A final, negative footnote to the failed effort to ratify the state employees’ concession deal: two more unions rejected the tentative agreement in voting tallied Sunday, leaving a final vote of 11 unions in favor and four opposed.
A labor source said the 1,150-member Connecticut State Police Union and IBPO/SEIU, a union representing 750 judicial marshals, each voted to reject the deal, which was declared dead Friday after the rejection by AFSCME Council 4.
The unions have notified their members of the rejection, but no vote totals were posted on either group’s web site. The votes were taken Friday and counted over the weekend.
The rejections have no impact, and it appears that a majority of unionized state employees who cast a ballot still will have voted in favor of the tentative agreement reached a month ago by the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and SEBAC, the coalition of 15 unions.
Without results from the last two unions, the tally was 20,981 to 14,796 in favor of ratification.
But coalition fell short under its complex rules: 14 of the 15 unions must ratifiy, and the unions in favor must represent 80 percent of all unionized state employees. It fell short of both measures.
As the union represents one third of all union members, AFSCME’s rejection was sufficient to deny SEBAC the 80-percent threshold. Another union, the Connecticut Employees Union Independent, had previously rejected the agreement.
The leadership of SEBAC, the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, is scheduled to meet Monday, but it is unclear if the unions have the ability or the desire to seek a second vote. Malloy is expected to announce mass layoffs later this week to cut spending.
The concession and labor savings deal was estimated by the administration to save $1.6 billion over two years, but the legislature’s non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis has been unable to confirm more than 40 percent of the projected savings.
The General Assembly meets in special session Thursday to consider a request by Malloy to grant him authorization to unilaterally cut the $40 billion two-year budget by up to 10 percent. There is now a $700 million gap in the budget for the fiscal year that begins Friday and $900 million for the following year.
