Leaders of the Connecticut state employee unions have voted to amend their coalition’s complicated bylaws in hopes of stopping thousands of layoffs and deep budget cuts, The Associated Press reports.
The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, in a message posted to unionized members on Monday, said the revised rules would require a majority of per capita votes cast and a majority of the SEBAC voting unions “to conclude negotiations.”
A deal reached between SEBAC and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy failed last month after not enough SEBAC member votes voted in favor of the agreement. The SEBAC rules required a high threshold for making changes to a 20-year health and retirement benefit contract.
Malloy has said he wants assurances that a new agreement can pass and has urged SEBAC to change their rules.
“It’s good news that the unions have changed their ratification process to one that respects the will of the majority,” Malloy said in a written statement. “Over the next few days Mark Ojakian will be speaking with SEBAC leaders to understand which issues in the agreement need to be clarified. Given the limited number of issues that have been identified as problematic, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to have a clarified agreement that’s ready to be voted on by all state employees.”
