California state employees cut to minimum wage

Y'all really should do a bit of research on the SEIU. You'll be shocked.

And I'll say this, based on the quality of employee I see at various county and state agencies.. minimum wage is just about right.

I was shocked when i read that this had happened,to be honest i didn't realize that anyone could do that.....i know minimum wage in the town i live in doesn't even pay the rent with both people working, i can't imagine how this will effect all those folks in California where things are probably twice as high.

It is all a political ploy. Only until a budget is passed, then they get the balance.

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It was just a matter of time BEFORE that house of cards comes crashing down.
And the politics behind the scenes is 'betting' on it......that the people won't stand
by and let it happen. Whether it happens or not is moot......eventually it won't be able
to stay up by itself any longer. You get what you pay for......if you can afford it.

WG-bet this is true for most of the country.

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A POTDA, along w/this-

That's a lie!

I've BEEN to the DMV and nobody works there.

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You all are treating this as if it was a new (and permanent) thing. It happens in some form or another in every budget year in California.
It has happened in the Federal government too- I can remember two different years in the 1980's where I was not paid for work already done (accompanied by the threat of being fired if I did not continue to work for nothing- ooooo scary,) and another time where they simply paid half wages.
What happens is that as soon as the "crisis" in over (ie the political posturing) is over, the back wages get paid.
And as far as not working, there are as many lazy scammers outside as there are inside the government- just like there are good and bad waiters, car repair people, bank tellers, etc. The world has a certain level of jerks everywhere. At least twice, a tire store employee has sheared off bolts when I was getting new tires, popped the hub cap back on and left me to discover it when the tire fell off on the way home.

I believe that would fall under the category of justifiable homicide, especially if my children were in that car when the tire fell off.

Perhaps a pound of prevention would work for the tire guy (one pounf ball-pein hammer applied to the skull surface, liberally.)

The poster is right above. Unions became fat cats when there was no real competition and they could blackmail the companies into paying higher wages and benefits. Once given, a benefit is extremely difficult to take away.

Had a sister who worked for a mobilehome manufacturer in FL. For a fair number of years the company gave each employee a coupon for a free smoked turkey for Thanksgiving. In one lean year they didn't give the turkey and the union there took them to an arbritrator and were awarded the annual turkey because it have become 'a customary practice' by management.

I have to be an associate member of the Postal Workers Union because my federal retiree health benefit plan is through them. $40 a year for the privilege.

Ken, I agree with you, but just up to a point.
Most government workers are not allowed to strike. That means for the most part they come to the bargaining table with their hat in their hand.
The unions huff and puff, but the bottom line is the wages and benefits are based on the demand for the labor. I worked in a state run prison. In Michigan, at the time, you could get a job in a car factory and make $16. an hour. If the wages for a Guard was very far below that wage, the state could only attract the guys that couldn’t keep up on an assembly line. When you start filling your prisons with staff that are of below average intelligence, you have lawsuits from prisoners or you need more Guards, which is also expensive. Eventually, the State couldn’t keep up with the wages of the Big Three and the quality of staff suffered. More recently, Michigan has more workers than work, so the State has adjusted. They upped the education requirements to an Associates degree, cut retirement to a 401K, lowered wages, reduced the number of Guards or increased the number of prisoners. Right now starting pay is around $12 an hour.
Right now, state workers must retire by September or they’ll face a reduction in their retirement. That’ll get rid of the older, higher paid workers. But it also dumps a lot of experienced staff.
State wide, there are fewer state employees since 1962. Last year, state employees were given 8 unpaid days off. Didn’t have to go to work, 10% pay cut. Car payments and rent stayed the same.
State workers are an easy target.
Wages are a result of supply and demand.

The difference is that I can quit giving my money to the tire store if I don't like their service. Can I opt out of giving money to government programs I don't like? No, because the majority can force me to pay for them.

We once home schooled our kids but soon realized we had to pay taxes for public schools anyway.

I think I'm beginning to rethink my concern about a momentous crisis in this country. Instead, I think the theft of one group to another will just accelerate at times.

There is always unlimited money available for government programs as long as the Federal Reserve can create it out of thin air. The federal govt can just loan this freshly printed money to the states, as long as they comply with it's mandates. Actually, they don't even need a printing press anymore, as a computer can just add several zeroes and get trillions more - no limit whatsoever.

Then we all get to pay more for inflated prices as we've always done. Since over 90% of citizens don't understand this, it works well. A dollar in 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created is worth less than a nickel today.

Ron Paul has been fighting this system for decades, but most consider him a nutcase, including many on this site. Any politician who discusses the underlying problems goes nowhere. Voters prefer more ignorant celebrities who can promise them endless welfare or warfare.

The secret to success used to be hard work. Now it is getting as far upstream as you can in the flow of printed money.

Did ANYONE bother to read the story to the end and see this line??

The workers will get their missed wages once a budget is enacted, she said.


Its NOT PERMANENT. They get all the wages they missed when the budget is passed. And minimum wage in the meantime is better than nothing, which a lot of state people get when there is no budget passed.

Sorry to interrupt a rant here.

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No one said it was permanent and everyone knows they will get back pay. Everyone, well mostly everyone, also knows California is technically bankrupt and unless they cut much of their state employee expenses PERMANENTLY, there is no way to set their budget right. Illinois is following suit.

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Dear Math, it is time you grew up and solved your own problems.

A state, using CA as an example, is really not that much different than a family. Say you have a two-income family who wants to live the good life since the money is there. However, rather than paying cash they finance a lot of their purchases. The one of the income earners has to leave their jobs for whatever reason. Suddenly they find themselves unable to pay their committments and go deeper and deeper in debt trying to do so.

CA and IL can help to clean up their act by adding a balanced budget amendment to their state's constitution. About 2/3rds of other states have such provisions and, while they are running deficits, most seem to be manageable.

By the way, The Federal Reserve/Treasury department, cannot simply print money. Congress must approve an increase in the national debt ceiling. The Fed can then sell such notes or bonds to raise that revenue. For example, if they sold a $100,000 Treasury note, they can then print up an additional $100,000 in U.S. currency.

I don't know about Illinois but California has a balanced budget mandate in their constitution. That is what all the sniping in the legislature is about.
Believe me if it wasn't for the need for a 2/3rds vote in the legislature to pass tax increases, the Democrats would blythly pass tax increase after tax increase. As it is, the only state who has increased taxes in the last few year more than California is New York.
This is why the budget takes soooooo long past the dead line (also a mandate of the constitution -ha) is that the Republicans can block most tax increases and the Democrat refuse to cut any social programs yet can't fund them.

Oh, and DJ- yes you can change the taxes and programs if you get enough of your fellow citizens to vote with you for change. What you can't do is by a tire in the US that is not made in China.

Illinois has one as well but there's no teeth in it. Who do you arrest if the budget isn't balanced?

I stand corrected. Apparently 49 of the states have some provision for a balanced budget in their Constitution. (I haven't been able located the 50th.)

As Ernie indicated, apparently many don't have penalties for ignoring it.

Correct. They have done this in the past so everyone who works for the state expects it. That is why banks give loans to state workers until the budget is passed.