Furlough plans for UC employees intact despite last week’s court ruling
By Neil Paik
Jan. 5, 2010 9:41 p.m.
Last week’s decision by an Alameda County Superior Court judge declaring the governor’s use of furloughs illegal is not expected to impact employees of the University of California.
Judge Frank Roesch ruled on Thursday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had overstepped his boundaries by furloughing thousands of state workers under the Emergency Services Act.
A spokesman for the governor said he will appeal the court decision.
Peter King, spokesman for the UC Office of the President, said he does not believe that the lower court ruling will affect the university.
“Our analysis is that this case doesn’t affect us because this is a lower court judge,” he said.
“(The case) doesn’t have us rethinking it (furloughs) in any way, shape or form.”
Currently, the Office of the President is less concerned with the court decision and more concerned with reaching agreements with both union and non-union workers in the UC system.
According to King, about 70,000 of the UC’s 180,000 employees are represented by unions.
Non-union workers have been automatically subjected to the furlough program.
Currently, the Office of the President is working to incorporate employees who are union members into the furlough program.
“Several of the unions we’ve reached agreements with, and they’ve come up with ways to participate,” King said.
“If you don’t want to negotiate your way into the furlough program, you’re looking at temporary layoffs.”
Although King said he does not believe the court ruling will eliminate UC furloughs, he does see progress in sight.
“We are hearing voices more and more from millions of people,” he said.
“The improvement is that I think that people are beginning to wrap their heads around the idea that this long standing pattern of cutting back on education didn’t start with fiscal crisis.”
Until the crisis is averted, King said that the furlough program will continue.
“We are trying to spread the pain of this fiscal crisis all throughout the community,” he said.
