AUGUSTA – As the state prepared to salute the gains of organized labor today, three employees of the union that represents Maine’s 10,000 state workers were handed pink slips.

The layoffs, effective Oct. 17, were criticized Saturday in a press release by Todd Ricker, president of the Staff Organization of the Maine State Employees Association and an organizer for the MSEA.

Ricker said he would keep his job.

“The members of SOMSEA have been very sad to see the rampant layoffs happening around the state of Maine. We have stood in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who have suffered from their employers’ negligence and mismanagement,” stated Ricker in the release.

“We sincerely hoped, though, that the labor union we work for would operate with a higher set of standards than the for-profit corporations who are laying off so many Maine workers,” Ricker said. “How they can do this on Labor Day weekend is beyond me.”

Brenda Kaler, president of MSEA, could not be reached for comment Sunday.

MSEA is part of the Service Employees International Union, which is the largest AFL-CIO union in the country. The Staff Organization of MSEA is the independent union that represents 22 employees who work for the MSEA.

The layoffs represent a 14 percent reduction in the number of nonmanagement MSEA staff, according to Ricker.

“My biggest concern is for the members of the MSEA,” said Leslie Manning, a union field representative and SOMSEA vice president, in the release. “As the staff of MSEA, we pride ourselves in providing the highest quality of service to state employees. How do we do that with significantly fewer people?”

According to Ricker, the layoffs of nonmanagement staff will not be accompanied by any reduction in management staff, salaries or benefits.