The Governor did what he said he would do today.  He just cut the pay for over 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum of $6.55/hour and fired 22,000 temporary or seasonal workers.  We do have someone fighting back and that is Democratic Controller John Chiang.  SacBee:

While budget delays have nearly become an annual rite in the Capitol, Schwarzenegger argues that this year calls for drastic steps because the state has less cash due to a sour economy. The move could save roughly $1 billion per month, and the governor believes California will not have a sufficient cash reserve in September without the executive order.

But Democratic state Controller John Chiang disputes Schwarzenegger’s view of the state’s cash situation, insisting the state has enough cash to last through September without engaging in expensive borrowing. Chiang has vowed to defy part of the governor’s order by paying state workers their full wages, though he cannot help temporary state employees retain their jobs.

There remains a high threshold for the federal minimum wage cut to take effect for 200,000 state workers. Most get paid at the end of the month, so the lawmakers would have to remain in a stalemate through the end of August. Even then, Chiang has said he intends to issue full paychecks at that time, so Schwarzenegger would have to sue the controller to ensure workers receive the federal minimum wage, a process that could take weeks or months and pose image problems for the governor.

Any minute my aunt, who works for the state is going to call me back.  She called earlier today from a room filled with seasonal workers.  I get the unhappy task of letting her know they all got fired.

Damn you Arnold.  We didn’t need to do this.  Once the budget is passed, it is going to be a pain in the rear to process the paperwork and hire everyone back.  The amount of pain and financial hardship this is going to cause is immense.  

[UPDATE] Here is Speaker Bass’s statement:

“I’m disappointed with the Governor’s decision. It is an unwise and unfortunate move to cause economic strife to public servants and their families who are working hard and playing by the rules. We are not going to let this decision get in the way of our mission which is to deliver a budget that reflects the values of Californians. We are continuing to make progress and I remain hopeful we will have a budget on his desk in the next few days.”

(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

Today was supposed to be the day that Schwarzenegger signed the executive order to cut over 200,000 state employees pay to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour.  He has delayed that action until at least Thursday, which SEIU Local 1000, the Courage Campaign, True Majority and CREDO Mobile can take some credit for.

I just got back from a great day of actions at and around the capitol on this proposed wage cut.  After picking up over 28,000 signed petitions, a big backdrop and an easel I headed to the airport to pick up Rick Jacobs, my boss and Chair/Founder of the Courage Campaign and Jethro Rothe-Kushel, our videographer.

We headed straight for the noon rally held by SEIU Local 1000, which represents nearly half of the workers at risk of living in poverty due to the proposed callous action by the governor.  It was a great rally of about 200 Local 1000 members wearing their purple shirts, marching, chanting, blowing whistles and waving signs.  Jethro snagged a few interviews with some Local 1000 members and it should be part of the video he produces in a day or two.  The folks at Local 1000 were really happy to see all of these non-union activists being so supportive of their members and pushing back against the governor.

After the rally we grabbed a sandwich and then headed over with the sign, stand and the two boxes of petitions across the street from the Hyatt, where the governor stays when he is in town.  Assemblyman Dave Jones joined us there. Sen. Florez and Controller Chiang had conflicts, but wanted to be there.  We started off across the street from the capitol with Rick and Jones doing some one on one interviews.  KCRA (local NBC affiliate), KXJZ (local NPR) and a few other print folks were there.  The governor actually left in his motorcade as Jones was doing an interview.

Rick carried the big box (that sucker must have weighed at least 60 lbs) and Jones the smaller one across to the Hyatt, plastered with the Courage logo.  We decided to drop them off at the Hyatt to point out how out of touch Arnold is with what he has proposed.  The governor pays $293/night to stay in the suite.  It would take someone working 44.7 hours at the federal minimum wage, without any taxes being taken out to afford just one night’s stay at the governor’s special rate.  That is more than a week’s worth of work!  (flip it…)

The concierge at the Hyatt was very nice, but explained that they had a policy of not accepting things for the governor and politiely suggested we take it to his office.  Then a dude came up and asked if we had permission to be filming in the hotel.  He was rather rude about it and insisted that the cameras be shut off, which everyone ignored and Jones took some umbrage with his statements.

