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STATE ORDER More pay freezes are required

The OBSERVER's view

State Gov. Andrew Cuomo is familiar with slowdowns in the economy. When he first took office in 2011, the governor was dealing with the ramifications of the 2008 recession and took appropriate steps. Now, he is facing a much greater slowdown.

His action late last week was not popular with state union employees, but it makes a great deal of sense. When belts tighten, money can’t flow freely as it has in the last eight years.

A state freeze on wages was an excellent order. “The options are, you could do layoffs of state workers option A,” Cuomo said Thursday during his daily news conference. “Option B, you could buy some time with freezing the raises to state workers. I choose option B.”

If the governor can take it a step further, the wage freeze needs to apply to every municipal and education worker in the state. Many of these workers have guaranteed pay raises for the coming year.

Right now for many in the private sector, there are no guarantees. Union leaders in the public sector need to understand this economic pain is unprecedented.

It is not the time to be greedy.

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