The State Worker

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Dec. 12 From the notebook: Supervisors association president talks about layoffs, budget

How are some of the 10,000 who were laid off in July doing? Let's hear their stories.

We're working on it.

Dec. 16 Redding lays off public employees

A potential problem is the employee unions agree to concessions and then the state/county/city proceeds to lay employees off anyway. Similar to Bank of America taking bailout money and laying its own employees off. I'm afraid the rank and file working public employee has little faith or trust in its respective government leadership. Private sector employees probably feel about the same.

A cogent take that draws an apt comparison.

Dec. 16 SEIU slams Republican budget plan

SEIU issued a propaganda piece with conclusions tilted towards its desired outcome. It never met a cut that it could really live with. During these severe fiscal times what is SEIU 1000 doing to cut its internal expenses so that it can cut dues to its members and fee payers?

We give credit to Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker for stating publicly that fixing the state's budget mess will require both spending cuts and tax increases. (You can read her remarks by clicking here.) Sometimes leadership means telling people what they don't want to hear. We think Walker did that.

But make no mistake: Unions don't exist to serve everyone's interests. They exist to serve their members' interests. It's not Walker's job to solve the state's financial crisis.

We e-mailed the union to ask about its dues and fair-share fees. As of this writing, we've not heard back.

The SEIU and Dems are basically lovers. Why is this news?

SEIU represents more California state employees than any other organizatiion. We hope that at least a few of those folks regularly visit this blog.

Dec. 17 Furlough letter a hoax, DPA director says

**********BREAKING NEWS: COPY OF HOAX LETTER PUBLISHED********************* Dear state worker: This is formal notice that you are now on unpaid furlough and have had your salary cut by 50%, BUT the good news is you have won the Nigerian Lottery and we have another position available for you. Please provide your SSN, photo ID, bank account number, and date of birth so we can appoint you as Office Chief of Caltrans Division of Staff Development and Workforce Planning. Plus we need you to send us $2,000 US to ship the treasure chest of money and cover the cost of your mandatory lobotomy. Signed, Dave Gilb, Director DPA

Thanks, "Dave."

Dec. 17 State employees get informal time off for the holidays

why (sic) does the bee find it necessary to constantly dump on State employees? Do we really live in a town that considers this news? Perhaps the bee should start publishing the amount of bonuses given to their lame journalists to see where our subscription dollars are being spent.

We didn't consider this post as "dumping" on state workers. It's information. The interpretation of that information rests with readers.

Our take: We see no reason for state workers to feel defensive about the holiday ITO. The state is not in a financial mess because state workers take a few hours off during the holidays for last-minute shopping or to spend extra time with family. Small employer gestures like this -- particularly in stressful times -- can actually make employees more appreciative and productive.

And withholding the ITO, which we understand has been a tradition, would probably have the opposite effect on morale and productivity,

Jon, this column needs a new tag line..."The State Worker"..."Chronicling The Civil-Service Bashing Of California State Workers"...it's a tad bit more in line with what actually occurs....any true dialog is lost in the anger and hostility of the general public who think this is their "safe haven" to say things about State Workers they don't have the intestinal fortitude to say face to face...

We plan to address this troubling phenomenon in our next Thursday column.

Radio station KSTE (650 AM) talk show hosts Armstrong & Getty spent a few minutes this morning discussing this week's State Worker column about former Sen. Don Perata (let's just say that Joe Getty uses the word "jumpsuit" -- as in "prison jumpsuit" -- a few times) and cautions CCPOA against "hubris."

You can listen to the A&G broadcast by clicking here. Find the show's 9 a.m. time slot for 12-18-08 and click "Listen." When your media player loads, scroll to about the 45 minute mark to hear the hosts talk about the column and CCPOA.

For today's State Worker column about reaction to CCPOA's $600,000 defacto donation to Don Perata's legal defense fund, we reached out to a number of correctional officers, hoping for an on-the-record take from someone who hadn't been quoted before.

One person we contacted, Dave Freeman, is a recently retired CO and union supporter.

We asked Freeman, "How do you feel about what Perata did?" He responded, although his e-mail landed too late for us to make room in today's column. Fortunately, we can offer it here as a column extra for faithful users of this blog:

So.....Don Perata took our $600K? How do I feel about it? Good for him. That's how things get done in politics Jon, in California, in the Federal Government, and everywhere else.

Men are corrupt Jon. And you know that. Bureaucracies are just groups of corrupt men. The state prison is rife with corruption, as is most of California Government. So we have unions in state government for the same reason we have unions in the private sector. To protect workers from corrupt employers, they are a necessary evil. That's all there is to it.

I never promoted within the California System. The perception among many of us is that management promotes, for the most part, their friends and relatives. The current disciplinary matrix is being used as a management tool to run rough shod over line staff, who are seen as a threat by an incompetent, corrupt, prison management in the California system. Unions protect the workers Jon. And it takes money to promote their agenda.

Since I retired from California, I no longer fear repercussions from management like I used to. Prison employees fear their leadership Jon ... another reason we need strong unions.

I don't know where this country and the state of California are headed. As the bureaucracies get larger, the corruption and incompetence seem to increase. It's easy perhaps, to scapegoat unions or state employees, but unions are a reaction to the problem, not the problem itself.

Take care, Jon. This has probably reached you too late to be of any use to your column tomorrow, but feel free to contact me in the future if you like.

Merry Christmas, and may God bless you and your family.

Dave Freeman

Republican Assemblyman Ted Gaines of Roseville has announced he's voluntarily taking a 5 percent cut in pay "until the state's financial condition improves," according to a press release sent to The State Worker late Tuesday afternoon.

We feel obligated to note Gaines' gesture since we gave voice to critics in our column a few weeks ago who noted that legislators haven't personally felt the repercussions of the state's money mess.

You can read Gaines' press statement here.

IMAGE: Ted Gaines / assembly.ca.gov

Gov. Schwarzenegger has authorized up to four hours of informal time off during the holidays for state employees.

Anyone scheduled to work is eligible. Employees are expected to use their ITO either the day before or the day after Dec. 25 or Jan. 1.

Click here for the DPA memo released onTuesday.

Thanks to the folks at the Association of California State Supervisors for passing along the info.

We get loads of e-mail every day. This one, prompted by our Dec. 11 State Worker column, "Job cuts make unions rethink hard line," popped out at us for its brevity and clarity:

Union in Retreat - Not

Mr. Ortiz

SEIU Local 1000 is not in retreat. Yes we realize that cuts and tax increases are needed, but we are also suggesting ways to save the State over a billion dollars, like cutting out the Administration's cadre of $500 per hour Crony Consultants.

State employees have suggested many ways for the State to be more efficient. With the huge deficit our positive suggestions should not continue to be ignored by the Administration.

State employees realized we have a $42 billion dollar budget gap over the next 18 months, but we are also faced with having to provide more service for the unemployed, and we still need to keep up our state water systems, state highways, prisons, and many other public and physical state infrastructure needs in good order.

Yes SEIU 1000 is a Union Local, so yes we will try to keep our people at work; and California in working order, and maybe you should be in a Union too, if you are not.

Lowell Landowski
SEIU Local 1000 Union Steward

Officials at DPA last night found out that someone is circulating a fraudulent letter about furloughs and retirement benefits. DPA Director Dave Gilb this morning sent this heads-up e-mail to personnel officers around the state:

It has come to our attention that hoax letters are being circulated containing an unsigned signature block by a department director announcing a six month furlough to begin with the February pay period. The hoax letter further states that retirement benefits will be stopped among other things.