So, we walked across the capitol, with Rick and Assemblyman Dave Jones carrying the box together and cameras and reporters in tow.  This of course attracted other reporters once we got inside.  Univision and the Bee among others.  CHP stopped us at the door and asked what we were up to an explained we could not go inside.  There seemed to be a crowd of folks, staff and lobbyists I presume inside.  CHP had a staffer come out and talk to us.  At first she suggested we take the boxes to the mail room, when Rick piped up and said something to the effect of “do you really want Assemblyman Jones to deliver this to the mail room”.  She quickly rethought her plan and said she would be right back.  A minute or two later she popped out and told us someone would be with us shortly.

It took about 10 minutes, while Rick and Jones did interviews, for the governor’s press secretary to show up.  He said he would make sure they were handled properly and gave his speil to the Rick/Dave Jones.   Well….really for the press’s benefit, about how the governor is hoping the legislative leaders work everything out in their negotiations.

He took them inside the office, but then emerged later and was headed in the direction of said mail room.

Hopefully, there will be some media coverage and it will place more pressure on the governor to rethink his proposal.  As soon as the video is done and  I get the pictures, I will be sure to put them up.  Thank you to everyone who signed the petition, Credo and True Majority for helping push this out to their members and all of you who forwarded it to your friends and family.  This is what activism is all about.

The Attorney General just released the ballot title and summary for Prop. 8, the amendment that would take away marriage equality.  The title and summary are a marked improvement upon the language that the proponents had circulated and that is still up on the Secretary of State’s website.  That should change shortly.

Here is the version that will be on the official ballot.

Proposition 8 ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME-SEX COUPLES TO MARRY.

   INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Changes California Constitution to eliminate right of same-sex couples to marry. Provides that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Fiscal Impact: Over the next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments. In the long run, likely little fiscal impact to state and local governments.

The phrase “eliminate right” is a huge improvement to “limit on marriage” and more accurately describes what will happen.  See the circulated version:

Limit on Marriage. Constitutional Amendment.

Amends the California Constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: The measure would have no fiscal effect on state or local governments. This is because there would be no change to the manner in which marriages are currently recognized by the state.

When someone is standing in the voting booth or staring at their vote-by-mail ballot the title and summary is the last thing they will see.  It is extremely important that it reflect accurately what the initiative will do.

There is almost always a legal fight over the title and summary, because it can be good for a few percentage points either way.  We have to assume that the pro-side will take Jerry Brown to court over it, though they are unlikely to be successful.  Now that we have marriage equality in this state, same-sex couples have the right to get married.  This initiative would take this away.  While it would also limit marriage to between a man and a woman, its impact will not be felt on heterosexual couples, but on the same-sex couples.

And of course in general, same-sex marriage has no effect on hetero marriage, but that is besides the point.  This ballot and summary is good for us and they aren’t going to like it.

(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

Weintraub thinks it is a dumb idea.  And we know how Caliticians think about it.

So, Courage was up late last night putting together a petition to Arnold, calling on him to drop this unconscionable plan and to get back to work on the budget.  We grabbed from the comments and blog posts here and used it for an email that went out to our full membership earlier today.

True Majority liked it so much that they sent it out to their members in California.  Now, thousands of Californians have signed their name on the petition to Arnold.  It truly has been an overwhelming response and growing by the second.  If you haven’t already, please go sign.  I personally will be delivering them to the governor’s office on Monday.

Our email is on the flip.

This is devastating.

Last night, news broke that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign an Executive Order on Monday slashing the wages of over 200,000 state employees to the bare minimum.

Not California’s minimum wage of $8 per hour. The federal minimum wage of $6.55. Six dollars and fifty-five cents an hour.

Imagine trying to pay your bills on $6.55 an hour. Now imagine what will happen to thousands of vital service workers forced to live on poverty-level wages. A nauseating irony: many state employees may need to seek aid from the very state services that employ them.

As Karyn, a state employee, said in the comments to the Sacramento Bee story that broke the story statewide last night:

“$6.55 an hour only amounts to $1,048 per month. After my rent, that would leave only $218 left. How many of you can live on that? Hardly, am I a rich state employee. As a clerical, I am usually broke by the 10th of the month, and the other 3 weeks of the month I am barely getting by.”

This is absolutely outrageous. And the only way we can stop Arnold is by raising our voices as loud as possible in protest before Monday morning. Please sign our “Stop Arnold” petition to Governor Schwarzenegger. On Monday morning, we’ll deliver thousands of your signatures to the Governor’s office:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/StopArnold

The Governor’s plan, rather than fixing California’s massive $15 billion budget deficit, will instead make our budget crisis worse while delivering a serious blow to our struggling economy. As the recession deepens, gas prices skyrocket, stores close, and home foreclosures surge, the governor’s wage cuts will force many working families over the financial edge.

