HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The core issues of wages and benefits remained unsettled in Pennsylvania on Wednesday as negotiations between the governor and the two largest state-employee unions stretched into a third straight day.
Contracts with 17 unions representing about 60,000 workers expire on June 30 and spokesmen for both sides said they were hopeful a tentative agreement could be reached before then.
"We're still optimistic," Dan Egan, spokesman for the governor's Office of Administration, said late Wednesday afternoon as discussions with Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and Local 668 of the Service Employees International Union continued at separate, undisclosed locations.
Recommended For You
Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is calling for contract concessions that include a 4 percent pay cut and rollbacks in health coverage.
Tuesday's negotiations stretched late into the night, and Egan said the management negotiators were prepared to remain at the table "as late we need to be" on Wednesday.
AFSCME chief David Fillman said Wednesday morning that negotiators had made progress but that "the heavy lifts" — wages and benefits — had yet to be resolved. Fillman's union represents 45,000 workers and its contract is typically viewed as a template for those of the smaller unions.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
