Gov. Cuomo began the process to lay off 3,500 workers Tuesday night after the state’s second-largest employee union rejected a contract that would have avoided job cuts. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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Cuomo urged Public Employees Federation members to reconsider, while a top administration official slammed union leaders and warned layoffs would start promptly unless a new vote was scheduled.
“We spent months working with PEF’s leadership and reached an agreement,” said Director of State Operations Howard Glaser. “We now find out that they do not truly represent their membership.”
Glaser blamed the contract’s defeat on the failure of PEF leaders to “effectively communicate” the deal’s benefits to members.
Layoff notices went out to PEF workers late yesterday and take effect in 21 days, another administration official said.
PEF spokeswoman Darcy Wells said it’s too early to say if union leaders would schedule a new vote, but noted the overwhelming message from the membership was that the contract was unacceptable.
Earlier in the day, Union President Ken Brynien said PEF members “clearly feel they are being asked to sacrifice more than others, particularly in light of the pending expiration of the state’s millionaire’s tax.”
Brynien called on Cuomo to return to the bargaining table.
Union members voted, 54% to 46%, to reject the five-year deal that called for employees to forgo raises for the first three years and accept 2% increases in each of the final two years. The deal, announced over the summer, also called for union members to pay more for health insurance.
