SEIU files to join Chiang in Schwarzenegger fight

Local 1000 filed legal papers Thursday in California Superior Court to intervene in support of state Controller John Chiang in his legal dispute with Governor Schwarzenegger.

On Monday, the state Department of Personnel Administration (DPA), acting on behalf of Schwarzenegger, sued to force Chiang to comply with the governor’s executive order to cut the pay of about 200,000 state employees down to $6.55 an hour and terminate more than 10,000 workers. Chiang has refused to comply with the governor’s order. SEIU Local 1000, which has already sued separately to block the order, is asking the court to allow us to join the case in order to help Chiang fight the governor’s legal action.

“State workers stand to lose our income and our security. We are hurt more than anyone else by the governor’s order and we plan to join the fight alongside John Chiang,” said SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker. “The governor’s order is just a ploy in his political game with the Legislature. We maintain that the governor is violating the law for political gain and we look forward to fighting this in court.”  

In legal papers Local 1000 argues that the pay structure being imposed by DPA under the governor’s executive order violates the California Constitution’s separation of powers provisions and the equal protection clause.

In our legal filing, Local 1000 asserts the new pay structure illegally exempts some state employees while penalizing others. The California Supreme Court ruled in White v. Davis that the state must pay all state employees or it must pay none. Legally, the state cannot pay one employee but refuse to pay all employees. We believe that all state employees should receive full pay.