Ohio governor seeks state employee wage cuts, shorter work week, and unpaid holidays from state employees

The state has asked workers in its largest labor union to accept a 5 percent across-the-board pay cut, a shorter work week and unpaid holidays to help balance the state's troubled budget.

The list of cuts and changes Gov. Ted Strickland's administration has asked the workers to accept, which also includes mandatory furloughs and paying more for their health insurance, would amount to $250 million in concessions, according to a members-only e-mail from Ohio Civil Service Employees Association president
Eddie L. Parks.

Parks said "the union has also been told that even if concessions are made, there will be no guarantee that layoffs won't happen."

Strickland has said the state faces a $7 billion budget shortfall in the next two-year budget which starts on July 1. The governor is expected to release his budget proposal later this month or early in February.