Corzine, union seek deal for wage freeze, furloughs

The Corzine administration has reached a "tentative" agreement with the state's largest labor union on plans for a wage freeze and furloughs in the forthcoming budget, the governor said yesterday.

But he said the details were not final. The union, the Communications Workers of America, was even more cautious, saying only "the framework" of a deal was in place.

Corzine is counting on a wage freeze and an unspecified number of furlough days to save the state $156.6 million in the budget that begins July 1. Neither the CWA nor the governor's office would say how many furloughs are expected in the deal that is moving forward.

So far state workers have had one furlough day, in May. - Jonathan Tamari