Two furlough days for state engineers: Newsom administration reaches third pay-cut deal
California state engineers would take a pay cut in exchange for flexible time off under a new contract agreement their union reached with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.
The Professional Engineers in California Government’s agreement, posted online Monday, is the third pay-cut deal to be made public since Newsom’s bargaining team started negotiating cuts with unions last month. The agreement requires a member vote and legislative approval.
“The agreement is reflective of our time and circumstances,” said Ted Toppin, the union’s executive director. “The PECG bargaining team takes no pleasure in being forced to negotiate pay reductions for our members. But those were the circumstances, given the budget deficit and the recession it caused and the ongoing pandemic.”
The agreement eases the cuts by suspending workers’ monthly contributions to retirement health insurance plans for the next two years. The suspension lets the engineers keep 2 percent of their pay.
Newsom called for across-the-board pay reductions as part of his solution to a projected $54 billion budget deficit caused by the coronavirus. He anticipated the state would save $3.6 billion per year by cutting state workers’ pay and withholding raises.
Like the state’s agreements with the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and SEIU Local 1000, the engineers’ contract uses a personal leave program to make the pay reductions.
Under the program, the state reduces workers’ pay in exchange for leave hours they can bank and use largely at their discretion. The engineers’ agreement reduces pay by 9.23 percent — the equivalent of two days of work — in exchange for two days of leave.
Often referred to as furloughs, the personal leave program gives workers more flexibility than the “furlough Fridays” that took place under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, when the state cut workers’ pay and closed offices on given Fridays each month.
The engineers’ agreement says workers must use their personal leave program time before using other types of leave, such as vacation, with the exception of sick leave. The other agreements include similar provisions.
The personal leave program saves money in the short term but costs the state over time, the Legislative Analyst’s Office has warned, since banked leave time becomes more valuable as workers’ pay increases.
The engineers’ agreement includes a 3 percent raise in July 2022. By July 2023, the state will have saved $330 million through the agreement, according to a CalHR analysis. The engineers’ union represents about 11,000 workers.
The agreement includes a provision that would allow the union to negotiate over pay before then if the state receives a boost in federal funding.
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 7:16 PM.