These policy statements reflect the analysis and direction of the California Labor Federation as we change the way California works. Index and summaries.
Public employees are the largest group of union members in the state.
Public employees have come under attack for well over a decade. During recessionary times, popular frustration with regressive taxes and a declining standard of living led to opposition to government services and attacks on the jobs, pay, legal rights and dignity of public employees, while the real inequities in the tax system were ignored. Balancing government budgets on the backs of public employees became a way of life. Public employees were not responsible for the deficits, and their pay and benefits should not be legitimate targets for the budget-cutting axe. The economy is now booming, revenues to most public agencies have increased considerably, but public employee salaries have, in most cases, not recovered and often lag behind their counterparts in the private sector.