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Union Political News Report - Monday, September 14 2009
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The California legislature adjourned on September 11 with no gains for state workers. Bills affecting state employees including contract enabling legislation AB 88 and AB 964 were blocked by the GOP. Under current rules the bills never had a chance. In the final hours, Democrats introduced a bill exempting non-general fund employees from furlough requirements. But that bill - AB 1215, also failed to see the light of day.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/
AB 756 - a Democratic bill targeting outsourced private contracts was passed along party-lines in both Houses with only three crossover votes. The bill would require state agencies post to an easily accessable website the costs of private contracts for personal and consulting services. It would help clarify a major point of contention between the Unions and the governor's office over personnel service costs. The bill will be vetoed, however.
AB 181, a bill introduced by Democratic leaders on September 4 to substitute across-the-board cuts in the state bureaucracy for one furlough day, was immediately reject out of hand by the governor's office. And that was the end of that. Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger then instructed Democratic leaders to withdraw all their bills until Mr. Schwarzenegger's legislative priorities were first met. Later every Republican member in the State Senate abstained on bills requiring a two-thirds vote - a parliamentary move which witholds concurrence for a quorum. Rarely have state Democrats in the majority been so easily outmaneuvered by the GOP in the minority.
The state legislature will reconvene for general session on January 4, 2010.
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On Thursday, a San Francisco Superior Court Judge ended the furlough regime for all 7,900 state civil service employees at the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF). Judge Charlotte Walter Woodard issued the writ of mandate after considering a last minute plea by the Schwarzenegger Administration to stay order until an appellate court hears the case. The ruling, effective the beginning of the September pay period, did not include an order or instructions on pay back plus interest. SEIU 1000 issued a press release announcing it is pursuing that matter for its members. The Fund, a quasi-public agency, employs 6,250 rank-and-file members represented by SEIU 1000.
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Sacramento County officials are moving forward with a quasi-furlough plan which would lay off over 6,000 union represented county employees, and then hire them back at nine-tenths status. The controversial move - which the Unions vowed to take to court if implemented, would reduce affected county employee salaries by the equivalent of sixteen hours per month, saving the county a projected $12 million per year. Legal experts predict the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) will ultimately review the matter and determine it an unfair labor practice. A vote to authorize the plan by the County Board of Supervisors is scheduled take place on September 16.
Structural budget deficits and the threat of bankruptcy at the local level are heightening the public payroll conflict between county administrators and local public employee unions. The new dynamic will lead to closer state governmental scrutiny and involvement in municipal finance and economy, lest it all end in disincorporation.
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The City of Vallejo filed a bankruptcy petition in a effort to waive its labor contract obligations, which the city argued placed it in a structural economic bind. The petition, initially granted by a lower Bankruptcy Court, was upheld by a US Bankruptcy appellate panel on June 26. The Chapter 9 ruling allows the city to cancel it's contractual obligations with local fire and electrical worker unions. With many other California local jurisdiction facing insolvency and other financial difficulties, the bankruptcy option may become a preferred strategy to restructure contractual obligations with local unions. SB 88, a union-backed bill would have required approval of municipal bankruptcies by the California Debt and Investment Commission. The bill passed the Assembly on a party-line vote but was shelved by the State Senate. The issue will be taken up at a later date.
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