DMV workers protest state budget cuts

On Saturday, Aug. 16, more than 1,000 Department of Motor Vehicle Employees held demonstrations at a dozen DMV offices in California to protest their hours and salaries being cut. The actions were organized by the union representing the workers, the Service Employees International Union.

DMV workers picket in Fresno, Calif., Aug. 16.

As part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reactionary proposal to solve California’s ongoing “budget crisis,” Saturday hours have been discontinued in DMV offices throughout the state. This is in addition to Schwarzenegger’s effort to boot 10,000 public employees from the state payroll and slash 200,000 employees’ wages to $6.55 an hour, the federal minimum wage. Limitations on overtime pay for full-time state employees have also been implemented by the governor.

Instead of taxing the rich and the windfall profits of Big Oil to end the budget impasse, the governor has declared war on the working class of California. State workers have their livelihoods put in jeopardy by the state’s actions, while oppressive, anti-worker institutions such as prisons and police continue to be fully funded.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is forging ahead with his plan to increase the size of the LAPD by 1,000 officers, even though the city faces a $400 million shortfall this fiscal year. The cost of the police expansion will account for one-fifth of the city’s budget shortfall, while services for parks and libraries will be cut. The city of Los Angeles spends over half of its budget on funding the LAPD, and the U.S. government spends more on the military than the rest of the world combined.

The Aug. 16 protests were not the first undertaken by DMV employees. The day before, angry workers staged a sickout that shut down at least two offices in Los Angeles County. More than 200 DMV employees took part in that action. What made the “sickout” particularly remarkable was the fact that SEIU did not formally organize and sanction the action. Workers themselves took the initiative to call in sick, which caused disruptions in various DMV offices throughout Southern California. Even DMV locations in the conservative Orange County communities of Irvine and Costa Mesa were affected, where a higher number of employees called in sick than usual. SEIU also organized protests on Aug. 4, in which DMV workers protested at DMV locations in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego.

Under capitalism, local and federal government officials prioritize the interests of the wealthy at the expense of the interests of working people. There is no shortage of funds to pay the wages of DMV workers and other public employees, but the rich would much rather see public funds spent to their own benefit. Many more labor actions are needed to show that workers will not give in to these criminal policies without a fight.