Unions fight to keep lawmakers’ pay

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Democrats in the Legislature have spent the last few years fighting to save the pay of members of public employee unions. Now, two of those unions are returning the favor. The Professional Engineers in California Government and the California Assn. of Professional Scientists are speaking out against a proposed 10% salary reduction for lawmakers, calling the proposal unreasonable just months after lawmakers’ compensation was slashed 18%.

The two unions both represent state employees whose salaries have been reduced by 14% through mandatory furloughs.

‘While the appropriateness of those reductions is debatable, an additional 10% cut at this time is simply unreasonable and unnecessarily punitive,’ wrote Shabbir Ahmed, president of the engineers group. ‘It smacks of piling on.’

He said state elected officials do not have an easy job.

‘An additional pay cut will ... leave only the independently wealthy with the means to serve,’ Ahmed wrote.

The panel that controls state salaries meets April 22 to consider the additional 10% pay cut.

--Patrick McGreevy