New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine has given state labor unions an ultimatum: either agree to wage concessions, or up to 7,000 public jobs could be lost. He informed his Cabinet workers that they should prepare for the layoffs, and individual departments have been instructed to find areas where they can cut back staff. In the mean time, Corzine is seeking a wage freeze and 12 days of furlough for workers this year in effort to tackle what is estimated to be a $7 billion budget shortfall. The wage concessions would require renegotiating the terms of current union contracts ? something unions have thus far refused to do. The combined wage freeze and forced days off would save the state about $500 million.
See "NJ gov says he's prepared to lay off state workers", Angela Delli Santi, Newsday, March 5, 2009