Workers might face 5 days of furloughs, unions told

President of group representing 2,000 state employees says few details were given

Representatives of Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration told union leaders during a meeting Thursday that she might impose five days of unpaid furloughs on state employees before the end of June to help deal with New Mexico’s budget problems.

However, Donald Alire, president of Communication Workers of America Local 7076, told The New Mexican that State Personnel Director Justin Najaka and other administrators didn’t offer any details.

“We asked for plans on how the furloughs would affect the various departments, and they didn’t have anything,” said Alire, whose union represents more than 2,000 state workers, including museum workers and staff at the departments of Health, Environment, Information Technology and General Services.

Alire said the union will make a formal request to the State Personnel Office for information on furlough plans and will demand negotiations with the administration. “They claim we don’t have the right to bargain on the furlough issue,” Alire said. “We say we do.”

The uncertainty over whether state workers might see their paychecks reduced comes amid a fiscal tug of war between the Republican governor and the Democrat-led New Mexico Legislature. Martinez, who rejected a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year that lawmakers passed in March and repeated a vow to not raise taxes, has said she wants to call legislators back to Santa Fe for a special session.

She also has talked for weeks about possible furloughs of state employees before the current budget year ends.

Democrats and union officials have disputed the need for any furloughs, saying the state has enough money to carry it through to July, when the new budget year begins.

Joseph Cueto, a spokesman for the State Personnel Office, said in an email Thursday, “An up to five day furlough plan was discussed with CWA today. It was made clear that exemptions would be made for critical public safety and childcare services. The amount of furlough days that could be needed is dependent on the cash balance situation.”

Cueto repeated a statement he had made earlier in the week: “The governor doesn’t want to furlough employees, but she has to leave everything on the table to solve our cash crisis.”

Democrats and union officials point to legislation the governor signed in January to balance the budget and a Legislative Finance Committee report last week showing the state’s revenue flow is on track or exceeding expectations.

According to that report, New Mexico’s general fund is projected to close out the current fiscal year at $54 million, or 1 percent, above expectations. That does not include about $16 million the Human Services Department will revert to the general fund.

An economist who reviewed the report for The New Mexican said it suggested furloughs and a previously announced hiring freeze are not necessary.