Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has ordered layoff notices be sent Tuesday to 4,742 state workers, part of his ‘Plan B’ strategy to balance the state’s budget.
The decision to start the contractual notice period on layoffs comes after negotiatiors worked into the early morning hours but failed to reach an agreement on concessions. Malloy has asked state employee unions for contract changes that would net the state $1 billion toward an estimated $3.5 billion shortfall.
“After more than two months of talks, I’m afraid that my administration and the state employee unions have not reached agreement,” Malloy said in a release
Both Malloy and union representative said talks would continue.
“We need to cut an additional $1 billion in spending in order to balance the budget in each year of the biennium, because I refuse to raise taxes beyond what has already been agreed to,” Malloy said. “We held off on any layoff notifications while we tried to complete a deal over the weekend and on Monday night. Unfortunately, absent an agreement and in order to comply with contractual notice requirements and the provisions of the budget agreement signed last week, we need to begin those notifications today.”
Malloy estimates the layoffs, effective in July, will save $455 million and plans to cut an additional $545 million in spending, cuts that could involve additional layoffs.
A statement from the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) expressed disappointment at Malloy’s decision to proceed with layoffs.
“We have said time and again that laying off workers, whether in the public or private sector, and slashing vital public services will prove disastrous to our shared goal of creating jobs and rebuilding the middle class – especially at a time when our 9.1 percent unemployment rate is already higher than the national average,” SEBAC said.
The state has about 45,000 unionized employees.
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