Gov. Cuomo begins process to lay off 3,500 workers after union rejects tentative contract

[FarCenter]

Gov. Cuomo began the process to lay off 3,500 workers Tuesday night after the state's second-largest employee union rejected a tentative contract that would have avoided job cuts.

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.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/09/27/2011-09-27_public_employees_federation_takes_slap_at_gov_andrew_cuomo_rejects_5year_contrac.html

[Historic NY]

1. From July press release that annnounced the deal.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-07-17/news/29800935_1_cuomo-administration-public-employees-federation-full-union-membership

The deal with the Public Employees Federation includes three years of pay freezes, with a $1,000 bonus in the third year. There will be a 2% raise in each of the fourth and fifth years.

It also includes nine unpaid days off over the next two years - though workers will be repaid some of the lost time at the end of the contract.

And the PEF, with 54,000 members, agreed to pay more for worker health insurance coverage as well as other changes to the insurance system.

In exchange, the state agrees not to lay off any of the union's workers as part of a plan to save $450 million in workforce costs this year.

As talks dragged on, the Cuomo administration sent out layoff notices to hundreds of PEF workers that will now be rescinded.

The PEF deal saves the state $42 million this year and $193 million over the five years.

The deal mirrors that reached with the state's largest workers' union, the Civil Service Employees Association, several weeks ago. Without the agreements, Cuomo had talked of laying off up to 9,800 employees.

Union President Kenneth Brynien called the deal, which must be ratified by the full union membership, "the best agreement that could be negotiated in the current environment."

"This was a difficult agreement to reach," he said, "but with our members' jobs in peril and the state's fiscal hardship we've stepped up and made the necessary sacrifices."

[frazzled]

2. Why aren't we calling for Cuomo's head?

As long as we've been discussing double-standards lately, I'm just wondering why this (and other Democratic governors and mayors, such as Villaraigosa, who have done similar things) get such even-handed or no response, while, say, when Rahm Emanuel threatened 650 layoffs due to city-union inability to negotiate it got major "scum! whore!" posts.

I'm of course not suggesting we should be calling for Cuomo's head. Just confused as to what the standard is.