The director of the union, Julie Dake Abel, said Friday that the freeze would actually be a pay cut because of rising health-insurance premiums. She also says there was no guarantee that employees not covered by the union contract would have their pay frozen.

Union employees will get a 2.5 percent pay increase next fiscal year.

Heineman was not immediately available to comment.

If the union had accepted the proposal and about 2,900 managers not covered by union contracts also had their pay frozen, the state would have saved about $10 million.