ALBANY - No furloughs ... for now.
A federal judge in Albany on Wednesday temporarily halted Gov. Paterson's plan to furlough 100,000 state workers, saying employees could face "irreparable harm" from a 20% pay cut.
The Legislature reluctantly backed Paterson's furlough plan Monday, rather than risk a government shutdown.
Paterson pushed the one-day-a-week furlough to save $30 million a week as lawmakers work to close a $9.2 billion budget gap and finalize a spending plan.
Judge Lawrence Kahn set a hearing on the dispute for May 26. The furloughs were to start Monday.
Some state agencies had prepared for the furloughs, with the Department of Motor Vehicles slated to close on Fridays and the Lottery Division to shutter on Wednesdays.
A disappointed Paterson vowed to fight on. "Until we go to court, the state workforce will not be making any sacrifice in our budget reduction plan, and that's unfortunate," he said.
Labor unions were relieved.
Public Employees Federation President Kenneth Brynien said Kahn's decision "will allow state services to continue uninterrupted and prevent hardships to the taxpayers who depend on them."
The labor groups scored another victory over Paterson yesterday, forcing him to rescind pay hikes to staffers amid growing outrage.
Paterson told the Daily News he was unaware the raises were given to five staffers, saying, "I don't get into the weeds here."
He defended the raises as "modest increases" for people who took on more responsibilities, but he recognized the pay hikes would be a distraction as he battled the unions over furloughs.
"We know that it will be a tactic of the unions to distract everyone from the fact that they have offered nothing in terms of savings to the state," Paterson said.
He predicted the unions were prepared to "bleed this issue for weeks" so the public would hear only "about five workers who got increases pursuant to a promotion instead of 100,000 workers who haven't given a dime toward our workforce reductions."
The raises, he said, totaled $40,000, while the unions have rejected $250 million in concessions.
Paterson pushed for furloughs after union groups refused to give back their 4% raises this year - or agree to a one-week pay lag.
He declined to say if he'd pursue layoffs as an alternative.
The unions and many lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, argued the furloughs were illegal because they were not collectively bargained.
Kahn cited the Legislature's stance as a key reason for his decision, saying it appears "the bill is contrary to the [law] and public policy."
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