Nassau, unions devise plan to prevent layoffs
Nassau County and unions representing most of its workers reached a tentative agreement Monday on concessions that would save the county $43 million this year and avoid layoffs or a large pay cut, County Executive Thomas Suozzi said.
The accord was really a series of arrangements with four of the five unions. It requires membership approval from three of the four, and could fall apart if the county does not get enough workers -- more than 300 -- to take early retirement.
The tentative deal comes after a month long struggle to avert a threat by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi to lay off almost 1,000 workers if the unions did not agree to a 7 percent across-the-board pay cut, or other savings equivalent to $50 million.
Plunging sales tax revenue in the past six months has blown a $130-million hole in this year's $2.6 billion county budget, and Suozzi has counted on labor savings, state authorization to raise revenue locally, and increased Medicaid funding from the federal government to close that gap.
Suozzi said he got the $43 million he wanted from three police unions and CSEA Local 830, which represents most civilian workers, when they agreed to a lag payroll -- deferring two weeks pay until retirement or termination -- the early retirements and other cuts. He said an additional $7 million would come from negotiations with the union representing correction officers.
"Yes, there's a deal," said Jim Carver, president of the Police Benevolent Association of Nassau County. "It means that we put this matter behind us; they're not going to lay off any cops."
"By getting the workforce reductions numbers, we accomplish the same thing we would have with layoffs, but it affects higher-wage, senior employees rather than low-wage, junior employees," he said.
Part of the deal calls for a reduction through early retirement of 325 CSEA members -- 225 more than usual in a given year. They have until July 1 to reach that goal or Suozzi could impose unpaid furloughs by closing nonessential county offices for up to 26 days a year.
Minutes before Suozzi announced the deal, the Nassau Legislature voted 11-8 to give him the authority to do that.
"Yes, there's a deal," said Jim Carver, president of the Police Benevolent Association of Nassau County. "It means that we put this matter behind us; they're not going to lay off any cops."
Other union leaders confirmed that they had a tentative deal, but that some negotiations remained. "We have five or six very minor details to work out," said Jerry Laricchiuta, president of Local 830.
Several legislators said they expected the approval of state legislation that would allow the county to tax cigarettes. That would raise about $20 million, and some of that money could be used to offset cuts in funding, such as for youth programs, the legislators said.
In addition to a lag payroll, CSEA members would defer pay raises in both 2010 and 2011 for the first seven months of those years, for a savings of $5 million annually.
Members of the three police unions would defer pay for three holidays for three years, and defer their annual $1,000 allowance for equipment for three years. The number of uniformed officers would be reduced by 100 and there would be increased civilianization.
To entice senior civilian workers to retire, they would be offered a lump sum or payout of $1,000 for every year on the job. Suozzi said the cost would be "in the tens of millions," and would be paid by issuing a long-term bond.
Staff writer Celeste Hadrick contributed to this story.
Posted Monday, March 9, 2009
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