Nassau layoff notices coming today

Cash-strapped Nassau County will issue layoff notices to some 300 civil service employees Thursday in an effort to close a projected $310 million budget gap, officials said.

Meanwhile, nearly 200 county workers were notified Wednesday they were being demoted several pay grades. Employees who decline to accept their "bump" down the pay scale will be terminated, said Deputy County Executive Rob Walker.

"This is the absolute worst process and is not something anyone wants to do," Walker said. "But we will handle it the best way we can."

As of Wednesday evening, 97 members of the Civil Service Employee Association from 16 departments had accepted a voluntary retirement package that will pay them $1,000 for every year of service with the county.

The approximately $7 million in savings from the retirements will be used to offset an additional round of CSEA layoffs that were expected to occur in February, Walker said.

The union, however, had expected the savings to be used to offset some of the layoffs coming Thursday, said CSEA president Jerry Laricchiuta. "Either way, as far as I am concerned, we are done with layoffs," Laricchiuta said. "Our obligation has been met in terms of head-count reduction."

The incentive package expires Thursday but can be extended at County Executive Edward Mangano's discretion. Walker said a decision on an extension will be made in early January.

Mangano has said that due to the relatively high salaries of many who were expected to take the package, 11/2 jobs could be saved for every person who retirees voluntarily. If workers are eventually brought back, Walker said, the priority will be filling positions in public safety and in revenue-generating spots.

The county has mandated that CSEA find $54 million in savings by the end of the year through head-count reductions, and an additional $7 million by February. Other unions are facing cuts next year as well.

Under the layoff process that begins Thursday morning, approximately 300 full-time county workers and 150 part-timers will be notified by their supervisors. The terminations will be effective immediately, and employees receiving layoff notices cannot take the incentive plan, Walker said.

The "bump and retreat" process, in which employees are allowed to move to lower-paid positions, began Wednesday at county departments. Employees were given a brief period Wednesday to decide whether to accept demotions, which in some cases involved salary cuts in excess of $50,000, or be immediately laid off, union and county officials said.

At the Department of Social Services in Uniondale, the process caused some delays in services. "Clients were informed that there could be delays in waiting to see a worker today, and that they could return at a later date if they so wished," said Commissioner John Imhof.

Laricchiuta said the process was handled poorly. "This is a horrible situation to put people in," he said. "My heart goes out to members that are being disrespected."

Walker said the county had no choice. "We need to comply with civil service law," governing the bump-and-retreat process, he said. "And the county still needs to keep running."