(Schwarzenegger) facing budget impasse, plans minimum wage for (ALL hourly) state workers

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans next week to slash the pay of more than 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum of $6.55 per hour to deal with the state's budget crisis, according to a draft executive order obtained by the Chronicle today.

The governor also will order an end to overtime pay for all but critical services, a freeze on state hiring and the immediate layoff of 22,000 temporary, seasonal and student workers.

"As a result of the late state budget, there is a real and substantial risk that the state will have insufficient cash to pay for state expenditures," the executive order states.

The proposed pay cut for hourly employees takes their wages well below the state minimum wage of $8 an hour. A 2003 California Supreme Court decision allows the state to chop workers' pay to the federal minimum when a state budget is not in effect.

... "Holding state workers hostage is not a fair way to get to a budget agreement," said Emily Clayton, policy coordinator for the California Labor Federation.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/0...

[Demeter]

1. You First, Arnie

And turn over the pension and health care benefits, too.

[MrModerate]

He's a smart enough politician, he might just do that . . .

Of course, having a personal fortune of millions of dollars helps take the sting out of such sacrifices.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

30. WHERE CAN I GET A RECALL PETITION???????????????

HE IS SUCH A SLIME.

[Truth4Justice]

36. Where is John Conner and his 40 gigawatt plasma rifle when you need him?

[musette_sf]

51. ask Darrell Issa

i hear he has pads and pads of them left over

[beyurslf]

15. Didn't he forego his pay as Govenor? When you make millions from the movies

who needs the pawltry "salary" that mortals live by?

[slackmaster]

40. That's correct, he's getting paid $1 per year

He is not a working class dude.

[MrModerate]

2. But Californians Luuuuuuuv Arnie . . .

Dont' they?

[goclark]

12. No we don't and never did ~

[BuddhaGirl]

17. absofuckinglutely NOT!!!

n/t

[JeanGrey]

19. Hey they aren't the only ones who love him. If not for that little

rule about being foreign born, he'd be president.

[Popol Vuh]

25. Nope! And never did.

I voted NO on the recall of Gray Davis, then, voted for Gary Coleman in the election. Yes, I voted for Gary Coleman. LOL.

[cyclezealot]

42. Check out the polls.

Last I read his approval rating was like 40%. Hardly loved.

[WhiteTara]

53. we got him through electoral fraud

with rigged ballot electronic ballot boxes. We have hated from the day he made a deal with the devil at the Century Hotel in downtown LA.

[Ian David]

3. What an economic girlie man!

[billyoc]

4. Nice job, California.

Sow the wind, and all that...

[AndyTiedye]

9. You're Preaching to the Choir. Nobody On DU Voted For the Gropernator

Unfortunately, California is also home to FreepRepiglet.

[Zhade]

23. You know, we here on DU didn't vote for him.

None of my friends or family did either.

Sanctimonious much?

[billyoc]

32. Yes, I know, nobody from DU voted for him. Since DU members don't amount to even a rounding error,

"Nice job California" it is.

[Truth4Justice]

34. Kaleeforkneeya is going down the drain. Thats why we left there when the Terminator was selected.

[Patchuli]

43. Yeah, thanks for that

As for those of us born here with everyone we love here, that is NOT an option.

[Truth4Justice]

50. We simply got tired of the stagnent wages, high electrical costs and all the laws passed each year..

now I heard you are stuck with a cellphone ban while driving. What's next? The only thing we miss is the Bay Area.

[Patchuli]

55. I'm thrilled they passed the cellphone ban

Maybe if that had been passed 4 years ago, the idiotic woman who hit my truck head-on because she didn't notice she was a. running a red light, b. speeding at 60 mph in a school zone and c. crossing the center line and hitting me who was sitting innocent on my brake waiting to turn left, would have been paying attention instead of talking to someone on her cell phone. I don't even think you should be able to wear a headset/bluetooth. People just plain don't pay attention to driving when talking to an outside party.

[Truth4Justice]

56. Drivers like that will have accidents no matter what. The DMV tests are way too easy. Anyone can....

pass. But I also agree that the use of cell-phones while driving is out of control.

[nebenaube]

5. Gee...

That will cause a few foreclosures...

