"Arnold Schwarzenegger wants a 5 percent across-the-board pay cut on top of the thrice-monthly "Furlough Fridays" he has ordered...What this article fails to mention is that state workers ALREADY have had a 15% reduction in pay, which with the 5% added on will be 20%
Add the extra day "furlough friday" (oh how cute!) for 4 day/10 hr workers is another WHOLE WEEK'S PAY taken from these workers.
So far if the new stuff is put in force, that is a 45% cut in pay!
They of course haven't cut the pay of politicians in Calif, nor have the closed any high paying pork type political appointment positions to save some money.
Oh wait, they are going to cut some pork!
Oops, a year and one half from now!As legislators battled over the state budget Tuesday, an independent commission voted to slash lawmakers' per-diem payments, car allowances and medical and other fringe benefits by 18 percent.
The vote in Sacramento by the California Citizens Compensation Commission follows the board's vote last May to cut legislator and constitutional state officer salaries by 18 percent as of December 2010.
But there is more:
Which means it will never happen.The salary cuts could save an estimated $2.9 million a year. The non-salary cuts, which the commission wants to impose starting Dec. 1 of this year, would save an estimated $7.8 million over the next six years.
The 18 percent cut would save $500,000 in car lease payments; $2.8 million in lower state contributions to medical and other benefits; and $4.5 million in lower per-diem rates for the legislators.
The commission's latest cuts could be blocked, however, if legislative leaders decide to challenge the commission's authority to regulate cars and per-diem rates as well as salaries and benefits.
Meanwhile, lower on the totem pole the majority of workers are taking hits.
I have a family member who works for a state hospital, and has had the 20% cut in pay and the three mandatory days (10 hrs per day) off.
I got this person another government part time job at $11.50 per hour, but it doesn't make up for what was lost.
And, btw that one is going down to 10.20 per hour in August.
I wish I could feel sorry about a government worker getting a pay cut. There are too many anyway.
There is 10%+ unemployment in the US, but how much unemployment is there in Federal, State and local government.
The answer is ZERO.
If the tax revenues are less than they were, how can you keep the same number of employees without some type of paycut?