N.J. panel affirms rule on emergency furloughs

TRENTON - A panel appointed by Gov. Corzine has refused to delay a rule that allows the emergency furloughs of government employees, setting the stage for a courtroom showdown between public-worker unions and the governor's office.

The Civil Service Commission yesterday refused to stay the furlough rule it enacted last month. The rule allows the governor and county and municipal leaders to force public workers to take unpaid days off to help balance government budgets.

The four-member commission voted to deny the stay before hearing from a half-dozen union lawyers and labor leaders who had come to comment. It allowed them to speak only after the decision was announced.

Tony Wieners, state president of the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association, said the committee's action was a "rubber stamp" of the governor's plan to force state workers to take two unpaid days off this spring and 12 next year. The PBA was the first of six unions to sue Corzine to stop the furloughs.

The two sides will argue before an appeals panel today.

Also yesterday, Corzine's office announced details of its plan to implement the furloughs, which are designed to help close a gap in this year's $29.8 billion budget. The first wave of furloughs is scheduled between May 11 and 26; for most employees, the unpaid day will be appended to the Memorial Day weekend. The second wave of furloughs will be between June 9 and 29, mostly on Mondays or Fridays.

The Civil Service Commission's Web site contains a calendar that indicates when state employees are to not show up for work, depending on the department or agency they work for. Some departments, such as Law and Public Safety, will stagger furloughs to minimize service disruptions. Some public-safety and emergency-services workers, such as state police, are exempt.

In a statement yesterday after the ruling, Corzine called the economic recession "an unprecedented reality" that has affected every state.

"Here in New Jersey, we have an imminent danger of being unable to balance the . . . budget appropriately if we do not take appropriate and necessary actions," he said.

Corzine also is seeking wage givebacks from the unions. Workers are being asked to forgo the 3.5 percent salary increase due them in June or face layoffs of up to 7,000 workers. The state has at least 80,000 workers.

Labor leaders say the governor's furlough plan violates their contracts and assaults the collective-bargaining process. The unions object to the furlough plan and the way it was enacted - through an emergency rule that declares the state in imminent economic peril and gives the governor and local governments extraordinary authority to maintain fiscal solvency.

Hetty Rosenstein, state director of the Communications Workers of America, questioned how much the state would save by furloughing workers for two days. The governor's plan originally was said to save the state $35 million, but Rosenstein said the estimate has been lowered several times and now stands at about $14 million.