This letter is a complete hoax. The Administration has not issued any letters announcing the implementation of a furlough by any date or of any length. The Administration proposal to the Legislature for the special session has made clear that any furlough, if implemented, will not affect retirement.

Please inform employees as necessary that any such letters are a hoax and that when and if a furlough is implemented it will be in a manner that will be a clear reflection of administration policy coming from an appropriate administration spokesperson.
-------------------------------------------------

Dave Gilb, Director
Department of Personnel Administration

This item first ran on Dec. 10. We're posting it again to to complement our story in today's Bee about John "Happy Jack" Hastings, the "cubicle cowboy." Scroll down to find the link to an audio download of his popular song, "The State Worker Blues."

Hastings last weekend shot footage around town for a music video. He tells The State Worker that he plans to wrap up editing this weekend. We'll debut it here early next week.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi Jon:

I am a +30-year state employee. For the past four years, I have been performing a song I wrote called "The State Worker Blues" at the Department of Health Care Services/Department of Public Health food drive talent show. Every year I update it to throw in a little something about our current state of affairs.

My colleagues have been insistent about sharing this song with you and, never being the shy and retiring type, I soon relented. Anyway, the lyrics follow and are also available at, of course, www.stateworkerblues.com along with a link to the Sacramento Food Bank which is really what I hope to draw attention to.

Anyway, this cubicle cowboy has got a lot of pencils to push, so adios for now ...

John "Happy Jack" Hastings

We're honored to debut the 2008 version of "The State Worker Blues." You can listen to the 4 minute, 54 second clip by clicking here.

While you're listening to Happy Jack, click here to go to the Sacramento Food Bank's Web site. You can make a donation online through a link at the bottom of the home page.

The State Worker Blues

words and music by Jack Hastings

When I was a kid my Momma said son
Don't work for the State like your daddy done
It ain't a lot of money and it ain't a lot of fun
And you'll owe your soul to the Golden One
But the private sector ain't where it's at
Got tired of sayin' you want a mocha latté with that?
So I took me a test, got on a list
Started pushin' that paper and I done my best

Chorus:

I got the state worker blues
I been payin' my dues
Have you heard the good news?
... well, there ain't none!

For year after year we done more with less
And the less got less,
now there's less than nothin' left
If you want a paperclip
you gotta get your chief to sign
And they're handing out staples one at a time
And every time I try to spell "relief"
I get D E F I C I T
And every year I think that we've hit rock bottom
The blues get deeper and I've still got 'em

Chorus

Now the gubernator, he came up with a plan
A little bit of song and a little bit of dance
Gonna take away our holidays and cut our pay
All for a penny or two it might save
But if the Legislature sees eye to eye
That'll be the day that pigs can fly
So just sit back and enjoy the show
As around and around the drain we go

Chorus

Now I'm not complaining about my fate
The food at the potlucks is always first rate
And I'll tell Saint Peter at the Pearly Gate
That I'm proud to be a worker for the Golden State
And my fellow state workers are as good as gold
Helpin' out the people who are hungry and cold
So to the best civil servants in all of the land...
This is for you, give yourselves a hand!

Chorus

IMAGE: www.cowboyclipart.net

This in from the nascent Police Officers of California, the group trying to break off from CSLEA to form its own bargaining unit:

"We call for CAUSE / CSLEA to agree to hold a global election vote. If cops don't want out of CSLEA then a PERB conducted global election will prove that," said Bob Orange, President of P.O.C. "However, we are confident that Peace Officers want their own union."

The release, which you can read by clicking here, also quotes CSLEA President Alan Barcelona: "It is fortunate that our Constitution permits us to bill [Park Rangers & Game Wardens] attempting to sever the bargaining unit for the substantial litigation costs before PERB, so that those costs will not have to be paid by our members."

And POC says, CSLEA alleged petition card fraud.

We've blogged about the severance movement in CSLEA. It's a contentious issue that dredges up divisions from 20 years ago when CSLEA was known as CAUSE.

The POC release prompted us to get in touch with CSLEA Manager and Chief Counsel Kasey Clark. We asked him the following questions:

Any sense of how much it has cost/will cost CSLEA to litigate this?

What impact, if any, is this having on contract talks?

Here is Clark's response:

Hey Jon--

Once again, I don't know that this is really a public interest story. I think POC is under the impression the press is giving them credibility.

As you have indicated previously, the POC founders are disgruntled with the severance process which consists of three phases:

(1) the proof of support phase which took POC three separate severance petition filings (the first two were dismissed due to insufficient proof of support) over the course of a year:

(2) the PERB litigation phase which consists of evidentiary hearings to determine whether the facts as applied to the legal authority proves that the proposed unit, i.e. one consisting of a large variety of different peace officer classifications, is more appropriate than the current make-up of Unit 7; and

(3) if, in the unlikely case PERB were to grant the petition for severance, an election to determine which organization the severed employees would like to represent them, which could be CSLEA, POC, any other labor organization who successfully intervenes, or no representation.

POC wants CSLEA to stipulate to the severance of the unit in order to avoid Step 2. However, ten of the twelve CSLEA Affiliate Boards which represent peace officers (with the exception of the affiliates representing Parks and Fish and Game) took a position of opposition to the severance because they recognized the severance was not in the best interests of their members ...

As for the fraud issue, this has been a concern of ours for some time. Presently the proof of support process has little protection to guard against fraud in the signature gathering process. In order to be valid, the card must have the name of an employee in an eligible position in the unit, be signed, and dated within one year from the filing of the petition.

PERB only conducts a cursory review to identify patent fraud, i.e. a number of cards appear to have an identical signature style. CSLEA is not privy to the cards and has no opportunity to examine them for fraud. PERB's cursory review apparently did not result in an indication of patent fraud.

Given that POC was coming up on a year since they began obtaining cards, there was a real potential that unless the third petition filing was accompanied by adequate proof of support, cards would begin expiring and POC would have to go back to those who signed cards and get them to sign a second card. This would likely be a major uphill battle as some Unit 7 peace officers who initially supported the move, have become disenchanted given POC's inability to submit a valid petition ...

.... CSLEA has the legal right to pay its costs in defending the action from dues that would otherwise be payable to the two affiliates who have supported the severance.

... when the severance campaign was initiated in September 2007, it had the potential to interfere with bargaining. However, the financial crisis has effectively eliminated any affect ...

CSLEA's litigation costs are being borne by the affiliates who pressing for severance. I would estimate the attorney's fees and costs on each side to be somewhere between $50K and $100K depending on how many days it actually takes to put on the case and how many witnesses will be called to testify, which will require travel and expense reimbursement.

Click here to read the full text of Kasey's responses to our questions.

We just received this news release from SEIU Local 1000 media guy Jim Zamora:

The Republican budget proposal relies too heavily on cuts, requires a successful ballot initiative to take money that voters already allocated for children's health care and aid to the mentally ill, and outsources state services to more expensive private contractors.

Worst of all, the Republican budget proposal completely ignores the potential for guaranteeing our state's allotment of the federal economic stimulus package. SEIU Local 1000 urges Republicans and Democrats to join our campaign to push Congress and President-elect Obama to give California our fair share of federal stimulus money.

You can read the rest by clicking here.

To get a bit of a different view, check out colleague Dan Walters' analysis in his column today. Read it here.

And click here to view Bee Cap Bureau Chief Dan Smith's comparison of the deficit reduction plans of the Republicans, Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger.

DGS is accepting food donations at the Zig building Thursday morning from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Later that day, department employees and Santa will deliver gifts to needy children.

