Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to reduce state worker pay by 10 percent as part of a cost-saving plan for state government, according to SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker.

Walker, the president of the state’s largest public employee union, announced the news in a video on the union’s Facebook page Wednesday night. She said she had received a call from the Governor’s Office earlier in the day.

She told members that without bargaining, the reduction would mean two furlough days per month.

“That is a possibility but it doesn’t have to be,” Walker said of the furlough days. “Because clearly we have a choice in this matter.”

Newsom’s Finance Department has projected a deficit of $54 billion, a figure that combines estimated losses for the present fiscal year and the year starting July 1. He’s expected to release his proposal to close that gap at a press conference today.

The department has been preparing revisions to a January budget that, before the coronavirus arrived, had anticipated $222 billion in spending with a $5.6 billion surplus.

California state departments paid $18.3 billion in wages in 2018, according to the State Controller’s Office.

Local 1000 represents about 100,000 state workers including nurses, custodians, IT workers and a range of office staff. The union negotiated a new contract with Newsom’s administration last year that included a seven percent raise over three years, along with a new health insurance stipend worth about $3,100 per year. The raises were set to kick in July 1.

In other states, including Pennsylvania, New York and Hawaii, elected leaders leaders have also canceled raises. Many California state workers are scheduled to receive raises in July.

Reductions to state workers’ pay will require approval from the Legislature, and furlough agreements traditionally have been reached with state unions through bargaining. The exception was former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s unilateral order to furlough state workers in 2009, which the state Supreme Court later rebuked. The court did not halt the furloughs and state workers experienced pay reductions through July 2013.

“We can figure out the equivalent of what that 10 percent represents and try to negotiate something that, yeah there might be a little pain involved, but it won’t be those two furlough days and how we think about it,” Walker said in her video.

This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 7:31 AM with the headline "California state workers face 10 percent pay cut, possible furloughs, union leader says."