Gov. Cuomo, PEF Reach 5-Year Labor Agreement

By Dave Lucas

Albany, NY – There is promising news for New York State workers who were slated for layoffs - Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

Nearly 1-thousand union member layoffs are being avoided as the State of New York and the second largest state-employee union, the Public Employees Federation, have reached a tentative agreement. PEF referred requests for comment to a prepared statement which quotes union officials saying PEF made the necessary sacrifices in order to preserve members jobs and careers while bringing long term fiscal stability to the state. The agreement in principle still needs to be ratified by the 56,000 PEF members and approved by the legislature.

The governor's office responded to a request for comment with an email indicating Governor Cuomo is "pleased to avoid layoffs, protect the workforce and the taxpayer".

E.J. McMahon, Senior Fellow with the Manhattan Institute's Empire center for New York State Policy, believes PEF and CSEA members realize they just skated through a severe recession and financial crisis untouched. The new agreement prompted Director of State Operations Howard Glaser to cancel his agency's request for 20-day layoff notices to union members.

The Civil Service Employees Association, the state's biggest public union, reached a tentative deal with Cuomo's administration on June 22nd - it's members will vote starting this week to approve the package, which includes wage freezes and unpaid days off.