Governor calls for immediate layoffs

By Eileen Buckley

Albany, NY – Governor David Paterson is threatening state worker layoffs once again and the unions are responding.

After throwing out a first pitch at a ball game in Albany Monday, Paterson told reporters he believes planning for layoffs is going to have to begin immediately.

But the governor does not know when those layoffs would occur.

"I don't know what the date would be, but we would have to have layoffs. But since the workforce would not negotiate lag period, which would have been a shared sacrifice for everybody, or a furlough, which would have been a process where everyone gave a little so that everyone can stay working, some unfortunate people who doesn't deserve it are going to get laid off. And it burns me to have to say that," said Paterson.

Paterson claims it is "the only way to balance budget." The Governor said he did not get cooperation from the unions in negotiations.

But some of the state's largest unions are firing back.

The Civil Service Employees Union is reminding Governor Paterson that it has a binding agreement against layoffs.

"Governor Paterson knows full well that he has a binding agreement with CSEA that has been upheld by the courts precluding layoffs before 2011. He should also know that talk of layoffs under these circumstances is counterproductive, impractical and bad for New Yorkers all around. They may also constitute bad faith bargaining," said CSEA President Danny Donohue.

The CSEA said the governor can't have it both ways. The union claims it has tried repeatedly to work constructively with the Paterson administration, but its continuing assault on the state work force undermines the very basis of good labor-management relations.

The Public Employees Federation is also sounding off against Paterson's threat of layoffs. The union said it is unconscionable for Paterson to continue scapegoating state employees and their families for the fiscal crisis.

"The governor was irresponsible in his remarks at an event today to suggest the possibility of layoffs within the state work force when it is still unclear how many state employees will leave state service through the early retirement incentive," said PEF President Kenneth Brynien.