To add insult to injury, the Governor is slashing workers’ wages instead of taking leadership to close the “Yacht Tax” loophole that Arianna Huffington and the Courage Campaign told you about a few months ago.

That’s right. While his rich friends get off tax-free on yacht and private jet purchases, Arnold is making devastating cuts that endanger the livelihoods of state workers and all of us who depend on them.

We’ve got to stop the Governor before it’s too late. If enough Californians speak out, Arnold may halt these devastating wage cuts before August 1. Please watch our “Yacht Party” TV ad and then sign our “Stop Arnold” petition to Governor Schwarzenegger before we deliver thousands of your signatures at 9 a.m. Monday morning:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/StopArnold

The Governor is claiming that he will pay state workers retroactively for wages lost during this budget crisis. But that won’t pay their rent or prevent their home from being foreclosed upon before a state budget is eventually passed.

Instead of closing the yacht tax and so many other loopholes that favor the rich, Arnold is borrowing on the backs of state workers. He is claiming there is not enough cash in the state coffers to pay them, an assertion strongly refuted by Controller John Chiang.

If you think these wage cuts are unconscionable, please forward this message to your friends in California. The more signatures we collect before Tuesday, the more pressure we can put on Arnold.

Thank you for stepping up to stop Arnold and the California Republican Yacht Party from sinking our state.

Rick Jacobs

Chair

P.S. Believe it or not, John McCain is charging $100,000 per person to enjoy a lavish dinner with his Yacht Party cronies in San Francisco on Monday. Meanwhile, Governor Schwarzenegger — who endorsed McCain and his regressive economic policies — is preparing to push thousands of state employees to the brink of financial disaster.

Enough is enough. Please sign our “Stop Arnold” petition before Monday at 9 a.m.:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/StopArnold

Yes, you read that headline correctly.  Federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour, not California minimum of $8 hour.  The SacBee has this gut shot of a story.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sign an executive order next week that will reduce pay for more than 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour to preserve cash in the midst of a month-long budget standoff, according to a draft copy of the order obtained by The Bee.

Administration officials said the governor expects to take the action Monday.

How are these employees going to be able to pay for their groceries on $6.55 an hour, or fill up their car with gas, let alone pay their rent?  The short answer is they aren’t.

This is going to result in a lot of employees needing governmental assistance for basic needs, not that the state has the money to help with that anyways at this point.  This is a crisis and this damn well better get some folks up in arms.

Here is the law that Arnold is using to justify this move.

He says that his action complies with a 2003 ruling by the California Supreme Court that made clear that without a state budget in place, federal labor laws require the state to pay most workers “either federal minimum wage or, for those employees that work overtime, their full salaries.”

You have to assume there will be some lawsuits, most likely by the unions representing these workers.  The pay cut is not the only thing Arnold is doing.

The order would require state agencies to stop authorizing overtime for most employees.

The governor also plans to issue a hard hiring freeze except for state jobs “directly related to the preservation and protection of human life and safety.” He also will suspend work for all retired annuitants, permanent intermittent employees, seasonal employees, temporary help workers, student assistants and some contractors.

The one group I know for sure that will be fired immediately are the seasonal employees at the state parks.  No longer will they be manning gates and working on preservation policies.  There have to be a ton of other agencies effected as well.  

This is obviously a breaking story.  If anyone has anything to add to what the Bee has up, please leave it in the comments.  We don’t have a budget and this is a crisis.  This is exactly what the Republicans want to see, the government failing and getting smaller.  This is what happens when you have a two-thirds rule for both taxes and a budget.  A small minority can cause a whole lot of pain to a huge number of people.

Just shameful.

[UPDATE by Dave] Just to chime in, as I was typing this up myself.  This is intolerable and it aligns perfectly with the Shock Doctrine of taking advantage of a crisis to cause more economic dislocation and pain while rewarding the rich and connected.  The governor’s budget plan is to literally create more working poor among a significant percentage of the work force.  

The lawsuits should begin tomorrow.  This is a breach of trust.  And if you think Arnold’s poll numbers were bad before, wait until you see them after this stunt.  200,000 workers have a lot of friends and family.  What a scumbag.

