Members of the AFSCME Iowa Council 61 voted 59% in favor today of concessions in pay and benefit cuts. Council 61 is the largest union of state employees in Iowa, and Governor Chet Culver has thanked them for agreeing to the concessions, saying the vote has given the state some "breathing room." The agreement requires all employees to take five unpaid furlough days and to pay a greater health care premium, but saves an estimated 479 positions. A union spokesperson said that they do not plan to renegotiate again on their current contract, which runs until June 2011. The current concessions are viewed by the union as the last they can do to help balance the state budget. Governor Culver has not agreed to refrain from further re-negotiations, saying that it is too early too tell whether or not these concessions will be sufficiently helpful.
See "Iowa's largest union ratifies concessions; saves nearly 500 jobs", Charlotte Eby & Rod Boshart, Sioux City Journal, November 29, 2009