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| Union concessions pressed |
| By The Day |
| Published: 01/13/2009 |
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CONNECTICUT - Republicans made a renewed effort Monday to delay or block entirely a new, 3-year contract award for more than 5,000 state corrections officers as the party and Gov. M. Jodi Rell try to block union pay raises to help close massive budget deficits. The latest move by Republicans - a plea to extend the legislature's review period for arbitration awards, which lawmakers can reject with a two-thirds vote, through early June - will almost certainly fail. But it provides another clear signal of a brewing, multifront dispute between the Rell administration and labor unions as state officials seek voluntary and involuntary concessions in order to close an ever-growing budget deficit that could reach $1 billion by the end of June. Republicans aren't arguing that the prison [officers] don't deserve the contract awarded them by a state arbitrator, said House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, who noted, as union representatives did, that the new contract was drafted almost entirely using the final offers provided by the state, not union negotiators. Arbitrator J. Larry Foy granted the union a 3 percent raise in base pay for the first year, dropping to 2.5 percent raises in the succeeding years. But “step-up” increases and cash bonuses could raise the annual increase in the first year to 6.5 percent, Rell's office said, and a total increase in cost to the state of as much as $86 million over the life of the contract. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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