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Jan

24

Strickland’s request for concessions gains national spotlight


Julie Carr Smyth’s article, “Governors seek concessions from public workers,” highlights Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s requests for concessions from union employees:

In hard-hit Ohio, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has been a friend of the unions. But as the state’s budget woes have intensified, he is asking unionized state employees to consider a 5 percent pay cut, a 35-hour workweek and the elimination of paid personal days and holidays, to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to a union memo obtained by The Associated Press, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association is waiting to see Strickland’s upcoming budget and the state’s share of a federal stimulus package before making a decision. Executive director Andy Douglas declined comment because the union is in negotiations

The Plain Dealer reports on the shock and awe reactions to the request and states that the total dollar number of the concessions equals $250 million. More:

In the e-mail updating members on bargaining, dated Thursday, Parks said that the union expected to have to fight to keep its wages and health care agreements intact. But the union’s negotiating team nonetheless was “aghast at the scope of the concessions the state proposed.”

Parks said “the union has also been told that even if concessions are made, there will be no guarantee that layoffs won’t happen.”

Who is and how many are involved in this request?  The PD says,

OCSEA is the state’s largest labor union with about 35,000 of the state’s 60,000 workers. Many of the union’s employees work for the prison system and Department of Transportation.

So, I’m just curious. We know that Obama made some demands of White House staff regarding salaries – I’m sure they’re not union.  What is Strickland going to demand of the other 25,000 state workers?

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:33 am January 24th, 2009 in Economy, Ohio, Politics, Ted Strickland 

Comments

3 Responses to “Strickland’s request for concessions gains national spotlight”

  1. 1 LisaRenee on January 24th, 2009 6:00 pm

    I obtained the full list of 18 concessions being sought last week from the same internal email that the media took selections from.

  2. 2 Jill Miller Zimon on January 24th, 2009 6:02 pm

    Thanks for the link to that, Lisa Renee.

    On a totally different note, got any advice for surviving a tweenagers sleepover? :)

  3. 3 LisaRenee on January 24th, 2009 11:01 pm

    Alcohol? For you not them. It doesn’t get any better when it’s a teenager sleepover, I’m going through that tonight.

    :-)

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