No wage cuts during budget crisis
- July 24, 2008
Faculty and staff members in the California State University system will not see their wages slashed while waiting for legislators to hammer out a state budget agreement, according to the CSU chancellor's office.
In response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's July 24 request for state agencies to help protect the state's cash reserves by temporarily cutting the pay of state workers to $6.55 per hour, the federal minimum wage, the CSU is taking an alternative approach.
"We are working to ensure that CSU employees will receive their regular paychecks and can expect their normal compensation until a new budget is signed," CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said.
"At the same time, we are looking at paying compensation with alternative revenue sources other than the state general fund in an effort to cooperate with the governor and the legislature in this challenging budget environment."
The governor announced plans to reduce the wages of about 200,000 state workers until a budget is signed in an effort to avert a cash crisis. The budget deadline was July 1, and without a signed budget soon the state has indicated it may run out of cash and be unable to borrow the billions of dollars needed to meet the state's financial commitments.
While CSU is not under direct executive authority and subject to the requirement, Gov. Schwarzenegger has requested that the CSU and many other state institutions and employees assist in the effort.
The governor has also called for a hiring freeze of all non-critical functions, a request the CSU will observe in some areas of operation.
"We are going to be prudent in our hiring, but the CSU needs to be prepared to serve the record number of students that will be enrolling on campuses for the fall semester beginning in August," Reed said. "To be responsive, the CSU will need to hire faculty and staff to help meet the needs of those students."
During the budget impasse, the governor has also issued similar requests for assistance in preserving the state's cash supply to the University of California, California Community Colleges, the California Public Utilities Commission, constitutional officers, and legislative and judicial branches.
