Imagine the uproar this would create. Near me they just got rid of some city jobs and to try and get these jobs back, the ones who were NOT laid off said they would start to not do their part of the work and wait for negotiations to take place so that their coworkers could get their jobs back. It seems a lot of city and state workers feel that they do not deserve to lose their jobs like the other 20+million people who have over the last 3 years, they feel they are entitled to work until the day they retire with huge pensions and great benefits along the way because its a city or state job. I don't understand how they think they can demand there job back if the city has no money and job cuts are necessary. Schwarzenegger: Pay State Workers Minimum Wage The Associated Press | July 02, 2010 | 07:59 AM EDT Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to pay 200,000 state workers just the minimum wage sent a signal to California lawmakers: In the impasse over closing California's $19 billion budget deficit, Schwarzenegger is ready to play hardball. The Legislature's deadline to send a spending plan to the governor passed two weeks ago, and the fiscal year began Thursday with Republicans and majority Democrats no closer to finding a compromise. Schwarzenegger's action is intended to pressure the legislative leaders to get to work so California does not repeat the cycle of IOUs and higher interest rates that have plagued it during recent budget stalemates, which sometimes have dragged on for months. "This all goes away if the Legislature passes a budget this month," said Lynelle Jolley, a spokeswoman for the administration's personnel department. Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the change should be reflected in state employees' next paycheck. Workers will be paid in full retroactively once a budget is passed. "This is not a realistic proposal to save the state cash any more than his budget plan, which kills 430,000 jobs, is a realistic proposal to close our deficit," said Assembly Speaker John Perez in a statement. "Using working families as leverage is not the kind of leadership we need to get through this budget process." Schwarzenegger's action also sends a signal to the state's powerful unions that represent the majority of the state's workers, that they should agree to his demands for pension reform and reductions in pay, or he will make their members' lives more difficult. Six of the state's unions, representing about 37,000 state workers, agreed to such changes in the past two weeks. Schwarzenegger's order does not affect those workers. Some of the state's 250,000 employees would fare even worse under the plan: doctors and attorneys are not protected by minimum wage law, so they would not get paid at all until a deal is struck, Jolley said. The state's largest union, Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 95,000 workers, is still at the bargaining table. The order, which was in a letter from Department of Personnel Administration Director Debbie Endsley to State Controller John Chiang, said that most state employees would be paid the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour for the July pay period. Managers who are not paid on an hourly basis would see their pay cut to $455 per week. Chiang, who legally challenged a similar order two years ago, said he would refuse to comply, because of legal and technical issues. Schwarzenegger's order, if implemented, could cost the state billions of dollars because the action would violate employment law, Chiang's deputy press secretary, Jacob Roper said. He cited the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which he says entitles a worker to "double damages" if an employer cuts pay to minimum wage. Despite the budget impasse, most lawmakers were sent home to work in their districts, another signal that a budget deal is not close. "Governor Schwarzenegger is blaming state workers for the fact that the legislature needs a two thirds majority vote to take a bathroom break much less pass a budget," said California Democratic Chairman John Burton in a statement. "The governor's time would be much better spent convincing members of his own party to come to the table with realistic solutions instead of holding the budget hostage to their dogmatic whims."
Why take a risk on violating employment law? Scwarzenegger should just fire everybody, starting with John Chiang.