Click here for the press release with all the details.

Send us any notices of charitable events sponsored by state agencies or state employees and we'll get them posted! Good work, DGS and happy holidays!

We've been following Redding's budget saga as its leaders deal with a $3 million shortfall. Last night the job ax fell on 14 city employees.

From the Record Searchlight story by reporter Scott Mobley:

Council members last month endorsed the idea of asking the city's eight employee organizations to pay their pension contributions or consider some other concessions, such as work furloughs. The unions declined after city management could not guarantee such concessions would prevent layoffs.

Union members and others had asked the council to put off tonight's vote and hold at least three town hall meetings to give residents a chance to fully discuss the proposed cuts and to give employees a chance to suggest alternative ways to cut costs.

Given what has happened in Redding, the job cuts announced last week in Orange County and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's threat to cut state worker jobs, do you think that there is anything civil service unions should be doing protect their members?

Calitics, a blog devoted to progressive (translation: liberal) political views, took up our most recent State Worker column on whether layoff talk at the state and local government level is forcing public employee unions to make concessions.

Regular contributor Bob in Monterey connects California Republican's stance on the budget to what he perceives is the real aim of Republicans in the U.S. Congress in opposing the Detroit auto industry bailout:

Some of this is outright union-busting, not unlike what Bob Corker and other Republicans are doing by opposing the auto bailout. Just as the 1970s crisis was used by corporate leaders and their right-wing allies to break the unions, so too do Republicans wish to do the same thing.

Bob also wonders if we've read too much into recent statements to us by SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker that to us seemed more measured than what she said a month earlier.

Check out Bob's Calitics blog post by clicking here.

Cap Alert colleague Shane Goldmacher notes that Republicans have offered $26.2 million in legislative budget cuts as part of their state budget package.

Since we've hammered elected state workers for failing to make even a token sacrfice in these tough times, we duly note that the proposal would trim 5 percent of their wages.

However, as Shane notes,

But that cut is smaller than the proposed lowering of monthly cash assistance to the poor, elderly, blind and disabled (where couples' monthly SSI/SSP grants would be dropped from $1,524 per month to $1,407.)

Veteran Capitol Bureau reporter Jim Sanders has this breaking news story about the budget cuts proposed by the Republicans.

Shane has this detailed list of proposed cuts. You can also read the Republicans' tax increase proposals by clicking here.

Well, here's another one.

The Appeal Democrat on Sunday ran an op-ed piece from president of the Sutter County Taxpayers Association, calling for Sutter County to make significant changes to its public employee pension system, "which will eventually consume most of the county's budget."

The piece suggests four changes, including an Orange County-style requirement for a public vote on future pension benefits increases.

We've blogged about the OC's pension battles and its recently-passed Measure J. And Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis wants to overhaul the city's pension system by cutting retirement benefits for future city employees.

The Appeal Democrat piece also suggests that Sutter County employees pay their 8 percent or 9 percent share: "State employees pay a share into their retirement accounts, the vast majority of the private sector pay into their own retirement; county employees should too."

Disclaimer: City and county pay and benefits tend to eat up more of local governments' budgets than state worker pay and benefits. And while CalPERS assets have lost tens of billions of dollars over the last year, the fund is solvent and won't increase employer contributions until 2010 or 2011.

Still, these local pension trends are worth watching for signs of the public's mood toward funding government retirement. And you have to wonder if at some point the trend could bubble up into some sort of change at the state level for new hires.

You can read the Appeal Democrat piece by clicking here.

KXTV (Channel 10) is scheduled to broadcast a half-hour documentary about last year's amazing three-day demolition and replacement of a football field-sized section of the Bay Bridge. The show, "A Span in Time," was sponsored by the Professional Engineers in California Government.

Watch for over-the-top journalist Max Tabloid, the show's cartoon host.

"A Span in Time" airs Dec. 20 at 3 p.m. Click here for more information about the show, its creators and to view three half-minute clips.

And if you missed it, click here to check out our Nov. 4 post highlighting Bay Bridge 360, a site that includes a dozen video clips, fly over simulations, mini-documentaries and more on the bridge project. It's worth your time.

Bee Cap Alert colleague Shane Goldmacher reports in this front-page piece today that former state Sen. Don Perata (legally) transferred $1.5 million from a fund to fight Prop 11 to an account set up to pay legal costs he's incurring to fight a federal corruption investigation.

Here's the part of the story that we wanted to bring to your attention:

"Anytime you donate to an independent expenditure campaign, you recognize that it's independent and we have belief in the leadership of Senator Perata," said Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the state's correctional officers union, which was Perata's biggest ballot committee donor, giving $602,000 in 2008.

We're reminded of this biblical principle from Mark 2.27: ""The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

A variation applies here, we think: "Union funds were made for members, not members for union funding."

Perhaps you disagree. Or maybe you want to argue that this is an example of members best served by CCPOA flexing its financial muscle at the Capitol.

What do you think: Whose interest was best served here? Union members? Perata? Union leadership? The public?

Olin King, president of the Association of California State Supervisors spoke to The State Worker for Monday's layoff story. We've been so busy this week that we're just getting around to posting more of his comments:

On Schwarzenegger's Dec. 1 comment that the budget crisis has "almost forced" the state into laying off workers: It's premature to use a drastic solution like that before the Legislature explores all the viable options.

How staffing correlates to state revenue: Many revenue-gathering agencies have been understaffed for some time. If the Board of Equalization, for example, employed enough auditors, the state would get more revenue.

On the impact of layoffs: If the governor did that, he would be adding to the plight of the state, because of what it would do to state workers' disposable income, especially in Sacramento. There would be fewer people able to support business in the local area.

On whether Schwarzenegger's layoff talk is merely a negotiating tactic: It's possible that the governor is posturing, But he might be quite serious about it. Either way, it's not a prudent way to deal with a crisis that affects all Californians, not just state workers.

How layoffs would punish state workers twice: If we're singled out, that means we'll be carrying an extra burden. If governor decides to increase sales taxes, for example, employees who lose their jobs not only sacrifice once (by bearing the higher tax burden), they sacrifice twice (by losing their jobs).

On what ACSS members are saying: Our members are concerned that the governor is not being fair with them. They're battered and bruised from the souring economy. They're dealing with the mortgage meltdown. They're confronted with the same increases in cost of living as everyone else.

The governor should remember that. He shouldn't do something just because he has the power to do it. He has a higher level of objectivity that he has to exercise. It would be well worth the effort to work with legislators rather then using these kinds of draconian measures to deal with the situation.

IMAGE: Olin King / www.acssonline.org

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Dec. 4 Billwatch: State may freeze pay for workers making more than $150K

Stunt.

We appreciate the brevity and precision of this comment.

Dec. 8 Schwarzenegger warns of state worker layoffs

The more functions of government that can be moved to the private sector the better. Government jobs cost tax revenue, private sector create it. Outsource the DMV, and the majority of Caltrans.

It's not clear that outsourcing saves money.

The Professional Engineers in California Government offers information, like that found in this Senate staff report: "By whatever measure is chosen, state staff are less expensive than contract-out staff."

Meanwhile, the American Council of Engineering Companies California has commissioned its own studies, like this one, that asserts: We find that in fiscal year 2006-2007, the amount that the State must pay to utilize an in-house engineer ranges from $173,434 to $209,212, while the amount paid for an outside engineer averages $193,000.

