Council 62 Goes to Court to Stop Kentucky Furloughs

August 12, 2010

AFSCME Kentucky members speak out against furloughs.

AFSCME Council 62 has filed for an injunction to stop Kentucky Gov. Steven Beshear’s (D) plan to furlough state employees for six days this fiscal year, asserting that the plan would cause “irreparable harm” to the workers and to the security and well-being of the commonwealth’s citizens. The first furlough day is scheduled to occur on the Friday before Labor Day.

Council 62 represents nearly 9,000 state workers in two units: corrections and probation,  parole and law enforcement employees, and social service and employment workers.

The suit, filed in Franklin County Circuit Court on August 6, seeks to show that 24-hour corrections facilities would have to be staffed at mandated levels regardless of furloughs in order to avoid compromising the security of the facilities and nearby communities, resulting in extensive overtime costs that would be greater than any proposed savings.

Council 62’s filing also points out that social service employees provide vital services around the clock to Kentucky communities, that they’re already understaffed, and that furloughs would needlessly endanger the lives of children needing protection and families in crisis requiring immediate assistance.

Six AFSCME members signed-on to the lawsuit as plaintiffs.

Governor Beshear’s ability to order furloughs was given a legislative push as part of a compromise budget this year. Legislators called furloughs a “last resort tool” to make up $131 million in budget cuts required of the governor. Before any other major cuts were announced, and without documentation, Beshear announced a furlough plan that he claimed would save Kentucky $24 million.

Council 62 has questioned that savings claim, noting that states around the country – including California,  Ohio, Nebraska and Washington – are beginning to realize that unexamined costs from furloughs, including additional overtime and missed services, are actually eating up projected savings. The end result of furlough plans like Kentucky’s is undue harm to state employees and their families, to prison security and to families in need.

An initial hearing for the injunction has been set for August 16.

In the meantime, after working eight years under the previous administration without an executive order for representation, both AFSCME Kentucky units this week ratified negotiated agreements with the commonwealth of Kentucky establishing new and stronger rights for employees.