Countywide : 60 Protest Wilson Plan for Pay Cuts

About 60 employees of state agencies demonstrated in front of the Department of Motor Vehicles building in Santa Ana Thursday in protest of Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposals to cut their pay and benefits.

The employees, carrying a variety of picket signs outside the office at 1330 E. 1st St., marched at 1st Street and Grand Avenue chanting, “No Pay Cuts!” and “Hey! Hey! We need our pay!”

The boisterous group was buoyed by dozens of passing motorists, many of whom honked their horns in support. A postal worker who was stopped at a red light stuck his head out of the window of his truck and joined in the chants.

“From the support we’ve gotten today from strangers, it’s obvious that the anger we’re expressing isn’t limited to state employees,” said Helen Leon, a labor relations representative for the California State Employees Assn., which represents 2,200 of the 5,000 state employees who work in Orange County.

Leon said employees face a 5% pay cut, a reduction in medical benefits and two unpaid furlough days a month, which would reduce monthly paychecks by 16%.

“I feel like I’ve been shortchanged, robbed,” said Robert Sammartino, 32, who began working for the DMV about six months ago. “I left a job in the private sector because I thought it was time to get into a safe, secure and stable job. . . . We deserve more than this.”

Fontana resident Sue Bruce, a DMV employee for two years, marched on the sidewalk carrying a “Recall Wilson” sign. “I think we should do it,” said Bruce, 39. “I think what the governor is proposing is highway robbery.”

Gary Arabian, 62, has worked in the state employment office in Santa Ana for 15 years. He said Wilson’s proposals are the “most unfair I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s my wages and benefits that he’s taking away from me,” Arabian said. “It’s the people on top against the working class. This governor has removed himself from the people.”

The employees, who have been working without a contract since Wednesday, plan to hold weekly protests until they reach a settlement with the state, Leon said.