One thing is for certain .. if Arnold wanted the populace riled up, he got it. I suspect that is his point. It reminds me of that old story about a college student who writes home with all manner of catastrophe -- I got my girlfriend pregnant, my car blew up, I've got meningitis ... etc. then ends with... NOT really, I just want to borrow $100 ... that doesn't seem so bad after all the other scenarios. Let's wait and see what is said in the next few days. Wait for the 'bait and switch.'

And then there's this comment ...

I once worked for the state and ... I was also part of a hiring team for my unit. ... I do understand first hand that there is dead weight in the state but there are also just as many if not more very hard workers with the state. There needs to be because of the slugs who would rather take 20 smoke breaks and read a book while others are picking up their slack. ... I agree that they need to be removed and the system as failed to allow that but you are categorizing ALL state workers as slugs and that is a bit unfair to those that do work hard.

Well said.

Dec. 8 More public employee concessions on the way?

And, no Jon, that last little paragraph lacking any concrete facts that would've shown just how vast the difference is between county and state workers does not cut it. You still close with the presumption that there's yet MORE state workers should sacrifice.

This comment closed a two-part post that accused us of a willingness to "twist any fact, contort any action in order to spin against unions," due to an anti-union agenda on the part of the newspaper and this blog.

Perhaps we should have included relative expense percentages that illustrated the heavier burden employee wages and benefits create for local governments. We'll plead guilty to hurried oversight while rushing to put up our post.

(By the way, we took pains to highlight the facts in yesterday's State Worker column. The piece was inspired in large measure by this blog post and the reaction to it.)

Dec. 9 'State WORKERS' vs. 'State Peace Officers'

Most state workers are underpaid. We are not underpaid because others are less underpaid. I think everyone acknowledges that "the badges" have done better than most public employees over the last decade.

"The badges" have done better because those who make the political decisions have put a higher value on those who control the rift raft (sic) and protect property than on those who make this a better and more just society.

The politicians have said the highest value is not to raise taxes. They have allowed the highways to fall apart. They have withdrawn investment in the future by under funding education. They cut up the credit card and replaced it with a second mortgage and send the bill to our kids. But they have not raised taxes. And we keep reelecting them.

The golden rule is still true. He who has the gold makes the rules.

Dec. 10 A 'cubicle cowboy' sings for food

This moron could have been working, but instead he did what most state workers do, goof off and write silly songs. It is time to either put these fat losers to work or let them go find real work.

Astounding. We understand the anger directed at state workers, particularly in these difficult economic times. We don't mind critics who nail us for the occasional spelling faux pas or misplaced decimal.

But personally attacking a man who is trying to help a charity feed poor people -- and a guy who does it in a creative and entertaining fashion -- strikes us a descending to a new low.

Dec. 11 The State Worker: Job cuts make unions rethink hard line

2009, the year unions go bust and the country will finally be free from the PC life of mediocrity. Next, send all pay raises, pensions, entitlements, days off etc to the ballot. We're all tax payers and their boss's (sic).........things will change fast.

We don't see any indication that unions will "go bust" next year. In fact, things could go the other way, especially if card-check legislation is passed. President-elect Barack Obama (who, by the way, received $29.2 million in campaign support from SEIU) favors the idea.

As the economy continues hammering California, we've been tracking the interplay between government at all levels and public employee unions around the state to see whether any trends are emerging.

As our column noted today, layoff talk has exposed the limits of union power. Some labor groups have made concessions and others, hoping save jobs and to soften losses to their members, have offered some.

Some updates in the news since yesterday, when we wrote the State Worker column:

From the Redding Record Searchlight:

In a bid to lop $3.1 million, or 4 percent from the city's general fund budget, Redding officials Wednesday proposed laying off 14 employees - including three firefighters. ...

Ian Arnold is a field representative for Service Employees International Union Local 1021 (SEIU), the city's largest union. Arnold said his members could not accept such a major concession if the city could not guarantee the savings would protect jobs and essential public services. But the union is willing to sit down with city negotiators to discuss other ways to save money, he said.

"We are fully aware this is the worst budget crisis that the state of California has faced since the Great Depression, and we are willing to roll up our sleeves to help mitigate the damage," Arnold said.

"But we want to know that if SEIU members come up with $1 million worth of savings, that million would be applied to protecting SEIU jobs," said Arnold. "Members are not willing to sacrifice to protect unrepresented managers."

Click here for the entire story.

Orange County is going ahead with layoffs and furloughs, despite a recent union proposal to take furloughs over the holidays, according to this LA Times story:

Officials in cash-strapped Orange County have ordered the deepest cuts in staffing in years, saying they'll lay off 210 social services workers and force 4,000 other employees to take two weeks off without pay. ...

The planned job reductions in Orange County were announced during a tense meeting of county and union officials Wednesday afternoon in Santa Ana. All of the planned cutbacks were in the Social Services Agency, the result of an expected $20-million reduction in state funding.

...

Enraged union officials suggested that the county look elsewhere to save money, suggesting it cut perks for executives and managers -- including car allowances and enhanced retirement benefits -- before forcing layoffs and unpaid days off.

"If they don't step up and show good faith by taking away those perks, this is going to get very ugly, very fast," said Nick Berardino, general manager of the Orange County Employees Association, the county's largest union.

Last week, concerned about possible layoffs, Berardino proposed that all county employees voluntarily take unpaid leave during the holidays to help avoid job cuts. He said the union would probably file a lawsuit if the county forces workers to take time off without pay.

"The people that are here are crying. The anger level is beyond anything I've ever seen," Berardino said.

You can read the entire LAT piece here.

From today's Wall Street Journal:

CHICAGO -- The scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempt to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat widened on Wednesday, threatening to taint a rising Democratic star and pull in one of the nation's biggest labor unions ...

Separately, the federal investigation cast a shadow over the Service Employees International Union, a fast-growing alliance of more than two million workers. Tuesday's complaint noted that Gov. Blagojevich spoke at least twice with an SEIU official to discuss a separate possible candidate for the vacant Illinois seat.

The complaint says that in exchange for naming a Senate candidate seen as friendly to organized labor, Gov. Blagojevich discussed a deal to make him national director of the Change to Win federation, a six million member partnership that includes SEIU. The complaint doesn't say whether the union official came up with the offer or was open to it.

An internal communication from the Illinois office of the SEIU, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said the SEIU official was Tom Balanoff. The communication also said representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited Mr. Balanoff's house at about 6 a.m. Tuesday, the same time that agents arrested Gov. Blagojevich. People close to the SEIU say Mr. Balanoff had flown to Denver on Monday evening, ahead of SEIU meetings Tuesday.

Mr. Balanoff, contacted Wednesday, had no comment. His office issued a release Wednesday evening saying that he was cooperating with the federal investigation. The SEIU office in Washington said that it called the U.S. Attorney's office Tuesday morning and offered its full cooperation.

Balanoff is president of SEIU Local 1. The Chicago-based local represents 40,000 property service workers throughout Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin and Missouri.

You can read the Journal's story by clicking here.

Capital Alert colleague Shane Goldmacher, cites several news reports that say President-elect Barack Obama has passed over California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols for a job administering the Environomental Protection Agency.

Click here to read Shane's post,

IMAGE: Mary Nichols / www.arb.ca.gov

From the governor's press office:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today awarded the Governor's Medal of Valor, the highest honor that California bestows on its public servants, to 42 state employees who demonstrated extraordinary acts of bravery and heroism to save the life of another.

Click here to read the list of winners and their acts of heroism.

Our congratulations and thanks to all for their selfless public service.

