Five years ago, the state correctional officers' union paraded a mobile billboard around the Capitol bearing an unflattering picture of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his bathing suit.

That demonstration seems mild compared to the frustration state employees feel this year toward the Republican governor. Schwarzenegger has incurred the wrath of rank-and-file employees through efforts to reduce pay and benefits, particularly his latest push to impose minimum wage.

Schwarzenegger was heckled by fairgoers when he toured the State Fair this week. His office has received a flood of e-mails critical of his actions toward state workers, some so colorful they were reviewed by the California Highway Patrol.

"He's the wrong captain on the wrong boat in a bad storm," said Kevin Menager, a Franchise Tax Board employee for roughly 20 years.

Schwarzenegger insists his moves have been dictated by a historic recession and budget crisis, not antipathy.

"When it comes to state employees, let me make one thing clear, that I appreciate very much the hard work that state employees do," he said in January as he unveiled a budget that would cut worker pay by at least 10 percent. "But at the same time, we have had a drop because of the economic crisis worldwide. … People had to take reductions in their salaries and all of those things and so the public sector also has to take a haircut."

In the past two years, Schwarzenegger has imposed furloughs, sought pay reductions and threatened layoffs for state employees. This month, he demanded that Controller John Chiang pay workers minimum wage until a budget is passed. For now, a court has blocked that effort, pending further legal action next month.

The governor says he is seeking minimum wage for state workers as a matter of law. Without a budget, he says, the state should not pay its workers above minimum wage, based on a 2003 court ruling.

With state leaders a long way from resolving a $19.1 billion deficit, the governor's order also serves as leverage in budget talks. Minimum-wage pay could lead to enough outcry to force lawmakers to compromise, particularly Democrats aligned with state employee unions.

It is difficult to assess Schwarzenegger's standing specifically among state employees, but his approval rating among all voters plummeted to a personal low of 22 percent in the latest Field Poll.

Voters are frustrated with perpetual state budget problems and the state of the economy. State workers have extra reasons of their own.

Schwarzenegger's office has received more than 1,000 e-mails in the first half of July on the minimum-wage order, most in opposition, according to spokesman Aaron McLear. The governor received only about 150 to 200 such e-mails in May and June combined.

"He has a responsibility to manage the state's finances and deal with the situation that the state is facing," said Schwarzenegger adviser Adam Mendelsohn, "but by no means is this something he wants to do."

State employees say the governor has other motivations.

"It's almost like an ego thing with Schwarzenegger, like he's saying, 'I'll show them,' to the public employees," said Delia Donlon-DeMarini, a Department of Public Health employee who works in Natomas.

His view in her opinion? "These are my pawns."

Unions mobilized against Schwarzenegger in 2005 when he pursued special election measures that targeted labor, including one restricting use of union dues. Labor groups defeated the governor's agenda that year.

The governor made amends in 2006 as he sought re-election. He even declared a "Thank You State Workers Day" that October.

But when the state faced a budget dispute in 2008, he proposed paying state workers minimum wage. As the state faced a two-year, $60 billion deficit in early 2009, Schwarzenegger ordered state workers to take two furlough days a month. He increased that to three a month last July, a move agreed to by Democrats.

Dave Low, a union coalition lobbyist, said that 2005 "set the tone, both in his actions and words. .

"He was bashing public employees and egging us on, acting like we were the cause of all the state's problems," Low said. "He changed his tune for a while, but he keeps coming back to blaming public employees."

Joe Mathews, a New America Foundation senior fellow, said Schwarzenegger certainly has made missteps. Union leaders lost trust in the governor when he reneged on a school funding deal in 2005. He has used charged rhetoric in the past, dismissing union concerns as belonging to "special interests."

"It's a budget system for which you can't blame one interest or one person," Mathews said. "Given that the system is broken, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to do things that don't save a lot of money and (that anger) people. The energy over minimum wage all ought to be going toward building trust and dealing with things like pensions."

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Call Kevin Yamamura, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5548.