February 05, 2009
State unions nix salary freeze
Although Governor David Paterson is counting on $301 million worth of employee "givebacks, " he has yet to begin negotiations with public employee unions, who told legislators he shouldn't bother.
Absent union concessions, the Paterson administration may be forced to layoff hundreds of state employees.
At legislative budget hearings Wednesday, officials of the Civil Service Employees Association, Public Employees Federation and United University Professions rejected the proposed two "givebacks," which would require re-opening union contracts (here).
- Defer 5 days of salary payments in 2009-10 until an employee leaves state service or the fiscal crisis is declared to be ended (whichever comes first). At such time, employees will be entitled to a lump sum payment based upon the rate of basic annual salary then in effect....(2009-10 Savings: $121 million; 2010-11 savings: $0)
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Eliminate Scheduled 2009-10 Salary Increases. Eliminate salary increases scheduled for 2009-10. These increases were negotiated during better fiscal times. Even after this action, over the four-year life of their contract most workers would still receive a salary increase of 10 percent (3 percent in 2007-08, 3 percent in 2008-09, 4 percent in 2010-11). (2009-10 Savings: $180 million; 2010-11 Savings: $180 million)
"We told them we could not and would not open our contract," Fran Turner of CSEA told legislators.
Paterson has not said how many state workers might lose their jobs if the unions continue to reject the salary freeze and five-day wage deferral.
Assembly Government Employees Committee Chair Peter Abbate, noting that the state's new fiscal year begins April 1, asked why the Paterson administration formally asked the unions to reopen their contracts.
"Everybody understands the lay of the land. We haven't engaged yet," explained Gary Johnson, director of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, which negotiates with unions.
Union reps also turned thumbs down on other efforts by Paterson to trim employee costs. These require legislative, but not union, approval. (here.) - Create Tier 5 pension tier for newly hired state and local government employees. Participants would contribute 3 percent toward their pensions and the minimum retirement age would return to 62 from 55.
- Require future retirees who have less than 30 years for the state to contribute between 12 and 50 percent toward their individual post-employment health insurance. Today all retirees--even those with only 10 years of service--contribute only 10 percent for individual coverage and 25 percent for dependent coverage.
- Require retirees and state employees over 65 to contribute to their Medicaid Part B premiums. According to the Division of the Budget, this "would increase annual premium costs to employees and retirees by approximately $20-30 for individual coverage and $80 for family coverage. (2009-10 Savings: $30 million; 2010-11 Savings: $30 million)."
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