IMAGE: gov.ca.gov

TV station KGO juxtaposed yesterday's Assembly/Senate hearing on the state's financial crisis to new cars issued to lawmakers:

While the state is wallowing in a $28 billion deficit over the next 18 months, newly-elected lawmakers got new cars. From $32,000 hybrids to $46,000 Cadillacs, their new rides will cost taxpayers an estimated $1.3 million.

It is a perk included with lawmakers' six-figure salaries.

"The California Legislature has the highest-paid members in the country. So they're very well compensated. So I think a threshold question is whether or not they should even get any car allowance or cars at all," said Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Lawmakers also get their gasoline and maintenance paid for by the state. To compensate, the Speaker's Office says it will cut the Legislature's budget by 10 percent, like it did last year.

You can watch the 2 minute, 10 second report by clicking here. Select "Governor threatens lawmakers with layoffs." (We chuckle at the headline, which reads like Schwarzenegger is threatening to layoff elected state workers ...)

Is this a fair juxtaposition? Is Coupal correct?

We just received this from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's press office. We'll follow up with another post later today.

From: Governor's Press Office
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 10:18 AM
Subject: UPDATED: Gov. Schwarzenegger's Schedule for December 9

***UPDATED: MEDIA ADVISORY***

Gov. Schwarzenegger's Schedule for December 9

2 p.m. Medal of Valor Award Ceremony
Theatre #1
Crest Theatre
1013 K Street
Sacramento, CA

Gov. Schwarzenegger will award the Governor's State Employee Medal of Valor to 42 state employees who have demonstrated extraordinary acts of bravery and heroism. The Medal of Valor is the highest honor that California bestows on its public servants.

We've been getting more and more e-mail from state workers complaining about other state workers. It started with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to furlough employees, trim the state's paid holiday calendar and change overtime accrual rules. His statement last week about laying off employees has prompted more state worker-on-state worker e-mail.

Most e-mailers characterize themselves as hard-working state employees who are appalled that they might suffer the same cuts as colleagues who work at glacial speed. Others feel their class/bargaining unit is underpaid as a consequence of others that are overpaid.

And, of course, many state workers argue that money going to outside contractors should go to public employees. Often, they say, contractors are taking away state worker jobs and charging far more for the same work.

This e-mail came our way late last week in response to our Thursday column:

Jon:

I read your article regarding State Workers in the 12/4/08 paper. I need to point out a fact this fine paper has missed for some time. There is a huge distinctive difference between a "State Worker" and an employee of the State of California that holds a Peace Office status.

Peace Officers have taken all the state wages from hard working state employees for the last six years. I can't think of a State Peace Officer position that requires more than a high school diploma. What they have going for them is UNIONS. They pay into their unions for political activism and it pays off in spades.

I am not trying to come out anti-union. I just want to point out that the rest of us: don't make that kind of wage; haven't seen those kind of raises; have watched our medical and dental benefits erode year after year as the cost goes up; and we too have an issue with continuing to give Peace Officers such a big piece of the pie.

Please Jon, don't let them tell you about risk, ! ! A substantial number of state workers are prison employees, they need an education and experience in their trade to get their jobs and they have seen flat line wages for years. Caltrans employees have a very high rate of risk, frankly, I don't want to repair California's highways. Who really slows for the "Cone Zone"? I could go on and on, but all I am saying, is please distinguish between "State WORKERS" and "State Peace Officers".

Mark Stewart
State Employee

Today's joint convention of the state legislature begins at 3 p.m. Dan Walters and the State Worker will blog live. You're welcomed to pitch in your thoughts, too. Just use the fields below the broadcast to identify yourself and post your comment. Click here to watch the session online. Bee editor Pam Dinsmore is moderating the discussion.

Dan Walters, the dean of California Capitol reporting, and your humble State Worker blogger/columnist/reporter will be watching today's joint convention of the legislature and blogging live. You'll be able to chip in your thoughts, too.

Treasurer Bill Lockyer, Controller John Chiang, Finance Director Mike Genest and Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor are expected to outline dire consequences the state will face if lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger do not take action soon to close a budget gap estimated at least $28 billion over the next 19 months.

Editor Pam Dinsmore will moderate the blog.

Come back to the State Worker blog at 3 p.m. for the live broadcast and to see, in real time, what viewers are thinking. The broadcast and blog also will be available at www.sacbee.com/live.

Our report in today's Bee on the aftermath of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's comment last week that he is "almost forced" into layoff employees to stem California's burgeoning expenses is drawing heavy readership and comments. If you missed it, you can read the story by clicking here.

We never get all of what we learn into a news story or column. Fortunately, this blog can give users items of interest from the notebook :

Yvonne Walker, president SEIU Local 1000, 081205. phone interview.

On what the union can do about layoffs: There is process for layoffs. We have it in our contracts. But as a union, we don't get to decide whether the state lays off people. We make sure it's done fairly and try to offer alternatives to doing that. Realistically, we don't have he ability to stop a layoff if it comes.

About California's growing financial crisis: Local 1000 is well aware that there is a crisis. We're ready to weigh in and to try to be part of the solution. But rather than the governor putting all this stuff in the paper (layoff talk) and offering sound bites ... let's sit down and work together to see how we can work this out.

On budget strategy: When I come to a time of crisis, the first thing I look at: What do I have right now that I don't absolutely have to have? How much will cutting it save me? So maybe I go from cable to basic cable. Maybe I stop buying Oscar Mayer and buy (store brand) baloney.

We provide a lot of services... I would expect our governor, the Legislature and department heads to be doing the same thing, looking at what the state does and saying, "This service is nice but it's not a service we can continue right now. But they're not. And they should be holding public forums, getting public input so that they really understand the depth of the crisis.

On how the state is going to solve its money mess: We're not going to come out of this just with cuts. It's going to take a combination of a lot of the things. There are going to have to be cuts. We're going to have to raise taxes. We need to go after federal money. But let's sit down and see how we can work this out.

And we need to have everyone, the unions, the governor and the Legislature conveying the same message. Instead they're talking about cutting work breaks and lunches. We didn't get into this crisis because people eat lunch.

On how state workers are faring: They're just like everybody else out there. State workers are losing their houses. They're making hard choices. They're cutting their budgets.

On the politics of money: This is serious. I think it requires everybody to bring their most serious ideas. This isn't a time for politicians to be politicians. Time for them to be Californians. I can't tell you how angry I am at the Republicans who singed the no-tax pledge.

There are tough choices to be made. Instead, the governor does things like trying to reduce wages to $6.55 (per hour), furloughs ... and now layoffs. These things are more symbolic than substantial. We need more than symbolism.

We (SEIU) are willing to participate in forming a solution. We've been begging t help. But the governor hasn't taken us up on it.

IMAGE: Yvonne Walker / Sacramento Bee

Is this a trend in the making?

First, from the Los Angeles Times:

Hoping to avoid layoffs amid a steep downturn in tax revenue, the largest union for government employees in Orange County proposed Friday that workers take unpaid time off during the holidays -- a move one union official said could save the county as much as $20 million.

Nick Berardino, general manager of the Orange County Employees Assn., which represents a majority of the county's more than 17,000 workers, called on employees to take one to five days off without pay between Dec. 22 and Jan. 4.

Berardino made the proposal one day after county officials told him they were considering laying off 124 workers from the Social Services Agency in what could be the first in a series of job reductions. His proposal called for all county workers -- ranging from librarians to sheriff's deputies to road repair crews -- to stay home without pay.

A few days ago we noted in this post that SEIU in Redding has reportedly accepted retiree health benefits concessions for city employees.

