State Employees leader says deal in danger

The Union Leader reports that the agreement between the state and the State Employees Assocication may be falling apart.

Gary Smith, president of SEIU Local 1984, said Rich Sigel, chief of staff for Gov. John Lynch, told him yesterday that the state will not negotiate a clause the union believes is unfair to the 500 or so corrections officers that are part of the union's 7,500 state employees.

Sigel was not available for comment last night.

"We were so close to finalizing the agreement," Smith said. "Now, at the last minute, the governor is walking away from this agreement that will provide $50 million in potential savings."

The Governor's Office has yet to comment. If this deal is falling apart because the union wants to renegotiate a clause, then it isn't the Governor who's walking away from an agreement. It's the union that wants to open up a contract already in place.