California Attorneys Win Against Schwarzenegger On Unpaid Leaves
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was ordered by a judge to cease and desist forcing state employees to go on unpaid leaves three times a month which affected groups represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists as well as California attorneys. These forced unpaid leaves were meant to resolve a budget shortfall that had been plaguing California last year.
Not the worker’s fault
The judge argued that it was the Legislature’s fault that the budget was not passed on time or that the resulting budget that did pass did not take into account the state employees’ condition. Because of this, the argument that these furloughs are necessary to balance the state budget is superfluous.
In fact, the state employees’ union had negotiated a five percent reduction in the contract in recognition of the budget problems. However, the thrice a month forced unpaid leaves effectively means a reduction in pay of about 15%. This additional reduction prompted the lawsuit filed by the union consisting of California attorneys, physicians, and dentists
Furthermore, the governor’s decision may have been illegal as it interferes with the mandate of government institutions that get their funds from special sources. Among these institutions are those in the Department of Motor Vehicles that get their funds from license fees, and the employees of the Social Security system that have a separate fund for handling disability claims.
Grave abuse of discretion
Governor Schwarzenegger believes he has the absolute authority on issuing unpaid leaves but the judge considers this particular instance as abuse of discretion. The judge reminds the governor that there are institutions that get their funding from a special fund and that the employee wages of these institutions do not come from the state budget.
Most of the representatives of the state employees affected by the forced leaves agree that the governor should start re-negotiations and stop acting one-sidedly. They feel that the court ruling in their favor is a clear message to the governor to go back to the bargaining table.
In fact, the union representatives believe that even without the unpaid leaves, a good explanation of the problems at hand may cause the employees themselves to create budget savings. Some California attorneys think that much budget savings can be realized if corruption is minimized.
The governor notes that even if he is planning to appeal the decision, since there is already an order to stay the furloughs, the order will be obeyed at least until the appeal has been ruled on. A spokesman for the governor also mentioned that he feels the Supreme Court will rule in the state’s favor.
Hopefully, the California attorneys will prevail even when the case is brought to the Supreme Court.