State needs budget; governor proposes cutting workers’ rights instead

“With working families facing sharply rising unemployment, mass layoffs and stagnating wages, California should take a page out of Presidentelect Obama's playbook and stimulate the economy by creating, not eliminating jobs,” said California Labor Federation's Art Pulaski. “We also must take immediate steps to shore up our unemployment system and stem the tide of rising home foreclosures.”

Unfortunately, none of those ideas were presented by Governor Schwarzenegger in his State of the State message on January 15. Declaring that California was in a state of emergency, “incapacitated until we solve the budget crisis,” the governor explained that the $42 billion deficit required him to stop construction jobs and propose cuts to hard-won workers’ rights. Mostly, he rallied the legislature to come up with a budget agreement and suggested that if they can’t reach a budget on time, then they don’t get paid until they do. “That’s a popular idea,” said Joint Council 7 President Chuck Mack, “but it doesn’t solve today’s budget crisis and it doesn’t do anything for working families.”

Proposals cut overtime, lunch breaks, and unemployment benefits

Schwarzenegger’s budget plans, unveiled in November, include a proposal to take away overtime protection from workers, which would result in pay cuts for millions of families at a time when they can least afford it.

In addition, he’s again seeking to take away the right to a guaranteed lunch break, which is essential to worker health and safety. State law already provides ‘flexibility’ for meal breaks, but without jeopardizing worker protections, as the Schwarzenegger plan would do.

At 9.3%, California faces its worst rate of unemployment in more than a decade. In reponse, the Governor proposed to cut benefits for unemployed workers. These are benefits that families desperately need to pay their bills and keep their homes. This plan isn’t just unfair to families–it’s also economically unsound. Studies have shown that every dollar of unemployment insurance benefits returns $1.64 to local communities, which means that slashing benefits will hurt the state economy, not stimulate it.

The Governor’s proposal would also undermine overtime and vacation protections for state workers and would force them to take an unpaid furlough every month. This is the third time this year that the Governor has proposed rolling back workers’ rights to fix the state's ailing budget, and this proposal contains significantly more worker takeaways than his earlier plans.

“We need a real economic stimulus plan—one that creates jobs, rather than weaken the protections for those already in them.” Mack added.