University of Maine System officials and employee union leaders reached tentative agreements Monday on a furlough plan to save $1.2 million before June 30, according to representatives of both sides.
If union members approve the furlough agreements in the next three weeks, more than 2,000 clerical and professional staff, both union and nonunion, will take two days off this spring without pay, said James Bradley, clerical union president.
In return, Chancellor Richard Pattenaude has promised to forgo additional layoffs through June. However, further staff reductions are expected in the coming fiscal year as a task force develops a strategic plan to streamline university programs.
Union leaders said they approved the furlough plan so system officials could avoid laying off about 100 clerical staff members in March, including 70 workers at the University of Southern Maine.
"There will be layoffs, but they'll be more strategic," said Kerry Sullivan, president of the professional staff members union.
Pattenaude, two vice chancellors, seven university presidents and other top administrators each plan to give up a week's salary without taking the time off, said John Diamond, system spokesman.
The total savings from their contribution was unavailable late Monday.
Maintenance workers and police officers at USM and the University of Maine at Fort Kent would take five days off without pay, Bradley said. They belong to the Teamsters union, which represents about 120 workers at USM.
No full- or part-time faculty members would be affected by the furlough agreements.
By taking two days off without pay, the 900 members of the clerical union would save the system about $160,000 this fiscal year, Bradley said. Many full-time clerical workers earn about $20,000 per year; those workers would give up about $150 each. Bradley, a 10-year administrative assistant at the USM campus in Lewiston, would give up $227.
"It sounds like a small amount, but it reflects how little we're paid," Bradley said.
"It troubles me that the lowest-paid employees are getting hit so hard."
The furlough agreement for professional staff members, both union and nonunion, would save the system $770,000, Bradley said.
That amount includes the week's pay that Pattenaude and other top administrators plan to give up, he said.
Maintenance workers and police officers at USM and UMFK would save the system $127,000 by taking five unpaid days off, Bradley said.
The furlough plan is part of a systemwide effort to reduce spending by about $15 million between now and June 30 to offset a projected drop in state revenue, Diamond said.
Some layoffs have been scheduled as a result, including 44 jobs related to the planned closing of USM's child-care centers and fitness center in August.
Given a forecast of even leaner years ahead, Pattenaude has appointed a 12-member task force, including Bradley, to review and recommend operational and structural changes for Maine's 40-year-old, 45,000-student state university system.
"These furlough agreements are an important step toward minimizing the impact that balancing the budget will have on employees," Diamond said.
The administration is discussing a separate proposal with the system's full-time faculty union that would defer March 1 raises to a future date, which would shave about $600,000 from spending this year, Bradley said.
The system's 1,030 full-time faculty members are due for a 1.5 percent raise negotiated in 2007, Diamond said.
Ballots on the furlough agreements will be mailed to union members today and votes will be tallied by the end of this month, Bradley said.
The agreements include an early retirement incentive for employees who are at least 60 years old and have worked for the system at least 20 years, Bradley said.
Eligible employees could choose between a $10,000 cash payment...
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