Members of New York State's second largest public employees' union, the Public Employees Federation, have voted to accept a contract offer. The deal will save 3,500 jobs. The governor had planned to layoff the workers on Friday if the union did not agree to the deal. PEF members voted down a similar deal in September, prompting the governor to proceed with layoffs, which he said were necessary to fill a $450 million budget gap that he wanted concessions for. The new contract changes the length of the contract and how workers are compensated for furlough days.
See "Union Reversal on Givebacks Averts 3,500 Layoffs by State", Thomas Kaplan, The New York Times, November 3, 2011