State workers on Thursday blasted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to furlough them one day a month and drop two paid holidays from their calendar.
"I'll be firing off letters and e-mails to legislators that say, 'Hell no,' " said Jon Marshack, a scientist employed by the state for 27 years. "And I can tell you that everyone I work with is very, very angry."
Schwarzenegger's plan needs legislative approval before the government could furlough most of its 240,000 employees one day each month, eliminate the Columbus Day holiday, combine the Lincoln and Washington birthdays into Presidents Day, end holiday overtime pay and stop counting a worker's time off for vacation or illness toward weekly overtime.
Union representatives said they're poised for battle at the Capitol and in the courts. Nearly all of the state's 19 employee bargaining units are in contract talks.
The state estimates the one-day-a-month furlough spread over the 18 months of the plan would amount to a 5 percent cut in pay.
"We'll fight back with everything we have," said Yvonne Walker, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000. SEIU, the state's biggest state civil service union, represents about 95,000 workers, from teachers and librarians to janitors and cooks.
Chris Voight, executive director of the 2,650-member California Association of Professional Scientists, said Schwarzenegger has steadfastly criticized unions for trying to push labor pacts through the Legislature.
"He's said salaries, benefits and terms of employment should not be legislated," Voight said. "But this proposal upends the bargaining process."
State officials on Thursday mass e-mailed a signed letter from Schwarzenegger on office letterhead that details the cuts and the governor's rationale.
The salutation: "Dear Valued State Worker."
In the e-mail, Schwarz-enegger outlines why California faces an $11 billion shortfall, and asserts that cutting wages and benefits will save roughly $1.4 billion. He concludes, "I am confident we will make it through this tough time by working together."
Despite the conciliatory tone of the letter, state worker Shannon Newby said she was outraged. But as she reflected on the news, she wondered whether Schwar-zenegger was merely staking out a tough position as leverage in ongoing labor talks.
"It's hard to say whether or not this is a ploy," Newby said.
State workers are still fuming over a Schwarzenegger order last summer that sought to temporarily cut pay to the $6.55 federal minimum while lawmakers haggled over a budget. Controller John Chiang refused to comply, sparking an ongoing court fight over how much the state must pay its workers during a budget impasse.
Although the governor eventually signed a budget, the economy has trampled revenue. Schwarzenegger is proposing the furlough and benefit cuts as part of the solution.
"One person said to me, 'I wonder how much of a cut the Legislature is going to take?' " said Marshack, the scientist. "It really comes down to a fairness issue."
Call The Bee's Jon Ortiz, (916) 321-1043.
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