On Dec. 31, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled against the furlough program implemented by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in February.
The furloughs were mandatory and forced most state workers to take three unpaid days per month so the state could “balance the budget.”
The judge ruled that Schwarzenegger overstepped his bounds and abused his “discretion” when ordering the furloughs. Roesch wrote, “The Executive Orders … recognize that the emergency necessitating them was the failure of the Legislature to pass the budgets, though the reach of the orders extended long after those budgets were subsequently passed and signed into law.”
Roesch’s ruling does not address the real problem: the state is punishing the working class for the failings of the capitalist system. The ruling—if it stands and back pay is ordered—provides welcome relief for nearly 200,000 state employees. But, the root of the problem is not a governor overstepping his bounds—it’s a government that puts profit over people.
