Thousands of workers would lose jobs at the beginning of next year.
New York Gov. David Paterson listens during a meeting with legislative leaders May 18 at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Paterson is expected to announce plans to lay off thousands of state workers today.
New York — Gov. David Paterson was expected to announce today that he’s putting together a plan that would lay off thousands of government workers at the beginning of next year to help balance the state budget.
An administration official told The Associated Press that Paterson would direct state agencies to begin picking positions that could be eliminated starting Jan. 1, a date that marks the expiration of the no-layoffs pledge Paterson gave public employee unions last year in exchange for an agreement to reduce pension costs. It would also be the day Paterson leaves office.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan hadn’t yet been publicly announced. It was first reported today in The New York Times.
State leaders are facing a $9.2 billion deficit and still haven’t completed a budget for the fiscal year that began April 1.
Paterson has been calling for concessions from state worker unions, including a delay in a 4 percent raise that was scheduled to kick in April 1.
But the unions refused and Paterson tried to force a freeze on the pay increase and won agreement from the Legislature to begin furloughing state workers for one day each week for eight weeks.
The unions sued and a federal judge blocked both steps last week, saying workers would be irreparably harmed by the loss of income.