Malloy talks labor deals, mountain lion on WTIC

Gov. Dan Malloy appeared on WTIC1080, Wednesday morning predicting a “50/50” chance of unions passing his labor deal and remarking on the Greenwich mountain lion.

Malloy and host Ray Dunaway mostly discussed the labor deal that Connecticut unions are expected to vote on later this August.  The deal is largely unchanged from the one unions voted down earlier this year, but since that first vote, union bylaws have been altered to make passing such a deal easier.

The governor said the predicting the vote would become easier as the date approached, but that either way he would find a way to balance Connecticut’s budget deficit.  Nonetheless, he said he was eager to see the deal pass.

I hope they pass it,” said Malloy.  “I think it’s a better way to handle [the budget deficit], particularly on a long term basis but also on a short term…but one way or another we’re gonna have a balanced budget.”

The deal itself is virtually the same one that unions passed on earlier.  The only change is an extension for retirees; any laborers who want to retire under the old deal have until October 2011 to do so, the first deal gave them until September.

Another outcome of the deal passing is that proposed court closings would be canceled, at least until the government considers new cuts.

In all, the governor assumed a 50 percent chance of passing the budget, acknowledging that it was largely out of his hands at this point.

“You can lead a horse to water,” said Malloy.

The most recent development in the labor deals sees unions dealing with prosecutor’s arguments that their dealings violate collective bargaining arrangements.

Dunaway ended the conversation asking if Malloy had read about the Greenwich mountain lion.  He had.

“Pretty interesting to see this animal roam that far,” said Malloy.  “It’s quite remarkable.”

“We have bobcats, and have for quite awhile and obviously we now know it’s not impossible that nature might reintroduce mountain lions to the eastern united states,” he said.

Chris Duray