« $200,000 PowerBall winners see strength in numbers | Today | Update: Former TSA worker sentenced to 3 months »

October 11, 2007

Labor leaders mum on details of Carcieri meeting

PROVIDENCE -- A group of organized labor leaders met with Governor Carcieri behind closed doors for roughly an hour today.

They emerged from the governor's office at around 1 p.m. largely silent about the content of the discussion, which focused on Carcieri's plan to cut state spending by $200 million by reducing the state's workforce and cutting existing benefits for those who keep their jobs.

It was a "very cordial meeting," according to Robert A. Walsh, Jr., executive director of the National Education Association in Rhode Island, declining to discuss the specifics. "We agreed we would let him tell the story on Monday."

The governor plans to hold a press conference Monday to disclose the details of his plan.

The leaders said they were pleased that the governor had invited them to sit down. Union representatives said they were largely caught off guard when the governor disclosed his $200-million cost-cutting plan at a dinner for business leaders last week.

"I think it was a courtesy to us to tell us what the plans are," said Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals.

Asked whether the meeting may have improved relations between organized labor and the Republican governor, Reback said, "I think the future is going to have to speak for itself."

-- Steve Peoples, Journal State House Bureau

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 1:41 PM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)