Ne State union (10,500) to wage freeze: No

[Omaha Steve]

Julie Dake Abel and I are very good friends. She is relatively new at this, and is doing great. This is the other AFSCME local in the state.

OS


http://www.omaha.com/article/20100205/NEWS01/100209740

Published Friday February 5, 2010

By Paul Hammel
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN -- The largest state employees union is saying "no" to Gov.
Dave Heineman's call that workers take a one-year pay freeze to help
solve the state's budget woes.

Julie Dake Abel, executive director of the 10,500-member Nebraska
Association of Public Employees/AFSCME, said this morning that state
employees, in phone calls and e-mails to her office, voiced overwhelming
opposition to taking what she called "the governor's cut."

"He has given us no job security, no guarantees of anything," Dake Abel
said, in terms of the numbers of job layoffs that might be avoided. "State employees are tired of taking the brunt of everything, especially
when they give different ideas of cost savings out there."

Heineman proposed the wage freeze last month to help prepare the
state for looming budget challenges and to avoid job layoffs. He cited forecasts that project a budget gap of $128 million by July 2011
between projected state revenue and state spending needs.

The governor was traveling and not immediately available to comment.

FULL story at link.