Thread: Furlough Fridays Begin for Calif. State Workers

Furlough Fridays Begin for Calif. State Workers

Friday, February 6, 2009 5:30 AM



SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- More than 200,000 state government employees were expected to stay home without pay Friday as California began its first-ever furlough, a move intended to save money during an ongoing fiscal crisis.

State agencies scrambled in the days before the furloughs took effect to avoid confusion for the public, such as people trying to register vehicles or obtain professional licenses.

Among the offices to be closed Friday are those of the Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Consumer Affairs. The governor's Office of Emergency Services also would be dark as part of a cash-saving move ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Critical and revenue-generating agencies were scheduled to remain open, including fire stations, parks and employment centers that process unemployment insurance claims. California's unemployment rate is 9.3 percent, a 15-year high.

Schwarzenegger ordered the two-day-a-month furloughs, reducing the average state worker's salary by 9.2 percent, as he and lawmakers try to solve the state's $42 billion budget shortfall.

The governor had hoped his order would apply to some 238,000 state employees, but each of the seven other constitutional officers have said they will not comply. Employees of the Legislature are not under his authority.

Schwarzenegger's legal affairs secretary, Andrea Hoch, said the administration was prepared to sue the state controller if he did not reduce paychecks for more than 15,000 workers in the other constitutional offices, which include the attorney general, secretary of state and insurance commissioner.

A judge who affirmed Schwarzenegger's authority to order the furloughs said his ruling did not apply to statewide elected officials because they were not a party to the lawsuit. The administration has maintained that employees of constitutional offices are covered by the furlough order.

Doors to about 180 DMV offices were to be locked Friday. Some people said the state gave little notice to the public about the furloughs, which will continue on the first and third Fridays of each month through June 2010.

"They don't have any signs telling us about Friday," said Ingrid Dela Cruz of Sacramento, who was inside a Sacramento DMV office on Thursday.

In fact, there were plenty of signs, but they were posted in locations invisible to most customers because they were hidden behind sliding glass doors.

Schwarzenegger's administration estimated that cutting worker hours would save the state $1.3 billion over the next year-and-a-half.

The state decided to keep some 250 career centers open after previously announcing they would be closed. The centers are where the unemployed get information about job training and benefits.

Labor leaders said the furloughs could have been prevented. Jim Zamora, spokesman for Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, said the administration did not respond to the union's latest contract proposal, which he said included alternatives.

"More than a week ago, Local 1000 presented the governor's negotiators with a deal that would have prevented the closure of state offices, created an orderly, flexible and manageable furlough process, prevented chaos and saved the state hundreds of millions of dollars," Zamora said in a statement.

Jolley, whose office is negotiating with the union, declined to respond.

Some employees, including a group of engineers, said they were going to show up at work, anyway, despite the pay cut.

Craig Copelan, a senior engineer with the state Department of Transportation, said he has been working on a national safety manual with colleagues around the country and that Friday is the final day to turn in comments.

Other employees questioned whether the furloughs would result in taxpayer savings.

Dan Gurule, a police officer at the state mental hospital in Norwalk, said the state would have to pay overtime at 24-hour facilities to those workers who backfill the shifts of people on furlough.

Five state mental hospitals and 33 adult prisons are required to provide constant care to patients and inmates.

"Somebody has to fill in my position," Gurule said. "We still have to have a minimum staffing. That's going to be someone on overtime, being paid time-and-a-half."

But the furlough may not be all that bad for state workers.

Squaw Valley ski resort at Lake Tahoe was offering $30 lift tickets _ a $49 savings _ on furlough days to state employees who show a valid state identification card or recent pay stub. Boreal ski resort also has a promotion in which state employees can ski or snowboard every Friday for the rest of the season for $20.

http://www.newsmax.com/us/california_bu ... 78994.html

Calif. Agencies Scramble to Meet Friday Furloughs

Thursday, February 5, 2009 8:30 PM



SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- State agencies were scrambling Thursday to implement the first employee furloughs in California history, ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to save money in the face of a massive budget crisis.

Many agencies were still trying to figure out whether some employees might be working on Friday, the first of the two-a-month furloughs. Most had not announced any closure plans on their Web sites.

Schwarzenegger's office says about 90 percent of the state's 238,000 employees are supposed to be off Friday. Public safety and some other employees, such as those who collect revenue, are exempt, but offices including the Department of Motor Vehicles and Veterans Affairs will be closed.

Jim Zamora, spokesman for Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, said many employees were receiving conflicting information about who was affected. The union, which represents 95,000 state workers, collected several memos from managers apologizing for their lack of information.

Lynelle Jolley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Personnel Administration, said the situation was changing constantly and that managers were being kept as up-to-date as possible.

"A certain amount of confusion is unavoidable, given that this has never been done," she said. "We're doing it under emergency circumstances, and the uncertainty of what's happening in the Legislature continues to plague all of our planning efforts."

The furloughs come after months of negotiations to try to solve the state's budget shortfall, which is projected to reach $42 billion by June 2010.

Republicans have steadfastly opposed increasing taxes, while Democrats have been unwilling to accept deep cuts to social services. Schwarzenegger says both are needed, but has been unable to broker a compromise. The state, meanwhile, could run out of cash by the end of the month.

The governor has declared a fiscal state of emergency, allowing him to order the furloughs. A Sacramento County Superior Court judge upheld the order last week.

On Thursday, the same judge said his previous ruling did not apply to employees of statewide elected officials such as the attorney general and treasurer.

The ruling means some 15,000 employees will not be forced to take days off without pay. The state has seven constitutional officers besides the governor, and all of them have said they will not comply with the furlough order.

Schwarzenegger's office has estimated the furloughs will save the state about $1.4 billion through June 2010.

For employees, the furloughs will amount to a 9.2 percent pay cut. Some workers will be on the job Friday but will be required to take unpaid days off in the future.

Craig Copelan, an engineer with the state Department of Transportation, was among the state workers who said they planned to show up at work Friday, despite the furlough order.

"I have a lot of work to do. I'm really serious about what I do," said Copelan, who works on traffic safety studies. "Our work doesn't stop on the weekends, it's 24-7."

Call centers that process unemployment claims will be staffed, and the state Employment Development Department decided Thursday to keep open some 250 career centers where the unemployed get information about job training and benefits, after previously saying they would be closed, EDD spokeswoman Loree Levy said.

State parks also will remain open because they generate revenue.

The governor's office has said its employees will work on Friday but take the pay cut.

http://www.newsmax.com/us/california_bu ... 78899.html

I think most of them should shut down every day, most of their customers especially for social services are non-Americans anyway.

Please join in at the link below. Call your senators.

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-145317.html

California Counties Threaten To Withhold Money From State
| AHN ...Feb 5, 2009 ... Sacramento plans to file this week a lawsuit against California and state controller John Chiang for withholding the county's funds for ...
www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013964411 - Similar pages

L.A. County threatens to withhold revenue from state -
Los Angeles ...Feb 4, 2009 ... Withholding state payments is not really an option for most counties, said Paul McIntosh, executive director of the California State Assn. ...
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-county ... ?track=rss - 63k - Cached - Similar pages