State and Labor Negotiators Like Direction of Talks

Both sides continue to report that negotiations head in the right direction.

The governor’s team must get a new contract that saves the state’s general fund $25 million dollars, which could result in $50 million dollars in savings across the board.

Lead union negotiator Dennis Kinnan says the main sticking point continues to be over different furlough proposals.

TAPE: the employees have called for a voluntary plan. The state has called for a mandatory plan.

To help reach a compromise, Kinnan says negotiators are considering a plan to close all non-essential state government services for several days, each year, as part of the furlough package.

At this point, it seems like an early retirement proposal will not be part of the final deal.

Kinnan says employee do continue to look for a guarantee from the governor that no additional layoffs will occur other than those that come from the $25 million dollar cut.

For NHPR News, I’m DG.