State workers face two-week unpaid furloughs

As a state employee, John Sumner of Monroe faces the possibility of a 10-day furlough this year — with a loss in pay of nearly $2,000. It’s the first time the state has asked employees to take furloughs to balance the budget. Sumner’s union is now negotiating with the state, with furloughs one of the issues on the table. Staff photo by Jan Underwood

JAN UNDERWOOD/Dayton Daily News Staff Photogra As a state employee, John Sumner of Monroe faces the possibility of a 10-day furlough this year — with a loss in pay of nearly $2,000. It’s the first time the state has asked employees to take furloughs to balance the budget. Sumner’s union is now negotiating with the state, with furloughs one of the issues on the table. Staff photo by Jan Underwood

ENLARGE PHOTO

Tommy Jones works for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in Dayton and is a union leader. Of the 10-day furloughs being imposed on state workers, Jones said, “We all have to make concessions.” Contributed photo

ENLARGE PHOTO

Choice for unions: layoffs or pay loss

Santorum to visit Warren County
2/12/12
Benefit dinner held for girl  who died in car accident
2/12/12
Suburbs looking for ways to save, focus on regional issues
2/12/12
Victim of human trafficking speaks to students
2/12/12
Bullying law brings rule changes
2/12/12
> More headlines

By William Hershey, Staff Writer Updated 9:35 AM Monday, May 4, 2009

COLUMBUS — For the first time in history, an Ohio governor is asking unionized state workers to take two-week unpaid furloughs to help balance the budget.

For John Sumner, a parole officer and union leader from Monroe, a furlough beats a layoff. But for him, his wife and their two kids, it would mean sacrificing $1,920 of his pay.

“If certain cost-saving measures are necessary, we understand that,” said Sumner, 37, a member of Service Employees International Union District 1199. “They need to be applied uniformly, not just on the back of bargaining unit members.”

Gov. Ted Strickland’s plan also imposes two-week furloughs on the 11,000 nonunion employees under his control, including the governor himself and department heads making more than $100,000 a year.

The furloughs, combined with a two-year wage freeze, will save an estimated $173.2 million, according to state figures.

“These are tough times,” said Strickland. “They call for unprecedented action.”

The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, the state’s largest union with 35,000 members, has approved a contract with the furlough days as well as the wage freeze.

Tommy Jones, an OCSEA leader working in Dayton for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said his union did the right thing.

“We’re in very difficult times, times many of us have never seen before,” said Jones, 58. “We all have to make concessions.”

Share this article