Assembly Republicans are to be commended for withholding their votes yesterday to ratify a new contract for state workers in SEIU 1000, the largest state public employees union. The Schwarzenegger Administration came to terms with union officials on this deal – but a 30,000 foot view of the contract makes it a head scratcher. This is not a “severe recession” contract that gives the state the kind of flexibility it needs to potentially implement workforce reductions as part of reducing state spending down to a level that reflects plummeting state revenues.
So that FR readers are clear, in order for the State of California to approve a union contract, it must be approved by the State Legislature. So in that regard, the Governor and union negotiators have to “bring back terms” to get approved – the union by its membership, and the state by the legislature.
This contract was negotiated with a hope and expectation on the part of the Governor and union leaders that the May 19 “burrito” package of special election measures, including 1A with its trigger of $16 billion in new taxes, would be passed by the electorate. That outcome is looking unlikely at best, at this point.
**There is more – click the link**
May 5th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Even were the May 19 propositions to pass, the state would still be in fiscal crisis, as revenues are running $1 to $2 billion per month below the rosy projections embedded in the budget. This contract proposal needs to be shredded and the process re-started. It is unseemly, regardless of the budget situation, for state workers to be increasing their numbers and skating by with only a barely perceptible decrease in pay while 1 in 8 of their private sector neighbors are in the unemployment line and many others are severely underemployed. And we need to deal with the pension tsunami pronto!