31.   Ray Valenzuela, executive director of the employees union representing state corrections workers, agrees.

32.   Seven of the eight candidates who appeared they might avoid a June runoff with a majority of the vote Tuesday were by city employee unions and City Council members.

33.   San Fernando Valley Leaders for Charter Reform, Riordan, the Neighborhood Cause Coalition and the city employees unions all have endorsed slates of commission candidates.

34.   State employee unions, not surprisingly, said the numbers support the positions they have taken during several years of government cutbacks in Albany.

35.   Some Pataki administration officials have said, however, that the pension increase could become a bargaining chip in negotiations between the state and its public employee unions.

36.   State employee unions complained that the new system could be installed as easily and cheaply by state workers, but the governor put the project out to bid.

37.   State employees unions, which have criticized the measure, say that private contractors who have handled smaller jobs for the state have come in over cost.

38.   The committee argued that pay scales are negotiated through employee unions.

39.   The service employees union suggests keeping such proven programs, and others like childhood immunization and Head Start, both specific and national.

40.   The Tax Equity Alliance for Massachusetts, funded chiefly by public employee unions, filed a proposed referendum with Secretary of State William F. Galvin.