Fighting the furloughs
Unions take decision of mandatory days off to court
Story Created:
May 11, 2010 at 5:04 PM EDT
Story Updated:
May 11, 2010 at 6:05 PM EDT
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - A day after the State Legislature approved mandatory days off without pay for thousands of state employees, the unions who represent those employees are fighting for their rank and file in court.
Most state employees said the furloughs were the talk of the water cooler on Tuesday.
"The morale was a lot lower than it had been now that it's become a reality," said Richard Szeles after he was leaving the state office building on Genesee Street.
Several unions representing thousands of state workers started the fight against the state Tuesday in court. The Public Employees Union (PEF) already filed for a temporary court order. PEF represents about 2,000 state employees in the Mohawk Valley.
"The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York Tuesday morning," said PEF President Kenneth Brynien.
"It is our belief and claim the state violated the contract clause of the U.S. Constitution when it passed laws (furloughs, delay of salary increases, failure to fund education and training programs) impairing the obligation of our contract. "
Judge Lawrence Kahn has been assigned to this litigation. Judge Kahn has also been assigned to all other cases challenging the furloughs.
"We anticipate a hearing on PEF's request for a Temporary Restraining Order (injunction) will be scheduled within the next few days," Brynien said.
Another union - CSEA - said they are unsure how things are going to work starting next week.
"I don't now that they (the legislature) know how they are going to do this and make it work," said CSEA Region 5 First Vice-President Jeffrey Colburn. "There are a lot of unanswered questions, that's for sure."
Several state employees leaving work Tuesday said they were told, by their department heads, when not to attend work. Most said their first furlough day will be next Friday.
"We will work a four day work week and continue working four days until we hear otherwise," Szeles said.
The 20% pay cut for various state employees is expected to save the state $30 million a week until the budget is balanced.
Most Popular