Shira Schoenberg reports in the Concord Monitor that the State Employee’s Association is coming back to the bargaining table to discuss a new contract.

The negotiations will resume after a contentious period between the workers and the state. Since July, state workers have been working under the provisions of their old contract, after they were unable to agree on a new one. When workers rejected a tentative contract agreement that would have included 19 furlough days, Gov. John Lynch in October laid off or demoted around 300 employees.

Lynch spokesman Colin Manning said this time, health care will be among the major issues raised in negotiations. “The big issue from the state is the rising cost of health care,” Manning said. “I think that’s something we’d like to try to address in any kind of agreement that could be reached.”