Schwarzenegger，你挨‘球’。

先说一句，我没有写别字哈，不要理解歪了噢。_(a)


Schwarzenegger to order furloughs, layoffs
By Kevin Yamamura and Dan Smith
[e-mail]
Published: Friday, Dec. 19, 2008


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is telling labor unions that it will order two-day-a-month unpaid furloughs for state employees beginning in February to help the state save cash amid its budget crisis.

Bruce Blanning, executive director of the Professional Engineers in California Government, said he received a call this morning from Department of Personnel Administration officials informing the union of the impending executive order.

DPA officials could not be reached for comment, but Schwarzenegger administration officials have said the governor was considering such an order.

The furloughs would apply to all general fund and special fund employees and amount to about a 10 percent pay cut, Blanning said. The unpaid furloughs would begin in February and continue through June 2010, he said.

The governor plans to impose an outright 10 percent pay cut for managers and non-union employees over 18 months starting Jan. 1, according to Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which represents state workers. SEIU also said the governor plans to issue 120-day "surplus" notices to one-fifth of state employees with the least seniority, informing them that they could be laid off.

DPA officials told Blanning the governor would seek a 10 percent elimination of jobs in the state workforce, which could result in thousands of layoffs.

SEIU Local 1000 spokesman Naj Alikhan said the union plans to sue the administration, likely under an unfair labor practice law, according to a video on the union's Web site.

State leaders face a $40 billion budget gap over the next 18 months, and California could run out of cash as soon as February unless lawmakers and the governor take immediate steps to reduce the shortfall. Legislative Democrats approved a package Thursday that would have reduced the gap by $18 billion and avert an immediate cash crunch, but Schwarzenegger vetoed the plan because he said it did not sufficiently aid the economy or impose enough spending cuts.

Blanning, whose union represents 13,000 engineers and land surveyors at Caltrans and other agencies, said the latest move is imprudent.

"We're in a time when we're trying to get federal money to build infrastructure and create jobs," he said. "Telling people to stay home two days a month does not seem to be a productive way to do that."

Schwarzenegger angered unions in late July when he signed an executive order that sought to reduce pay for about 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour. The Republican governor said the move was necessary for the state to preserve cash in the midst of a protracted budget dispute. But unions filed lawsuits and state Controller John Chiang refused to implement the order, leading to a legal battle that remains unresolved. As a practical matter, the issue last year became moot once Schwarzenegger signed the state budget in late September.