[Igel]

6. Eh.

Key phrase: "when a state budget is not in effect".

Been there, done that. My paycheck depended on the state budget one summer, and they had no such plan.

The funds ran out. Then I had no paycheck. The school continued to credit me with hours and said I'd get paid, eventually. I did. Fortunately I had assumed that I'd eventually get no paycheck and stopped all discretionary spending. No hamburger that week.

Had it gone on much longer, however, I'd have rather liked having the minimum wage--it would have stretched out the remaining funds available a bit longer.

I'm assuming that as part of the budget, the legislature would stipulate retroactively increasing the pay to pre-no-budget levels and awarding back pay.

All because the legislature couldn't bring itself to make the deal that they eventually made. Somehow causing suffering and anxiety in addition to budget cuts was morally superior to just instituting budget cuts. Then again, the large groups that supported various legislators ("lobbyists" by another name) got theirs, so my inconvenience and late fees were, well, acceptable.

[comtec]

33. So dispite being fucked up... he's actually helping people?

I'm sorry that's a hard idea for me to wrap my brain around... a republicant working to HELP people... during a crisis...
that makes my brain hurt!

I don't like Arnold in office. I voted against the recall and for the major dem candidate. I voted against him in his real election, and I'm still against him. But I have to admit I'm glad he's not running the state as badly as pete wilson (his major adviser) did. maybe because the dem controlled (yay) legislature is too powerful.

BUT he's also vetoed a lot of bills that could have helped a lot of people (universal in California) and has proven, even though he's more moderate, he's still a GOP asshole.

one foot note... as far as I know arnold isn't actually taking a salary, he said IIRC that he's rich enough and turned his salary back into the state's budget. he's not what I want in office, but lord knows he could be a hell of a lot worse.

[Truth4Justice]

35. Alnold has dual citizenship so he could go back to Austria for universal healthcare if needed, so...

he cares nothing for the little people who pay his salery.

[comtec]

37. sad but true... but I dont think Austria wants him ;)

[Merlot]

39. I don't think "he's not as bad as pete wilson" is a glowing endorsement

He really has run the state horribly.

Remember how much we paid for his stupid election where not one of his republican initiatives passed?

He's just better at photo ops and manipulating the press.

Any damage he hasn't done wasn't for lack of trying.

.

[Jim__]

7. Why would any working person ever vote for a repuke?

I just don't get it.

[not fooled]

8. Especially this one...

...I still remember the ludicrous recall of Grey Davis and enshrinement of the Boobengrabber. Idolatrous coverage by the media, a love-fest with much of the citizenry, and completely uncritical acceptance of Arnie's vacuous campaign promises ("balance the budget by seeking out & cutting fraud, waste blather blather blather). No relation to reality.

What's happened since Arnie's election? Nothing much except that the state is now in worse shape. And the fraud gets re-elected over a populist like Angelides. Go figure.

I was disgusted then and not surprised now at how all of this has turned out.

Just watch out, though. I fear that Arnie is being positioned (phony environmentalism, etc.) to run agains Boxer for US Senator.

--just check out his firing of state coastal commissioners antagonistic to toll roads through sensitive areas --replaced by development-friendly stooges-- to put the lie to his claims of being pro-environment. A complete fraud through and through, down to his dyed hair and hand makeup (ewww).

[goclark]

13. No more Arnie please ~ we can not take him

He is a fake and how he got elected is beyond me.

I haven't ever talked to anyone that voted for him.

[billyoc]

10. Racism.

[shanti]

14. the cult of celebrity

that's all i can say. some people are simply fools.

[Trajan]

28. Famous quote by JC Watts father .... ( I think ...)

Paraphrased:

"A working man voting for a Republican is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders" ...

Something like that ....

[struggle4progress]

11. knr

[CreekDog]

16. That sucks

That the budgets have been hitting the poorest the hardest is bad enough, this makes it worse.

[Trillo]

18. My question is which state workers aren't "hourly"? n/t

[YvonneCa]

21. Teachers. n/t

[olddad56]

22. lots of them are not hourly employees...

most of the better paying positions are salaried employees. They get paid by the month, and no, they don't get compensated for overtime. Hourly employees, in general, don't make as much but get compensated for overtime.

