely intractable to the changes that the state will need to make in order to help the state to balance its budget. The union has made several counter offers to the governor, who has rejected them all. Some of the deals offered included a wage freeze for all union employees and paying a greater share of their own health care expenses.