And we'll blog later today (after we get into the office) on our interview with SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker, who spoke to us on Friday for the state worker layoff news story in today's Bee. Walker called for considered compromise during our conversation, and said that the state will have to both raise taxes and make cuts to balance the budget.

We should note that employee payroll and benefits usually make up a much larger chunk of a city or county budget than they do for the State of California. But with that said, what role, if any, do you think state employee unions should play in resolving the budget crisis?

Click here to read the Times piece.

We blogged about this ad last week. It has since launched. You can click the YouTube screen above to see it.

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Dec. 1 Blog back: ... the 'trade' with Seattle

The State Librarian, Susan Hildreth, is an experienced library administrator. The fact she is leaving the top librarian post in the state is a sympton (sic) that other places have more to offer. In the last five years, the budget of the state library for journals that state workers use for their jobs has been cut 5 fold. Next year's budget will be worse.

Many California county law libraries now have bigger budgets than does the state library. So lawyers in state service now enter court with a professional disadvantage. The State Library, and some state agency libraries house and lend the materials that state workers need to carry out their daily jobs. Diminished information resources make it harder for state workers to do their jobs.

Apt points. An earlier Seattle Times story outlined the city's gleaming new library facilities and strong public support for the system. Also worth noting: Hildreth made $153,000 annually, according to state pay records. The Times reported that her successor in Seatte, Deborah Jacobs, made $178,000.

We asked Emily Heffter, the Seattle Times reporter who has been following the story, if she knew how much Hildreth's new job will pay. Heffter said that as of Monday the final terms had not been announced.

Dec. 2 Schwarzenegger: State now 'almost forced' into layoffs

What is he waiting for? Fire 50% of the state workforce NOW. We don't need 75% of what they do. Let the people keep their money. If you state workers don't like it, go get a job that actually generates revenue instead of relying on coercively extracted tax dollars from your fellow Californians.

As we noted a few weeks ago in our Thursday column, you could fire every single state employee paid with general fund money and still not completely close the budget gap. And we haven't seen any studies or audits supporting the assertion that "we don't need 75 percent" of what state workers do. Data, please.

Dec. 2 More details about possible state worker layoffs

Even if layoffs don't come to pass, it's likely that the next budget will have a more extensive furlough. For example, two or three days a month. Or a shift to a four-day workweek, a.k.a. four days a month furlough. With that in mind, plan ahead: Don't go overboard on your holiday partying and gift-giving. Cut back on spending and conserve your cash as 2009-2010 is going to be a very unpleasant fiscal year.

Our Bee business colleague and newbie Home Front blogger Dale Kasler on Tuesday wrote that the year-old economic recession is "shaping up as a long one." That means the state's tax revenues will take another beating next year and, according to some experts Dale has interviewed, maybe into 2010. Read his insightful Home Front post by clicking here.

Dec. 3 Still more about possible layoffs

This could also be Arnold's version of "The Shock Doctrine." According to author Naomi Klein repressive right-wing governments have a well established history of using crises and emergencies to push through radical economic changes that would be rejected by the populace under normal circumstance. Arnold has wanted to bust the public service unions and dismantle CalPERS for a long time. Now he can use the "shock and awe" of the present budget crisis to try and do so again.

An interesting take. We would extend that observation to left-leaning administrations, such as FDR's Depression-era public works programs and Social Security and LBJ's War on Poverty in the 1960s. Right wingers don't have a monopoly on pushing radical economic change in a time of crisis.

Jon - Did you even think to ask Ms. Jolley if she even has a "plan" to reduce the State workforce? Or do you agree that just whacking people indiscrimately (sic) is the best way to proceed? What amount of disruption in State operations does Ms. Jolley expect? What will be the criteria for laying people off? Performance Reviews? Seniority? What about contractors who get paid more then State workers? Will they be let go as well, or will we hire more of them? How many people let go does Ms. Jolley expect to never return to State service, resulting in an increase in costs of retraining later on? Are there any specifics at all?

We're working getting answers to those questions and more. In the interest of speed, we've put up information as we've learned it instead of holding back information until every jot and tittle is defined.

You asked, "Or do you agree that just whacking people indiscrimately (sic) is the best way to proceed?" Our answer: No.

Our sense as of this writing on Thursday afternoon is that layoff details haven't been hammered out. One frequent State Worker blog user sent an e-mail with this theory:

I think this threat can also be something towards the union to passive aggressively say (as opposed to saying anything to our faces or say "let's sit down together and work something out") we (the state) are not willing to negotiate for any increases, don't push us or we'll just cut some of your jobs.

Our State Worker column today prompted this e-mail:

Rarely mentioned in this CSLEA bickering are the state's Emergency Planners and Emergency Managers. In California, our four seasons are officially Fire, Flood, Earthquake, and "to be determined." We put in long hours alongside the emergency personnel that seek to split our union.

First consider the pay ranges for FEMA Emergency Planners:

Emergency Management Program Specialist is 48,108.00 - 107,854.00 a year.

Emergency Response Planner $60,840.00 - $112,735.00 per year

Sr. Technological Hazards Program Specialist $86,715.00 - $112,735.00 per year

Supervisory Emergency Management Program Specialist $82,178.00 - $126,240.00 per year

Now look at what California pays:

EMERGENCY SERVICES COORDINATOR, $44,976 - $65,436 per year

SENIOR EMERGENCY SERVICES COORDINATOR $59,532 - $71,844 per year

Instead of raising the pay for these classes, and using an appropriate classification to supervise (like Senior Emergency Management Coordinator $72,288- $87,312), they use a non-represented class to supervise these planners:

PROGRAM MANAGER I, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES $62,460 - $75,444 per year

Oddly enough, few emergency planners are interested in promoting. It's not really a promotion when you give up your overtime and lose union representation. No real incentive to promote.

Please don't use my name in your articles.

The tone of the e-mail left us with the impression that the author was against sworn officers severing ties with CSLEA, but to be sure, we asked. The reply:

I am against the move. I think we will be left behind as yet another obscure group of unknown classes with even less political clout.... Emergency Management is a strange field, as there is no real formal training. If you learn the job and truly become knowledgeable in it, you possess a rare and valuable skill that can be worth over $100 an hour as a consultant. And that is another place we lose our people to. There is plenty of money for consultants, but yet nothing for salaries -- More outsourcing of employee jobs.

From today's San Diego Union-Tribune:

Fed up with large pay raises for executives of California's public universities, the chairman of the Assembly's higher-education committee (Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena) introduced legislation yesterday that would freeze salaries of state employees who make more than $150,000 a year.

Portantino said he did not know how many employees would be affected or how much might be saved.

This link will take you to the U-T story. Click here to read the language of Portanino's bill, AB 53.

IMAGE: Anthony Portantino / Sacramento Bee

From today's story by Bee reporter Andrew McIntosh:

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office and California attorney general are investigating whether members of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board broke conflict-of-interest laws in 2005 when they voted to offer their own chairwoman a job in San Diego.

Three members of that board, including former Democratic Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin, voted to give Thornton the judgeship in San Diego, where she now earns $109,000 hearing claims from workers who say they were unfairly denied state unemployment benefits.

Read the entire story by clicking here. And if you missed it, check out the Nov. 27 State Worker column, "Nepotism poisons the workplace."

IMAGE: www.labor.ca.gov

The Associated Press led its Pennsylvania budget story Wednesday night with this:

The state's second round of spending cuts will mean no cost-of-living raises for thousands of state employees as Pennsylvania's financial outlook continues to unravel amid a deepening global financial plunge, Gov. Ed Rendell said Wednesday.