I retired from the state of CA last December as a salaried employee. After I retired, I came back 2 days a week as a retired annuitant. They take my monthly salary and break it down to an hourly equivalent and pay me by the hour. I will probably be gone, at least temporarily, if the the proposed cuts go into effect. I'm okay with that. I'll come back when they sign a budget. There has been so much turn over where I work, I'm the only one left around that knows the operation. It should be interesting. Knowing the state, I'll probably lose my $45 a hour part time job and get hired back as a consultant at $125 an hour.

[Trillo]

24. That's about what I thought.

Stepping on the little people. That's so republican.

[MurrayDelph]

47. Unfortunately, it's not just Republican

it's a typical ploy of bad California governors from both parties.

When Proposition 13 passed years ago, several categories of state employees, who had gone several years without a raise, found their recently-contracted salary increase unilaterally rescinded by Gerry Brown (who was apparently trying the "You want to cry? I'll give you something to cry about!" school).

[olddad56]

48. that pay raise that Brown rescinded was reinstated after the union won a lawsuit regarding it.

and the state employees were paided retroactively. I wrote the software that generated the retroactive portion of the pay hike.

[tismyself]

26. interesting question that

When I worked for a state, I was salaried when it behooved them, yet hourly when that behooved them. There was no overtime, we got comp time instead - only we could never actually take that time in reality. The icing on the cake was they constantly screwed up the state income taxes...ok, so I'm working for the state, which screwed up its own taxes and then hey presto! the state fines ME for having my state income taxes screwed up. It was almost the damnedest mess I ever bore witness to.

That said, I will say THE damnedest messes I've seen yet occur at the Federal level.

[olddad56]

49. I have worked for the State of Ca. too long to take any of this crap seriously.

[shanti]

58. right, it's won't happen

just political bluster, err...acting.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

20. No one could live on $6.55 an hour.

This is a new kind of slavery in America. Good paying jobs are being sent overseas. Soon most of us will be working for peanuts.

[LeftyMom]

57. Min, wage in CA is $7.75, I think.

I know it's going up to $8, but I'm not sure if that took effect yet.

[Megahurtz]

60. Doesn't matter.

Arnie specifically said he would lower the State worker's wages to the Federal minimum wage level of 6.55 an hour.

What a guy, huh?

[LeftyMom]

61. Is that even legal?

[Megahurtz]

63. I wouldn't think so

but according to the article he says he's doing it.

Unreal isn't it?

[Quantess]

62. ESPECIALLY NOT in CA!

That's one of the states with the highest cost of living.

[MisterP]

27. dribbling, orange embarrassment to Austria AND California

goose-stepping, heedless asswad, risen from the slop-heap of WGA rejects to screw up everything he touches, from Batman & Robin to Kurreefohneeyah

[bluesmail]

29. I have an idea: RECALL VOTE!!

[SahaleArm]

31. That's what you get thanks to Prop-13... n/t

[The Croquist]

38. So why is the state allowed to pay below the State minimum wage

but private companies aren't? That seems pretty damn convenient to me? I wish I could just ignore the law when I wanted to.

[slackmaster]

41. The state, as an employer, is exempt from most of its own labor laws

Many state employees get paid monthly. State law requires that most workers be paid at least twice per month.

[The Croquist]

46. Why should the state be able to exempt themselves?

I want to exempt myself.

[Patchuli]

44. They don't look out

they'll get work equivalent to $6.55 an hour. There is no way I would bust my butt (as I always do) for $6.55 an hour.

How about making some cuts on those outrageous prison costs, Arnie?

[Retrograde]

45. credit where credit is due

much as I dislike Arnold, a large part of the blame goes to the Democratic-controlled state legislature, which once again failed to come up with a budget on time. Just like they do every year.

[KamaAina]

52. If not for the Dems, they'd be getting even less than that

if it were up to many repukes, the Federal minimum wage would still be a paltry $5.15 an hour -- barely enough to buy a gallon of gas!

[JI7]

54. fuck him and the Democrats that supported him

[Megahurtz]

59. Well Seig Fucking Heil!

Unbelievable. What a major asshole. I suppose on his outrageous salary he has no clue what it costs to live in this State?

Republicans. What a disaster.