Nassau unions pitch plan to avoid layoffs

With time running out to produce $150 million in concessions, Nassau County unions are pitching a voluntary retirement program to avert hundreds of layoffs before the end of the year.

County Executive Edward Mangano has given the unions until Thursday to come up with the savings or face a legislative vote Monday authorizing 435 layoffs, 217 demotions and the elimination of funding for 183 vacant positions. The plan would take effect Dec. 29.

The retirement incentive under discussion would pay employees $1,000 per year of service, according to union officials familiar with the negotiations.

Few details were available about the proposed plan, including how much it would save the county and how many people would take the deal. While the layoffs primarily target Civil Service Employee Association members, the retirement program would be open to all county unions, the union officials said.

A similar plan offered by Mangano earlier this year paid employees $750 for each year of service. Those employees had up to six weeks to make a decision, and more than 50 left, saving the county more than $5.3 million. In this round, retiring county workers would have only two weeks to decide as their salaries must be off the books by the new year.

Nassau officials declined to comment on the negotiations. "The county executive and union leaders are engaged in ongoing discussions each day and working cooperatively toward a solution," said Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin.

Mangano has asked unions for $75 million in concessions by the end of the year and another $75 million in givebacks by Feb. 1, or warned they may face layoffs.

CSEA spokesman Ryan Mulholland said a voluntary retirement package could avert some union layoffs. Also, some older and higher-paid employees may be inclined to take the deal because of the countywide pay freeze through 2015, he said.

A voluntary separation plan would not require a union vote but must be approved by the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state board that controls Nassau's finances. NIFA chairman Ron Stack declined to comment.

James Carver, president of the Nassau Police Benevolent Association, said discussions with the county are ongoing but declined to elaborate.

A voluntary retirement plan has not been sent to the legislature but Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) "is hopeful" a deal will occur, said spokeswoman Cristina Brennan.

But incoming Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said relatively few employees may take early retirement and that additional borrowing to fund the program could further hurt the county credit rating. "I am concerned that an incentive package will not bear as much savings as people expect it to," he said.

New borrowing would require a two-thirds vote in the legislature and would come on top of $450 million in proposed long-term borrowing endorsed by Mangano and NIFA.

Abrahams said $11.6 million is still available from the earlier incentive.