We were more interested in this part of the story:

Also Wednesday, some legislators pledged to give back their new cost-of-living raises, while newly sworn-in Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati said he is laying off a dozen or so employees he is inheriting from Catherine Baker Knoll, who died last month.

Add Scarnati and those unnamed state workers in Pennsylvania to the Redding city council to the small but growing list of public officials leading by example in these tough times by cutting their own pay, staff or perks.

We're still waiting to add a California elected official (other than Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) to the list ...

IMAGE: Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati / www.legis.state.pa.us

CalPERS, CalSTRS and five other leading institutional investors are sending out a survey to 500 asset managers to determine how they are evaluating climate concerns when looking at investment opportunities.

You can read the press release by clicking here.

We're continuing our education on the rules governing state worker layoffs and passing along information to you as we learn it.

To understand the steps of the state's layoff process, click here for a detailed chart and explainer on DPA's Web site.

Then there's this from Jason Dickerson, the guru of state worker stuff in at the LAO. He sent along the following language from the Government Code that would apply if the state enacts layoffs after reading our previous post and a question there about layoffs when most bargaining units don't have a current contract:

As for the question of expired contracts, recall that Government Code Section 3517.8(a) provides in part: "If a memorandum of understanding has expired, and the Governor and the recognized employee organization have not agreed to a new memorandum of understanding and have not reached an impasse in negotiations...the parties to the agreement shall continue to give effect to the provisions of the expired memorandum of understanding, including, but not limited to, all provisions that supersede existing law, any arbitration provisions, any no strike provisions, any agreements regarding matters covered in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 201) of Title 29 of the United States Code), and any provisions covering fair share fee deduction consistent with Section 3515.7."

"All layoff provisions and procedures established or agreed to...shall be subject to State Personnel Board review pursuant to Section 19816.2" of the code, according to Section 19997. Section 19816.2 provides that layoff procedures are "subject to review by the State Personnel Board for consistency with merit employment principles as provided for by Article VII of the California Constitution."

CLARIFICATION: Our post yesterday also referred to hearing from state workers who believe that the state must give them a 6-month notice before a layoff. DPA's Lynelle Jolley explained that the longer notice is a "surplus" notice, which is different from a layoff notice. Jolley also mentioned that the surplus notice period is 120 days, not six months.

We just wanted to set the record straight.

Redding's five-member city council on Tuesday night voted to give up its retirement health plan for council members but kept their pension plan in place. The city needs to make $3 million in budget cuts and faces an estimated $94 million in retiree health insurance costs over the next three decades.

The story on the Redding Record Searchlight's Web site, quotes Missy McArthur, who is new to the council: "I am anxious that the city council lead by example. We are probably going to be making some pretty tough decisions, and if we are going to be asking employees to come in at a different rate we should be willing to do the same."

As we noted in a Thursday column a few weeks ago, state employees would love to hear elected state workers in the Capitol say something like that.

A couple of other examples of sacrifice from Redding: A separate story published on Monday by Chico TV station KHSL, noted that the city manager and city attorney have both declined to take COLAs and have postponed their scheduled raises.

KHSL also reported, "As part of negotiations, the city has asked the eight labor unions to make similar changes to the health benefits for future retirees - having them pay the full premium instead of a 50 percent discounted rate. Service Employee International Union Local 1292 (SEIU) which represents administrative and service city employees, have agreed to those changes."

IMAGE: www.ci.redding.ca.us

Our Cap Bureau colleague Kevin Yamamura blogs about the SEIU State Council's "dream plan," which, Kevin defines as a " ... dream in the politest of terms, as in it might happen in a parallel universe where Democrats don't need any Republican votes and federal dollars pour from the sky."

Click here to read his post on our companion blog, Capitol Alert.

As we reported earlier, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday said that the state's financial crisis is so severe that he is "almost forced" into laying off state workers.

We had some questions, so we contacted the Department of Personnel Administration spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley. She responded via e-mail:

Does the governor have the authority to lay off workers?

Yes, a Governor has this right.

I've seen the layoff language on the DPA Web site that requires a 30-day notice and that most union contracts require 60 days. Since most bargaining units don't have contracts right now, does the 60-day notice apply at all, or is 30 days all that is required?

We're still required to notify affected unions as well as employees, and to negotiate over a layoff's impact. Those notice periods can overlap; they're not sequential.

Some state workers who have e-mailed me insist that the notice period is more like 6 months.

The longer notice period you've heard about refers to the "surplus" notice employees get. That's a different type of notice that lets employees know that a layoff is coming and they might be affected.

In general, more employees receive surplus notices than actual layoff notices. The purpose of a surplus notice is to allow time for potentially affected employees to find a more secure job. (Surplus employees get hiring preference when departments fill open state jobs.)

(The State Worker notes that you can read about "surplus" and how the process works by clicking here.)

Has the state laid off workers before due to budget concerns?

The last time the State faced a major layoff threat was 2003. The 2003-04 budget eliminated 16,000 positions, many of which were unfilled in anticipation of this possibility, and cut $1.1 billion ($585 million of it was General Fund) from personnel. Leading up to adoption of that budget, the State issued thousands of surplus notices, which allowed most affected employees to move into jobs with more secure funding.

IMAGE: DPA

A New Center for State and Local Government Excellence report looks at how states are balancing retiree health care plans with their need to contain costs.

Key points:

• State administrators say retiree health care benefits are central to recruitment, retention, and retirement timing goals.
• Most states intend to keep financing retiree health care on a pay-as-you-go basis.

On the cost side:

• 17 states expect to introduce a plan to limit the subsidy for future retirees; three states say it is likely they will terminate subsidies for current retirees.
• A large majority of states (including, we note, CalPERS in California) have introduced disease management programs. Most also have precertification procedures in place for inpatient hospitalizations, and conduct claims payer audits.
• Sixteen states say they are likely to increase the years of service required for vesting in retiree health care.

Click here to read the 16-page report.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday afternoon said that the state's budget crisis is so severe that he is considering lay offs to ease California's cash crunch.

Here is a part of Schwarzenegger's transcribed remarks from a Los Angeles press conference in response to questions about the state's finances:

QUESTION: I guess it's a two-parter. What happens if California runs out of cash? You mentioned February, March, very soon. Secondly, you're going to meet with President-elect Obama tomorrow in Philadelphia. Will you ask him for an economic stimulus for California and do you think you're going to get it?

GOVERNOR: Well, first of all, let me just say that because we are now a month late, it's important to know that now we are anywhere between $1.5 billion to $2 billion deeper in the hole, because if we can get revenues earlier then we can go and fill that hole but now we have to make more cuts and raise more revenues because of that. So the legislators, I think, need to know that, because many times they disregard that fact. So every day now that we are delaying, it will mean more and more of a problem.

Number two, when we run out of cash, that means we cannot make the payments, which will have a tremendously horrible effect on our school system. I think always first of our children. I think that our children should not become a victim of all of this and so we should do everything that we can to always have enough money for our kids and for giving them health care and giving them education and those kinds of things. And then we cannot make other payments either.

I think the longer we wait the more we will have to lay off people from government. And I think because of the delay now, we are almost, I think, forced -- as a matter of fact, we are going to have a meeting as soon as I come back from Philadelphia about that, how many people we need now to lay off in order to make ends meet. So it gets worse very quickly. It's like an avalanche, that it gains momentum. And that's what we're in right now, so it's a real crisis.

You can read the entire transcript released by the governor's press office by clicking here.

