BY STEVE PEOPLES
Journal State House Bureau

Governor Carcieri is meeting this afternoon with union leaders to outline a tentative cost-cutting plan that includes furlough days for state workers.

The General Assembly adopted a state budget late last month that includes an unspecified cut of $57.6 million across all state departments and $5 million from consultant contracts. Carcieri is charged with finding a way to meet those targets.

"We're meeting intensely on that right now," Carieri said in an unrelated interview, noting a meeting Thursday with the Senate president and separate meetings Friday with the House Speaker and union leaders.

"We have a tentative plan, I'm not prepared to disclose any of that yet," he said.

Will it involve forced unpaid days off, known as furlough days?

"Yes it will involve furloughs. It has to. The only way you're going to find $70 million is essentially on the wages. We've aleady made the benefit changes. Part of it is how much, how many. And that's what we're working through right now."

The governor's attempts to force furloughs on unionized state workers in recent years have not gone well. Organized labor views the move as an illegal pay cut not allowed under the existing contract.

"They can't do any of these things unilaterally," AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer George Nee said before this afternoon's meeting with the governor.