American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees

American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees

President: Arcy M. Baca

Vice President: Rose Ulibarri

Secretary-Treasurer: Alan Ruckel

Recording Secretary: Brenda Watson

Executive Board: Virginia Lopez, Bella Lucero, and Linda Gonzales

Board or trustees: Christine Baca, Monica Villaire-Garcia, Lisa Lujan

American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees

1406 4th Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505

(505) 986-1365

AFSCME Local 477
Press Release: 2008 AFSCME Contract

Santa Fe - These are difficult times and we all need to take care. Every day we hear about something that was almost unimaginable just weeks ago. Just two months ago, Gov. Richardson was announcing a budget surplus and the plan to give every New Mexico taxpayer a rebate.
     The bombshell that altered this optimistic scenario came with the sudden, unexpected drop in oil and gas prices – good news to the consumer, but bad news to projected state budget. Oil and gas revenues are a key factor in the projected finances on which New Mexico state government bases its ability to fund state agency activity and state outlay projects. This shortfall is estimated to be about $200 million.
     What happened? On October 17, Governor Bill Richardson announced a state budget shortfall of $200 million less than FY 09 budgeted expenditures. He called for a plan to immediately freeze certain spending and reduce operating expenses by State government by 5-percent, saving $114 million. Effective November   15, the Governor’s plan called for a freeze of hiring and pay increases for state employees, leaving state agencies, already chronically understaffed, unable to fill vacant positions and forced to continue their services to the citizens of New Mexico by dividing the job assignments from the unfilled positions among existing staff.
     “We will balance the state’s budget. And we will do it without raising taxes, without tapping into the $600 million in cash reserves, and without reducing services for New Mexicans,” Richardson said. “New Mexico is still outperforming the national economy, and is much more financially sound than many other states where people are being laid off to balance the budget. But the reality is that the global financial crisis is hitting us all, and we must tighten our belts and budget responsibly.”
     These are admirable measures, but are they truly realistic? One legislator responded that such an imprecise method could actually backfire, resulting in losses of services at an agency level just when the public most needs them.
     “In an economic crisis,” said Arcy Baca, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 477, “providing services to the citizens is more essential than ever.” How can that be reasonably achieved if state agencies are forced to continue uninterrupted services with staffs that are already short-handed?
     Vacancy rates in many of the state’s service agencies are reported to be running at 20, 30, even 50 percent. Employees are already scrambling to cover their own jobs, plus those of the empty positions around them.
     Into this challenged situation, two unions that represent state employees – AFSCME and CWA – are in the midst of negotiating contracts before the expiration of existing ones. AFSCME, which represents approximately 7,500 bargaining unit eligible state employees from 14 different state agencies, has been engaged in the negotiation process since July. The rights of workers and the welfare of New Mexico’s citizens must be protected in the final document.
     “We know that in times when the private sector is shrinking, it’s government spending that helps stabilize the economy and preserve the services that private citizens depend on to help them through troubled conditions,” Baca pointed out. “If government is reducing services, is this really the best way to service the state of New Mexico?”
     Instead of putting into place the requests that AFSCME is making in its new contract – dealing with inefficient hiring processes, inadequate and uncompetitive pay scales, lowering vacancy rates, and attracting qualified new employees – the Governor’s hiring and pay freeze makes those changes more difficult.
     “It’s inappropriate, in the face of a budget crisis, to put the solution on the backs of state employees at the expense of their health and welfare,” said AFSCME negotiator Shane Youtz. An across-the-board hiring freeze forces state agencies to accept high vacancy levels on the long term. A more measured approach allowing those agencies to tailor the way they implement budget savings could better preserve basic services for the citizens of New Mexico.