With speculation that University of California employees could be affected by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s statewide salary-cutting measure, UC President Mark Yudof released a statement Friday which said that the UC will make every effort to ensure employee salaries are paid at current state levels and that talk of pay cuts was premature.
As state legislators struggle to balance the $15.2 billion budget deficit, the San Diego Union-Tribune has said the governor could sign an executive order early this week, temporarily slashing the paychecks of state employees to the federal minimum wage of $6.55.
Full wages would be paid back retroactively only when a budget is signed, saving the state from approximately $100 to $400 million a month as it enters the second month of the fiscal year without an agreed budget, according to The Associated Press.
Some 200,000 state employees are slated to receive pay cuts, although the status of the approximately 20,000 UC staff remained unclear at the time of Yudof’s statement.
“The reports so far indicate a great deal of uncertainty surrounding this issue,” Yudof said. “Based on the information we have at this point, however, and our experience in prior years with similar budget situations, we will make every effort to ensure that (UC) employee salaries will continue to be paid at current levels and that all labor contracts will be honored until an agreement is reached on a state budget.”
Nicole Savickas, a UC spokesperson, said the effects on UC employees remained unclear due to restricted information and limited access to the governor’s proposed action.
“We want to clarify that the order has not been signed. We don’t know what the order would say. We don’t know what the order would call for, and we can’t speculate,” Savickas said.
Despite the uncertainty, past instances suggest that Schwarzenegger’s attempts to reduce pay may be frivolous, prompting the wait-and-see approach by UC officials.
Facing a budget crisis in 2003, former Gov. Gray Davis threatened a similar action to slash pay, which was upheld by the state Supreme Court. But then-State Controller Steve Westly, who administered the state’s payroll system, continued to pay employees in full until Aug. 2, when the budget was signed. Current State Controller John Chiang has vowed to pay in full as well.
“Forcing public servants to involuntarily loan the state cash by foregoing their hard-earned paychecks puts an untenable burden on our teachers, health care workers and those who provide critical public services,” Chiang said in a statement last week.
Lakesha Harrison, president of the American Federation for State County and Municipal Employees local 3299, which represents the 20,000 UC workers, said UC employees would likely be fine because of a legally binding contract, but she said the state should accept its fiscal responsibilities.
“The workers shouldn’t be punished for the state budget problems,” Harrison said. “They didn’t create the problem.”
Currently embroiled in labor talks with the UC, the union staged a five-day strike two weeks ago for higher wages. Union spokespeople said the recent developments would have no effect on their plans, and they said they would continue fighting for a new contract.
The proposed salary cuts are the latest in a string of issues affecting the UC system due to the budget deficit. In May, the UC regents approved a 7.4 percent student fee increase for the 2008-2009 school year to offset the approximate $200 million shortfall, in line with the decade trend of increasing fees.