State Workers Union Raises Strike Threat

Leaders of the largest state employees union, turning up the pressure on Gov. Gray Davis to grant pay raises, has voted to authorize a strike, union officials said Monday.

A strike by the 82,000-member California State Employees Assn. could affect such agencies as the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Employment Development Department, and even Hearst Castle, where union members help guide tours.

Ron Landingham, deputy director of bargaining for the union, did not specify when workers might strike. But he said meetings next week with the Davis administration will help determine that.

“We hope to have a response from the administration. If not, then we will do what we have to do,” Landingham said. “People are at the end of their rope.”

The union leadership voted Saturday to authorize a strike. It was the first time any state employee bargaining unit has taken such a step since all of the units’ contracts expired in 1995.

“The governor isn’t going to negotiate this issue in the press,” said Davis spokesman Michael Bustamante. “I can assure you, he believes that this is not a wise strategy for CSEA to pursue.”

“This isn’t posturing,” Landingham said.

Meanwhile, the union representing state attorneys plans Wednesday to protest its members’ lack of raises by delivering letters to and demonstrating at Davis’ offices offices around the state.

“The degree of impatience and outrage is palpable,” said Chris Voight, who represents the state lawyers. “People are really upset.”

Davis angered state workers with an initial offer in the budget he proposed earlier this month that would give them a raise of less than 1% this year and 2% in the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Davis said he hopes to give more, but state tax revenues have fallen below expectations. He said he plans to offer more money in May if more is available after state income taxes are collected.

Landingham said the California State Employees Assn. is seeking a 9% raise this year. An across-the-board 9% pay hike for the approximately 120,000 state workers who have no contract would cost the state about $540 million a year, union officials estimate.

Former Gov. Pete Wilson refused to grant pay raises to most state workers unless they agreed to a variety of changes in the Civil Service system. Most unions refused such concessions.

Nevertheless, Wilson reached agreements on a pay hike that could reach 12% for the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., which represents prison workers, and a 7% raise for the California Highway Patrol officers union.

Landingham said state workers are especially angry with Davis, given that unions donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign and worked for his election.

“Davis was running a distant third in the primary when labor bailed him out. People put a lot of faith in him,” Landingham said.

The union represents large numbers of clerks, workers who process state payrolls, budget analysts and financial officers.