I work for the Courage Campaign.

Yesterday Julia gave the full, disheartening rundown on Governor Schwarzenegger’s attack on state employees. Also, Courtni Pugh shared the results of an SEIU poll demonstrating that Californians expect better from their Republican legislators on the budget to prevent these sort of wage cuts.

Today Courage Campaign releases a video in which state employees of SEIU 1000 speak out on the impact of the pay cuts. It’s right there, g’head and click play, then rate it up and add it to your favorites and other neat things. SEIU has been tremendous in this fight, not just pushing the politics of it all, but really pushing to make things happen for its members where the rubber hits the road. The Courage Campaign petition drive and call drive were great successes, but it’s the synergy with our labor allies that’s really pushing this to a new level.

These testimonials from state employees are often times difficult to hear. Not being able to pay bills, being forced to leave their homes, being driven out of the state workforce because it’s simply nowhere near a livable wage. This stunt by the governor is entirely backwards, and there’s plenty of evidence in the video. Punishing the people who are actually getting things done for the state as some sort of blustering threat to the few who aren’t getting it done is just nonsensical. You’d think he would at least be honest about it, but when signing the order yesterday, Schwarzenegger dropped this insulting gem:

QUESTION: Do you think that your action today will force the legislature, the added pressure, to come up with a budget solution faster?

GOVERNOR: This is not meant to do that.

If we’re to take him at his word then, he’s just cutting essential services and punishing honest, hard working public servants because he’s too lazy or uncreative to do anything productive. Which is why it’s so important to have the testimonials like in this video to bring public opinion to bear on Arnold’s outrageous behavior. Saving this state from its inner demons demands that these partnerships with labor continue to grow and strengthen. This is a great start that’s starting to deliver encouraging results.