At least one labor union that represents state workers in Missouri is lashing out at Governor Jay Nixon's plan to eliminate more than 860 state jobs.
Nixon made that announcement during Wednesday's State of the State Address.
The governor's Budget Director, Linda Luebbering, says they hope most of the job cuts will be through elimination of vacant positions. But Bradley Harmon, President of the Communications Workers of America Local 6355 , says otherwise.
"Five hundred jobs out of the Department of Social Services and Department of Health and Senior Services," Harmon said. "Those are going to be actual people who are going to lose actual jobs as a result of those cuts."
Harmon says eliminating those jobs could have a negative impact on Missouri's most vulnerable citizens who are served by those agencies. He calls the proposal "outrageous."
"(Governor Nixon's) solution has been to the budget crisis that Missouri has faced, has been to try to cut our way to prosperity, and it doesn't seem to be working," Harmon said.
Harmon also says they'll work with lawmakers from both political parties to try and block the job cuts. And he suggests the governor should instead authorize collecting sales taxes on products sold through the Internet as a way to bring in more revenue.