Thanks to Cap Bureau colleague Shane Goldmacher for alerting us to this.

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Last Thursday's column on nepotism at the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board drew strong comments online, over the phone and in e-mail. Here's a small slice of what you said:

Nov. 27 State Worker: Nepotism poisons the workplace

The problem is pervasive throughout all state departments, agencies, and commissions. Between the unqualified civil service cronies and relatives and the politically connected or campaign donor appointees (equally unqualified), is it any wonder the state is in a shambles. The middle management through executive ranks in state government is PACKED with chair warmers who do little more than show up and collect paychecks (some don't even do that- 4C status allows a full day's pay just for making a brief appearance). There is no fear of consequence or repercussion- it is a common and well-known practice. "Merit system"? not in this state.

The State Worker responds: One huge problem with nepotism is that it trades leadership credibility for favors. Once employees witness a single instance of nepotism, they will assume that every management decision is colored by personal relationships. We have yet to hear someone talk about "a little" nepotism in their workplace.

The low number of reported cases is attributed to an employee's fear of retribution, not ignorance of the complaint process. Even the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2007 will not protect employees from employers who opt to ruin an individual's career instead of addressing the issue. It is my opinion that the problem of nepotism will continue until our institutions are mandated to implement HR policies that will make nepotism an exception to the rule.

TSW: We wonder about the 300 UIAB folks who didn't respond to the auditor's survey. How many didn't chip in out of fear that they'd be outed and suffer retribution? (A point we didn't mention in Thursday's column: auditors required UIAB staff to disclose their work e-mail addresses as a way of authenticating responses and weeding out duplicates.)

On the other hand, how many didn't share their thoughts because they don't see a problem? And how many didn't respond or played down the issue because they are part of the problem?

One blog user had this frank assessment:

This is nothing new in any career field whether in the public or private sector. You would hope the gov't would be better about such a thing but when it comes down to it, people hire people they know or have a connection to. Basically you can get upset about the matter or accept reality and get to networking (kissing you know what and making friends). I've been both the victim and the benefactor... definitely preferred the latter.

TSW: Another blog user familiar with the BSA sent a couple of e-mails to us with these tidbits:

Following your mention of BSA Report 2007-041 "Report of Recommendations Not Fully Implemented After One Year", in Thursday's edition, the report has been moved to quick link section at the top of the BSA webpage. I can assure you the report had been relegated to obscurity long ago as I check the BSA website regularly.

While BSA staff are great and the do a good job for the most part, the BSA process is simply a feel good exercise in futility ...

In my opinion, BSA wants and needs attention paid to their work in order for serious improvements to be made. So if you contact them BSA's response to you will be something along the lines of: "Thank God someone finally took note of our work."

TSW: We've been running this blog and writing the Thursday State Worker column for about four months. We're still learning the ins and outs of the state bureaucracy. As we do, with your help, we'll get better at telling state workers' stories. That's why we're here.

We've received several e-mails and phone calls from rank-and-file CSLEA members and officials since posting "Division surfaces in CSLEA ranks" last week.

We'll start with this chart from CSLEA GM and Chief Counsel Kasey Clark. It shows percentage wage increases for Special Agent/Park ranger/Fish and game Warden classifications.

We then spoke with Warden Jerry Karnow, one of the folks at Fish & Game seeking to sever the 2,700 or so sworn law enforcement officers from CSLEA, which has about 7,000 members in all. The essence of the argument for peeling off from CSLEA he says is to prevent non-sworn state employees from riding the coattails of sworn officers.

Bob Orange, POC's president, sent along an e-mail with links to various media accounts of the decline in the number of California game wardens. About the wage increase negotiated thorough CSLEA, he says,

... we have received a 25% pay raise in the last couple years, that is true. But what I am sure that what CSLEA did not tell you that this was on top of the starting $37,000 annual salary. Suddenly, that 25% salary increase doesn't seem quite as large anymore- especially when we are competing for sworn law enforcement officers statewide and requirements include college. That should provide some perspective.

And he provided a link to Warden Expose Update, a publication that advocates for the profession:

The reason for the establishment of the P.O.C. organization is somewhat explained on page 98 of the "Warden Expose Update" by Feather River Publishing, which is all of the newspapers in Plumas and Lassen Counties. This was in part 6 of a comprehensive investigative report by that media organization. I have included a link to that article below. I would be happy to provide you with a hard copy if you like. Please feel free to research the Warden Expose' for it includes many other media pieces. I think it is especially important to read then Assemblyman Cogdill's support letter which was signed by a super majority of the California Legislature which is on pages 6 & 7 of that same publication.

CoStar Group, a commercial real estate research firm, notes that CalPERS' real estate investment partners reduced the energy consumption of their properties by 13 percent i 2007. You can read the details by clicking here.

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Nov. 21 Local radio host Maiman on state workers, furloughs, pensions

There is a difference: We, the voters, can "fire" these State workers the next time they come up for reelection. We cannot do that with other State workers who we feel deserve it.

That said, I do believe the elected State workers should, as a symbol they "get it" turn in their State vehicles, State credit cards, and assume the costs we all must bear in order to maintain our employment.

There are counterpoints to this argument. If we hold down legislative wages and perks, elected state workers might be more vulnerable to influence-peddlers. Holding down pay and per diem might also keep some qualified people from seeking office because they wouldn't be able to support themselves or their families if they ran and won. And it's an important job; shouldn't the pay reflect that?

Nov. 25 SEIU says state 'refuses' to talk with union lawyers in the room, DPA responds

I would love to be elected to a State position for just one term. The first thing I would request would be an impartial audit of DPA. For toooo long the employees of this state have been beaten, backstabbed and broiled by DPA doing the bidding of whomever (sic) happens to be Governor. They have no pride, no morals, no heart, no empathy except for themselves. They believe and act like they are jury, judge and executioner! I for one think its time that the tide is turned on them so that they experience the type of suffering they deliver to State employees. That audit would reveal that they do not have the interest of the State at heart and I firmly believe the audit would call for wide spread reform and the dismissal of everyone in that department!

This seems a bit harsh. DPA folks are state workers, too, and they face many of the same pressures and problems confronting counterparts in other departments. Some have the thankless job of contract negotiations, which earns them the ire of many civil servants.

We have found DPA officials to be courteous, prompt and professional. Of course, we don't have to negotiate with them for our livelihood.

Nov. 25 Is Measure J the Prop 13 of pension reform?

Just because Orange County officials were too generous with themselves and county workers does not mean that the State of California has been wreckless (sic). Some other local agencies have also been too generous, but we need to focus on both sides of the problem. Non-government workers need reliable pensions too and we need to create a "CalPERS"-like organization to invest their and their employers' contributions so they grow and can sustain them with Social Security for as long as they live.

AB 2940 by Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, would have allowed private individuals and private sector employers to set aside money in retirement accounts administered by CalPERS. The bill got stuck in committee and died.

Nov. 27 UPDATE: California librarian gets Seattle job

She was traded for a player to be named later and a set of the unabridged Encyclopedia Brittanica.

On Friday we received this embargoed press release from SEIU's California State Council about a new ad campaign that uses the image and words of President-elect Barack Obama to call for a tax increase without using the words, "tax increase."

Here's the press release, followed by a link to a copy of transcript for the TV ad.

November 30, 2008

The online, print, and television ad campaign targets legislators and opinion leaders.

Read a transcript of the TV ad by clicking here.

How much do ad campaigns such as this one move the political needle in Sacramento? Will linking the Obama victory to California state politics resonate?

IMAGE: Sacramento Bee / Randall Benton