The State - News from May 29, 1985

Dissatisfied with the Deukmejian Administration’s reaction to its demand for a 15% pay raise, a state employees’ group said it has reached an impasse in contract negotiations with the state. Unit 1 of the California State Employees’ Assn. representing 23,000 administrative and financial workers submitted a formal request to the state Public Employment Relations Board seeking to have a mediator resolve the dispute. “In short, simple terms, we have bargained to impasse for the first time in the history . . . “ of the CSEA “ . . . for the first time in the history of the state Employee Relations Act,” declared Marilyn Ferrasci, bargaining chairwoman for the unit. “The state has shown a bizarre reluctance to even respond to our proposals,” she told a Sacramento news conference. The governor has proposed a 6.5% pay-and-benefit increase package in the new budget year beginning July 1. The Senate has approved an 8.5% hike and the Assembly has recommended 7.5%.