California: Budget crisis hits state employees with layoffs, unpaid furloughs

The governor, however, chose to exercise quasi-dictatorial authority in enacting punitive measures when the terms of the legislature's proposal did not match his own.

Last Friday, Schwarzenegger issued an executive order which asked for state agencies to cut payrolls by 10 percent, while forcing over 238,000 state workers to take two-day unpaid furloughs each month. State employee unions have pointed out that this would translate into a 9 percent pay cut. The order also freezes all new hiring at the state level.

The California budget crisis of fiscal year 2008-2009 is turning into a major source of rising joblessness in the state. In addition to the state employee layoffs and furloughs mentioned above, 200,000 workers are now projected to lose their jobs as a result of the halting of funds to state infrastructure projects, while 22,000 part-time employees already lost their jobs last August due to a previous executive order.

California is also experiencing a drastic rise in unemployment across virtually every other sector of the economy. The state's unemployment rate jumped from 8.2 percent to 8.4 percent between October and November, with the rate projected to increase even further in the coming months.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/cali-d27.shtml