In what was termed the second wave of layoff notices -- with many more possible -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration drew up a list of 321 jobs Thursday to be cut across 19 state agencies and commissions.
The cuts, focusing on members of the Public Employees Federation, come a week after the first round of 451 employees were given their 20-day notices. The layoff notifications could be rescinded if PEF or other bargaining units reach agreements with Cuomo negotiators.
The action came as PEF negotiators continued contract talks with the governor's office on Thursday.
The workers targeted in the latest round should be notified by Friday. The biggest hit came at the Department of Environmental Conservation, where 43 positions were slated for elimination.
As DEC employees absorbed news of the cuts, the agency drew renewed criticism from environmentalists worried about the state's possible approval of natural gas drilling using the controversial technique known as hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale region of western New York.
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said her group asked the agency to produce an inventory of existing drilling leases in western New York, but was told DEC lacked the resources to compile the information.
Esposito's organization did its own inventory at a cost of approximately $100,000, and mapped out some 20,000 leases that gas companies have already purchased. ("We welcome any information that is provided to us and look forward to receiving public comments this fall," DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said.)
The layoffs also have led to some bitter ironies: Scientists from the State Museum on Thursday unveiled prehistoric tree stumps which were excavated at the Gilboa Dam, and which will provide clues about some of the planet's earliest ecosystems. Among those who've worked on the Gilboa tree fossils is geologist Ed Landing, who is being laid off, insiders said.
At the Department of Transportation -- where layoff notices went out last week but not on Thursday -- several people targeted by the cuts complained to PEF that the state was replacing them with consultants or contract bridge inspectors.
DOT spokeswoman Jennifer Post said it was "too early to tell" whether contractors would replace laid-off workers. "If the Reduction in Force takes place, we'll reassign staff as necessary," she said.
The use of consultants has long been a sore point with unions.
As the notices were going out Thursday, State Operations Director Howard Glaser issued a memo to agency chiefs reminding them that members of another union, the Civil Service Employees Association, are to be protected from layoffs pending a contract ratification vote.
"I recognize that this process adds complexity. It also adds fairness. CSEA, on behalf of its members, has bargained for this protection," Glaser wrote.
Under civil services rules, employees facing layoffs can "bump" those who have less seniority. But in some cases, experienced workers may have been promoted from CSEA jobs to those represented by PEF.
Generally, CSEA represents blue-collar workers while PEF is for professional, scientific and technical employees. To avoid bumping CSEA members, agency heads may have to shift the PEF members that they are targeting for layoffs.
The Cuomo administration has said it needs $450 million in workforce savings in this fiscal year, which runs through March 2012. Officials said there could be up to 9,800 state layoffs if the goal is not met.
CSEA in June agreed to a tentative contract settlement with three years of no raises and higher health costs. If ratified, the deal would protect about 4,500 CSEA members from potential layoffs.
But that still leaves thousands of job losses, most of which would fall on PEF, the other major union, if it fails to approve a contract.
Negotiators from the governor's office and PEF continued their contract talks on Thursday.
Glaser also noted in his memo noted that neither CSEA nor the state got everything they wanted in a contract. "But we reached an agreement which achieves both fiscal stability for the state and workforce stability for CSEA," he said.
He said the state's fiscal situation forces it to deal with years of unsustainable spending, including a 38 percent increase in salaries and doubling of health care benefits in the past 10 years.
"There is no path to fiscal stability in New York that does not address workforce spending," he added.
The cuts, focusing on members of the Public Employees Federation, come a week after the first round of 451 employees were given their 20-day notices. The layoff notifications could be rescinded if PEF or other bargaining units reach agreements with Cuomo negotiators.
The action came as PEF negotiators continued contract talks with the governor's office on Thursday.
The workers targeted in the latest round should be notified by Friday. The biggest hit came at the Department of Environmental Conservation, where 43 positions were slated for elimination.
As DEC employees absorbed news of the cuts, the agency drew renewed criticism from environmentalists worried about the state's possible approval of natural gas drilling using the controversial technique known as hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale region of western New York.
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said her group asked the agency to produce an inventory of existing drilling leases in western New York, but was told DEC lacked the resources to compile the information.
Esposito's organization did its own inventory at a cost of approximately $100,000, and mapped out some 20,000 leases that gas companies have already purchased. ("We welcome any information that is provided to us and look forward to receiving public comments this fall," DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said.)
The layoffs also have led to some bitter ironies: Scientists from the State Museum on Thursday unveiled prehistoric tree stumps which were excavated at the Gilboa Dam, and which will provide clues about some of the planet's earliest ecosystems. Among those who've worked on the Gilboa tree fossils is geologist Ed Landing, who is being laid off, insiders said.
DOT spokeswoman Jennifer Post said it was "too early to tell" whether contractors would replace laid-off workers. "If the Reduction in Force takes place, we'll reassign staff as necessary," she said.
The use of consultants has long been a sore point with unions.
As the notices were going out Thursday, State Operations Director Howard Glaser issued a memo to agency chiefs reminding them that members of another union, the Civil Service Employees Association, are to be protected from layoffs pending a contract ratification vote.
"I recognize that this process adds complexity. It also adds fairness. CSEA, on behalf of its members, has bargained for this protection," Glaser wrote.
Under civil services rules, employees facing layoffs can "bump" those who have less seniority. But in some cases, experienced workers may have been promoted from CSEA jobs to those represented by PEF.
Generally, CSEA represents blue-collar workers while PEF is for professional, scientific and technical employees. To avoid bumping CSEA members, agency heads may have to shift the PEF members that they are targeting for layoffs.
The Cuomo administration has said it needs $450 million in workforce savings in this fiscal year, which runs through March 2012. Officials said there could be up to 9,800 state layoffs if the goal is not met.
CSEA in June agreed to a tentative contract settlement with three years of no raises and higher health costs. If ratified, the deal would protect about 4,500 CSEA members from potential layoffs.
But that still leaves thousands of job losses, most of which would fall on PEF, the other major union, if it fails to approve a contract.
Negotiators from the governor's office and PEF continued their contract talks on Thursday.
Glaser also noted in his memo noted that neither CSEA nor the state got everything they wanted in a contract. "But we reached an agreement which achieves both fiscal stability for the state and workforce stability for CSEA," he said.
He said the state's fiscal situation forces it to deal with years of unsustainable spending, including a 38 percent increase in salaries and doubling of health care benefits in the past 10 years.
"There is no path to fiscal stability in New York that does not address workforce spending," he added.