UPDATE (Bob):  I agree with Dave, let the lawsuits start tomorrow, but let the process to recall begin Friday. The GOP does not value an honest day’s work, that is why our Lame Duck Governor will destroy the lives of the people who work hardest for him while the Yacht Tax Loophole remains. Time for a Special Election to totally recall. Hope to see press releases from the CDP and any union that values work in 48 hours.

[UPDATE by Robert]: This comment by karyn1 on the SacBee article sums it up:

$6.55 an hour only amounts to $1048 per month. After my rent, that would leave only $218 left. How many of you can live on that? Hardly, am I a rich state employee. As a clerical, I am usually broke by the 10th of the month, and the other 3 weeks of the month I am barely getting by. SacBee comments

[UPDATE by Dave]: Speaker Bass weighs in:

“I don’t believe the Governor would put public servants in the crossfire of this budget battle. But this action would speak to the need for all us — including the Governor — to negotiate a balanced, responsible budget that protects our schools and the safety net before we run out of cash.”

The proposal on closing parks was just a game, but now we’re talking about people’s livelihoods.  Playing around like this is unacceptable.

…OK, so the Speaker just revised her press release by changing “should” to “would” in the first sentence, signaling that she thinks he’s bluffing.  Why they would re-send a press release for that is kind of absurd, as the implication was already made.  I really hope this isn’t the result of some talking-to from Arnold’s office, or that this is all one elaborate kabuki, because 200,000 soon-to-be minimum wage employees are not amused.

Dave Johnson sent over this really pretty amazing article in the Catholic News Agency after seeing my post on SEIU-UHW’s battle to unionize workers in the St. Joseph Health Care System.  Sure it is a few months old, but it is too good not to blog.  The article is titled innocently enough “Catholic health workers’ effort to unionize could crowd out Catholics”.  Crowd out Catholics they say?  How?

Well…it is all about the homos you see, as the lead tells us.

A complex labor dispute between a Californian Catholic healthcare company and its employees could end in an agreement with a union that promotes homosexual rights, the California Catholic Daily reports.

And what do they use to base this claim?

Well, they go right after Sal Roselli, the leader of SEIU-UHW.  No, not like SEIU International has gone after Sal, but because, gasp, he is gay!  Going way back to 1984.  Oh my goodness.

In 1984-85, Roselli was president of a Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club.  A grand marshal for the 2006 San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade, Roselli has introduced domestic partner compensation into the UHW member benefits.

This bit is my favorite.  They use an anonymous source to attack Sal and SEIU-UHW.

A political activist in Sacramento, who requested anonymity, told the California Catholic Daily that Roselli’s union is trying to become the exclusive bargaining agent for some St. Joseph employees.

“This is a very contentious union, and if they get what they want, there will be a full homosexualization of everything. Domestic partner benefits and the like will come from worker dues, and the full muscle of the union will be put behind the homosexual agenda,” the activist said.

Yes, that is exactly what SEIU-UHW does.  They are all about advancing the homosexual agenda and homosexualizing EVERYTHING.

But wait.  There is more.

The activist alleged that allowing UHW into St. Joseph’s, the Catholic health provider “would be agreeing, in effect, to fire any Catholic who does not agree to support the Culture of Death with his dues. The average nurse pays around $1,000 a year in dues for this, and that money goes to supporting candidates and propositions that support abortion and homosexuality. What kind of Catholic institution would agree to this for their employees?”

Woah, woah, woah.  How did we get to “Culture of Death” (note the capitalization) from homosexualizing everying?  Ah you see, SEIU-UHW endorses candidates and gives them money so that they can get elected and pass policies that help their members.  And yes, those politicians sometimes are pro-choice and vote for things like civil unions and even gasp….marriage equality.

But what the anonymous source conveniently fails to mention is that any union member by law is able to opt out from having their dues go to politics.  Remember the Prop. 75 fight?  That was over whether it should be opt in to political giving or the status quo of opting out.  So, a SEIU-UHW member who happens to be Catholic and anti-choice and anti-gay can continue being both things without having their dues go to politicians they disagree with.

So you see, all the author and the anonymous source are left with A) Sal Rosselli is gay. B) SEIU-UHW dues will go in a very small part to paying for domestic partner benefits for their staffers.

See, this is why the workers shouldn’t be allowed to have a union that can argue for fair pay and safe working environments for the staff and their patients.  I think they may have me convinced.  What about you?