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SEA Rejects Contract; Lynch Will Commence Layoffs

by: Dean Barker

Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:20:14 PM EDT
By a vote of 2708 to 1875 the SEA rejected a contract that would have preserved jobs but implemented furloughs.

As a result, Governor Lynch will begin laying off state workers:

"Over the last few weeks, agencies have been developing plans for layoffs in the event the union rejected the contract. I will be meeting with department heads tomorrow morning to begin implementing those plans, which include notifying impacted employees this week and completing most layoffs by the end of October."
How did we get here?

I suspect that in the court of public opinion, and in the midst of a "jobless recovery" from the recession, more will side with the Governor than the SEA on this.  Whether it is fair to do so, I have no idea.
Dean Barker :: SEA Rejects Contract; Lynch Will Commence Layoffs
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SEA Rejects Contract; Lynch Will Commence Layoffs | 17 comments
I'm sorry (0.00 / 0)
but I have relatively little sympathy. It's unfortunate, but there have been job losses and even more cutbacks in hours, etc. among all sectors (except maybe finance). The SEA should have accepted furloughs, which would be temporary, rather than sacrificing less senior members, which may not be temporary. It's a bad situation either way, but the SEA made it worse.  
An if Lynch were a GOP, would we still be blaming the SEA? (0.00 / 0)

The SEA did the right thing. I SO hate the "blame the unions" argument from both sides of the aisle.  So glad they dug in their heels and stuck to their guns.  
[ Parent ]
All well and good, but (4.00 / 2)
this is more difficult to disentangle, imo, than the Workers v. Big Bad Boss storyline.

We've got a balanced budget requirement.  There isn't enough money.  A choice results between keeping all jobs and losing some paid time, or losing jobs and keeping full salaries.  The union voted for the latter.

Was that the better choice, or not?

And the larger question: could this choice have been averted by the Gov or legislature in the first place by structuring the budget differently?

birch, finch, beech

[ Parent ]
if the problem is that there isn't enough money.... (4.00 / 1)
why can't the state get more?  I don't know the exact numbers, but I suspect NH has some of the lowest tax rates certainly in the region, if not in the country.  MA just raised its sales tax to 6.25%, why can't NH implement at 2.5% sales tax?  Or raise the tolls?  Or implement a small state income tax?  All of these would keep the consumer dollars flowing into the state if they are lower than those taxes in the region, and help fill budget gap.  If that's not an option for political reasons (and I suspect that's really why they won't do it, even though it makes sense), then why can't we raise taxes on the rich?  Either of those will fill the budget gap and could have avoided this in the first place.
[ Parent ]
the short answer (4.00 / 2)
Is that we would prefer to eliminate state workers, and provide even shoddier services than we already do in our state, than tax our precious millionaires.  

member of the professional left  
[ Parent ]
sadly.... (0.00 / 0)
that sounds about right.......
[ Parent ]
I agree (0.00 / 0)
with the argument that the tax structure needs to be changed and more revenues raised. I think in NH, just about everything comes back to how inequitable and unsustainable the tax structure is, and how poorly funded things are as a result. Absent a change, however, I think it's unfair to say that because someone has a job with the state they should have more certain job security than someone else, especially when given the unfortunate and undesirable option of choosing between furloughs and layoffs (not an option for most people).
[ Parent ]
The private sector - (4.00 / 1)
Sometimes private companies, typically not unionized and less constrained, adopt across the board furloughs or pay cuts. More often the private company chooses layoffs and does them quickly.

The thinking seems to be:

  1. Some of our departments have become overstaffed over time, given today's needs. Selective trimming can be less disruptive to our 'customers' than across-the-board hits to every department.
  2. We also have some less productive employees. It's painful to fire them for cause. But a layoff can clear out the deadwood.
  3. Pay cuts or furloughs become an ongoing morale problem for everyone. Layoffs are a short-term problem, with some survivor guilt in the remaining work force that soon dissipates.

Of course, those layoffs are often part of a glidepath into business failure anyhow...

[ Parent ]
The Gov. Keough we never had (0.00 / 0)
If I wanted an elitist Republican, I'd have voted for an elitist Republican, not a Democrat who plays one on television.

If Gov. Lynch lays off my wife, I suggest he man up, deliver the pink slip in person, and explain why he still gets a state paycheck when she doesn't.

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. -Harry Truman

"life isn't fair" (0.00 / 0)
Jimmy Carter said that and it is as true today. Why the false equivalence ?

Annie 2012!
[ Parent ]
Nothing false about it, Jon (0.00 / 0)
Gov. Lynch is asking the worker bees of state government to sacrifice. The mental health care workers, secretaries, nurses, lab techs, info systems folks, etc.

Why doesn't the governor refuse his salary for the year? Why doesn't he ask every department head to take a voluntary pay cut? why doesn't he ask his own staff to take a cut? These are people with salaries that are far, far larger than the people he is threatening with unemployment, yet they are not asked to share the burden.

When the wealthy and politically connected get off the hook and the average Joe or Jane gets the shaft, it's wrong. It's what I would expect from a Sununu or Keough administration. We as Democrats are supposed to be better than that, and under this administration, we are not.

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. -Harry Truman

[ Parent ]
Well Said (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
He and his staff would have taken furloughs (0.00 / 0)
if the State Employees did. Can someone tell us why the Union decided he was negotiating as you said, 'in bad faith'?
We all know there is less money, cuts have to be made, so that was not it. Dean made the case for the current environment. Frankly I would bet that if the vote against Benson were held again today, or Coburn, or Kemp, all the loud anti-Lynch noise would be coming from those who voted for him, as an option against the far right. Pro- choice, small government, pro-business, anti-tax libertarians is what we may be in the main. That's why he is still very popular. Can't argue with that when you are a politician.

Annie 2012!
[ Parent ]
whooops (0.00 / 0)
Kenney not Kemp

Annie 2012!
[ Parent ]
good lord! (4.00 / 1)
I find myself agreeing with Peter Sullivan!
[ Parent ]
Do you know for a fact that they have not been asked to do so ? (0.00 / 0)
I would be very suprised if that were true, knowing Lynch.
That's what he did in business. But truthfully, worker bees as you so in-artfully put it, would not be privy to that information any way.

Annie 2012!
[ Parent ]
According to Landrigan... (4.00 / 1)
The non-classified employees were being asked to agree to furloughs, and people working for the legislature were taking unpaid days over the summer to bank furlough days. What happens now, I don't know.

http://www.individual.com/stor...  

.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

[ Parent ]
SEA Rejects Contract; Lynch Will Commence Layoffs | 17 comments

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