(2000) State employees union OKs pact

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101102/NEWS01/711039959#state-employees-union-oks-pact

Published Tuesday November 2, 2010

By Paul Hammel
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN -- The largest state employee's union delivered a nugget of good news for the battered state budget on Tuesday.

The 2,000-member Nebraska Association of Public Employees announced that more than 90 percent of members in favor of ratifying a labor agreement that calls for no salary increase next year and only a 2-percent hike in July of 2012.

The decision translates into about $22 million in savings to the state over the next two fiscal years.

Nebraska lawmakers and Gov. Dave Heineman will be faced with closing a projected $1.4 billion gap between forecast state revenue and projected state spending over the next two years.