The Reality of Fuloughs
Instead, Ms. Roberson has found herself working as hard as ever on most Fridays, and every other day of the week. Further, she has come to resent the very idea of a furlough more and more with each paycheck, every one 10 percent less than it used to be, as mandated by California’s budget cutters.So far, we have received no sense that furloughs are on the table for AAUP's membership. They don't work particularly well for salaried employees. And to his credit, when asked about this in may, Wim Wiewel didn't soft-pedal the impact. Cutting budgets means cutting salaries, he explained to a questioner, and whether we're talking about FTE reductions or furloughs, "what it means practically is that you'll have less money in your pocket." (That's the quote as I wrote it in my notes.)And she has taken off only about half of the time to which she is entitled.
“Sometimes it’s just too busy at work,” said Ms. Roberson, whose pay was cut in February as part of the state’s effort to close a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. “You start to feel guilty.”
But for our brothers and sisters in SEIU who will probably be taking furloughs, it's important to recognize what a bad compromise they are.
It's one thing to ask workers to take furlough days even while expecting them to accomplish the same amount of work. It's quite another thing when the expectation is that you won't even be allowed to take those days--or worse, that those who do will be punished down the line.Some people take the time off but feel bad about doing so, out of loyalty to bosses and colleagues left to carry the workload. Others work quietly — and sometimes openly — through furloughs, because they fear for the long-term safety of their positions and hope their self-sacrifice impresses the management.
And some say the message from the management is unclear, leaving employees wondering: Is this real time off?
“I think it’s a joke,” said Roland Becht, who works at the California Department of Motor Vehicles in San Diego. (More than 200,000 state employees are supposed to have two furlough days each month.) “I’ve tried to schedule furlough time and was denied because we’re short-staffed.”
Labels: furloughs
posted by Jeff Alworth at
11:07 AM
5 Comments:
Compromise means you get something and I get something. If the administration wants lower salaries they have to give up something. There has to be a cost to them.
Please stop advocating for the administration.
James, I don't see how you could possibly get advocacy for the administration from my comments. SEIU has already offered to take furloughs--a position ultimately rejected by the governor--which looks like the standard Merriam-Webster definition of "compromise." And in any case, the post points out why furloughs are bad.
With a pay cut, they lose nothing. With a furlough -- a real furlough, meaning we close the school on the second Monday one month and the second Tuesday the next; Meaning we hold no classes, open no buildings, schedule no office support, turn off the heating and cooling systems.
With that kind of furlough the administration gets the reduction in salary that it wants. There can be no pressure to come in and work since there is no place to work.
There is also a reduction in the service provided, a reduction in the perceived value to the students, and a public symbol of the trouble our University faces.
That is a furlough. What was described before was a choice between a cut in pay and a disguised cut in pay. In either of those cases there is no cost to the university.
James, I don't think the university was ever advocating the closed-day furloughs you describe. Some proposals included mostly closing the university on some weeks (like Christmas through New Year's), but these were not offered as a piece of the furlough discussion.
In fact, not only has the university not argued for furloughs, they can't ask for furloughs except as a function of bargaining.
The university will receive less dollars from the state in the coming year. Final numbers are not out, but it's going to be in the neighborhood of $28 million. The university has been clear in their intention that part of that money will be recouped through some version of a pay cut to all staff, including AAUP members. Whether and how those cuts will happen is a matter for the bargaining team to negotiate.
What's your preference?
When k-12 has a furlough day it is a day cut from school. The buildings are closed, the students don't show up and the faculty don't show up.
I understand it is a function of bargaining. We can make offers too. Have we offered closed school furloughs?
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