At some point, you’d figure, Arnold would take out his vengeance against some other group. Like, say oil companies or something. But no, Arnold is out for state worker blood.
The governor’s latest budget proposal assumes almost 20 percent in employee wage cuts: 15 percent from the three-day furloughs that started this month, plus another 5 percent across-the-board whack.
“Three days (furlough) plus the 5 percent,” said H.D. Palmer, Department of Finance spokesman when asked Wednesday to clarify the governor’s budget proposal.
The Legislature won’t go for the pay cut, but the governor can then add a furlough day for reasons we’ll explain. (SacBee State Worker 7/9/09)
This will be a 20% pay cut. And let’s be clear, while many of these employees make a decent living, it’s not like any of these people were making CEO type salaries. These are people who put in their time, and do extremely hard work for the people of the state every day.
Slashing their salaries doesn’t create any massive cost savings, it is essentially a tool that Arnold can use for negotiations. It’s cynical and short sighted. If Arnold does get his way, services will be slashed down to the bone. It’s impractical and doesn’t actually solve any real problems. More of the same shock doctrine attitudes and goals from the Governor.
UPDATE by Julia let me also note that these state workers have already seen their workloads dramatically increase. Between all of the cut backs and unfilled positions, plus simply having 3 less days to do the same work these workers are overburdened and now facing huge cuts in their pay.
Somewhat off topic. I’m a visitor from the European Tribune (@ http://www.eurotrib.com/ ) via the SAC BEE. Spoiled by the level of discourse at ET for the past 2 years, I’m somewhat disappointed by the low value of BEE comment threads. Any comments?
There is simply no justification for these attacks on state workers. It is Hooverism, plain and simple. Government needs to be hiring and giving raises right now. Cuts to pay and the state workforce are only going to make the economic crisis worse, and will result in weakened tax receipts (among other impacts).
But as we’re seeing, Arnold doesn’t give a shit about either the economy or the state’s finances. He is hell-bent on using this crisis to force through right-wing changes. He is a relentless shock-doctrine terminator. He will not stop, until Dems crush him in the political equivalent of a metal press.
especially to Julia’s update. My partner is trying to do the same amount of work or more in fewer and fewer days, while living (and supporting my currently sick ass) on about 15% less than her already middling salary.
We’ll get by, but another furlough or pay cut would mean that all of our (already meager) discretionary money would be gone and we’d have to make some pretty painful cuts. And we live cheaply — no car payment, low rent shared with roommate, no kids. I don’t know how folks with greater financial obligations are doing it. A fourth furlough day would absolutely destroy a lot of folks, financially. The paychecks with the third furlough day haven’t even hit people yet.
The local Sacramento economy depends on state work; this stuff will ripple through the whole area. A lot of businesses here are feeling it already pretty badly.
Gov. Stogie doesn’t negotiate. He issues demands and commands. The Dems are the ones who negotiate. They’ve been negotiating forever, and they don’t get anywhere. You’d think they’d learn, but they don’t. They keep hoping Gov. HotTub will come to his senses. And they keep working to come to a compromise he’ll agree to.
But he isn’t agreeing to anything.
He’s not compromising.
He’s just issuing more demands, changing them, issuing commands, and mostly getting away with it.
While, gosh darn it, those Dems just keep working and hoping that one day it will all turn out for the best.
Please.
As for state workers, they don’t have a lot of friends in the public. Sorry. Yes, I think they are misunderstood, and their plight is not deserved. They certainly don’t deserve a 20% pay cut on top of a much heavier workload. That’s just crazy. But from my experience, too many of them (not all, by any means) have a hostile and contemptuous attitude toward the public and other agencies and levels of government, and they’ve gotten away with it for many years. This leads to apathy toward their situation among the public (when it is not outright hostility), and/or indifference by other agencies and levels of government.
No, they don’t deserve what Arnold is doing to them, but you’re not going to see much public or intergovernmental support for them, either.
Since he actually lives in Hollywood, of course, the Governor doesn’t care that slashing state workers’ salaries is killing the local economy.