COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When Gov. Ted Strickland announced budget cuts, many state agencies were affected as part of the effort to keep Ohio afloat.
That made going into the state's contract negotiations with state employees uneasy, but with an agreement reached, both sides said more jobs were saved, NBC 4's Tacoma Newsome reported.
Talking about money at a time when everyone is strapped for cash is not comfortable, but the union representing the 34,000 state workers said, "I've had many negotiations and this is the most difficult in my lifetime."
The executive director of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association said that talks between his union and the Strickland administration began tough.
"The state demanded $250 million in concessions but that was something that was entirely out of the realm of our ability to produce or even though we would consider," said Andy Douglas, of OCSEA.
In the end, Douglas said, a three-year agreement was reached and according to the OCSEA's calculations, they gave up between $75 million and $80 million yearly in concessions.
Much of that was taken in the first two years with ten mandatory unpaid days off, saving the state about $160 million.
There's also a freeze on personal leave and step pay. With changes in deductibles and co-pays, millions more are kept by the state. But the third year is up when the employees sacrifice days off and much of what they gave up, they will get back.
In 2011, the state will make lump sum payments to each union employee for 32 hours of personal leave and will credit them 32 additional hours of sick leave.
Douglas said that in tough economic times, the 34,000 employees of the state will have at least some security.
"When all is said and done with the negotiations that are going on across the country and in states and cities all across our nation, our contract in the end will look like the Cadillac of contracts," Douglas said.
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