Gov. Dannel P. Mallloy’s budget director and his team are preparing for the possibility that unionized Connecticut state workers will not ratify a labor savings and concessions deal that’s needed to balance the new, two-year $40.1 billion budget, The Associated Press reports.
Roy Occhiogrosso, the Democratic governor’s senior adviser, said Malloy has directed Benjamin Barnes to continue working on a plan to present to the General Assembly on how to close a $700 million to $800 million gap in the first year of the budget, which begins on July 1.
The proposed $1.6 billion concession package took a potentially fatal blow late Tuesday after a major AFSCME bargaining unit rejected the deal. It’s likely that vote will dispel any chances of the concessions being ratified by state labor unions.
Occhiogrosso said Malloy still hopes workers will ratify the deal, but has always understood the tentative agreement could be shot down. Fourteen out of the 15 state employee unions must approve the changes to health, pension and wages. Voting ends on Friday
Malloy has said he will need to layoff as many as 7,500 state workers if the concession package is not approved.
