In a strongly worded letter, the state employee unions are rejecting Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s requests for more labor concessions in order to balance the state budget as “cynical scapegoating,” pandering, and “completely unacceptable.”
Rell submitted the requests to the unions in a proposal labeled “confidential document concerning collective bargaining strategy and negotiations” that requested concessions on pensions, health insurance for state employees and retirees, sick leave payments, and eliminating disability retirement for any employees hired after July 1.
In an idea suggested by several Republican candidates for governor, Rell wanted to end the state pension plan for any new employees hired after July 1. Those employees would be placed into a 401 (k) – type plan with the employee contributing 5 percent and the state matching it at 5 percent – in a plan similar to the private sector. Rell also wanted to increase the health insurance contributions by state employees by 10 percent on July 1.
Rell also wanted to increase the prescription drug co-pays to $10 for generic, $25 for brand-name drugs on the preferred list, and $40 for non-formulary drugs in a manner similar to the rates in the private sector. Some private companies start the generic co-pays at $20 per prescription for a 30-day supply.
The response, signed by 14 union leaders, slams Rell personally for seeking the concessions.
“Today, you are pandering to the partisan politics of the gubernatorial campaign in making proposals that show a cynical disrespect not just for Connecticut’s 45,000 public service workers but for all of Connecticut’s struggling working families,” the letter states. “While we will not dignify your letter and proposals with a point-by-point reply, we will point out some of the highlights.”
The letter stated later that “Wall Street bankers and other millionaires” had not been asked to pay their fair share of state tax revenues. The state legislature raised the state income tax last year to 6.5 percent on couples earning more than $1 million per year, but some lawmakers and union members had wanted bigger tax hikes.
“And in a cynical effort to distract the public from your constant choice of the 5 percent who are super rich over the 95 percent who are suffering,” the unions stated, “you make proposals to us which you know perfectly well are insulting and completely unacceptable, no doubt just so you can try to scapegoat public service workers for refusing them.”
The unions added, “Cynical scapegoating which masquerades for leadership is exactly what the people of Connecticut don’t need in the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression.”
But state Republican chairman Chris Healy said the union leadership is completely out of touch with the current economic downturn, including the complaints about Wall Street bankers.
“This is just classic, ignorant class warfare. This is like the 1940s, and they think John L. Lewis is in charge of the union,” Healy said, referring to the famous president of the United Mine Workers of America who led the union from 1920 through 1960.
Healy said the union leaders do not understand that the state is facing massive deficits of more than $3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year – when the legislature will have spent all of the rainy day fund and federal stimulus money that helped close the gap over the current biennium.
“Either the state employees are going to get with the program now or a lot of them are going to get unemployment later – no matter who the governor is,” Healy said. “The party’s over. I think most state employees understand that, but the leadership doesn’t because they don’t work for a living. The governor is a very reasonable person, and they spit on her publicly. What makes the state employees so special?”
Among the various proposals was a request by Rell for a wage freeze and furlough days for the prison guards and the correctional supervisors – two unions that declined to make the same concessions as those made by multiple other unions in the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition, known as SEBAC.
Regarding pensions, Rell wanted to use only base wages in calculating all pensions after the SEBAC agreement expires in 2017. Currently, the controversial longevity payments, as well as overtime, count toward the pension calculations.
Since the state economy is still weak, the state’s tax collections in virtually every category are far below the expected levels.
“The taxpayers are tapped out,” Healy said. “Eventually, there’s just no money. If there’s no money, they don’t get paid. But a lot of these radical leaders don’t care about the newer employees.”
Since the Democrats hold two-thirds of the seats in the legislature, Healy says the union leaders believe that jobs can be saved.
“They think the Democrats in the legislature will do their bidding – as they have for the last 10 or 15 years,” Healy said. “The Democratic legislature is owned lock, stock and barrel by the public-sector unions. There is no secret about that.”
Sen. Dan Debicella, the ranking Senate Republican on the budget-writing appropriations committee, agreed with Healy, saying that the unions cannot maintain their stance.
“I think they’re in for a rude awakening,” said Debicella, a Shelton Republican who is now running for Congress. “Even if there is a Democratic governor [in January], the state employees have to be part of the solution. … The unions are playing politics. This isn’t Wall Street bankers versus union members. You can play politics with it and everyone can call each other names or we can sit down and actually come to solutions.”
When portions of the letter were read to him, Debicella responded, “Wow! That’s over the top. … That kind of tone of saying the governor is being cavalier is not credible.”
Even with the concessions in the 2009 SEBAC agreement that was approved by Rell and the legislature, Debicella said that state employees still have a package of benefits that is far superior to similar workers in the private sector.
“They went from a $5 to a $10 co-pay on their prescription drugs, which is well under what most people pay,” Debicella said. “Show me a private company where you can get brand-name drugs for $10. It doesn’t exist.”
Despite the unions’ strong response, Rell’s budget director, Robert Genuario, said Tuesday afternoon that he believes there is still a chance for dialogue with the state employees.
Stating that he is “disappointed in the tone” of the letter, Genuario said he is not giving up because the state faces a budget deficit of more than $3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year.
The unions “certainly did not embrace the proposals,” Genuario told Capitol Watch. “Sometimes that’s how these things start out.”
When asked if he believes the Rell administration can strike another deal with the unions, as it did last year, Genuario said, “I don’t think I would handicap the outcome.”
Greenwich cable television entrepreneur Ned Lamont, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, said he would be reaching out to the unions if he is elected in November.
“In my business life, I’ve found that I get some of my best ideas from listening to the workers on the front line,” Lamont said. “As governor, I’m going to have to make some tough choices to get us out of this budget crisis, but I will not balance the budget on the backs of our state employees. I’m going to start at the top, with my own salary, the commissioners, the middle management. And I will make sure that our state employees are at the table before we start talking about cuts.”
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-unions-reject-rell-0324.artmar24,0,3058593.story