INQUIRER Global Nation

CALIFORNIA, United States ? Chris Batanga now has three extra days off from work every month, but he dreads taking them because he loses pay on those days. He is among the thousands of California state employees deeply concerned about the furloughs they are mandated to take, in order to help appease the state?s historical budget deficit of more than $26 billion.

?The three days off from work every month are equivalent to a 15 percent pay cut, and we?re hearing there will be another five percent cut in August or September?that?s 20 percent,? rued Batanga, who works for California?s Department of Social Services. ?A lot of us here are thinking of retiring early or finding other jobs with private companies or the federal government.?

The Filipino now worries about being able to support his family with a potential paycheck 20 percent leaner, especially at this time that his daughter is preparing to go to college in the fall.
Bay Area resident Resty Capulong, who has been with the Department of Motor Vehicles since 1995, was more precise in her translation of the three-Friday-a-month operations shutdown.

?On average, that?s a loss of $300 a month for most DMV employees,? claimed the DMV-Hayward Filipina employee. ?And that?s my family?s grocery money or utility bill payments. I cannot figure out how to make up for that amount because I simply can?t.?

In many ways, the DMV best showcases the stinging effects, not only of the furlough program, but of the state?s budget crunch as a whole.

?The public doesn?t like it because the crowds are bigger, the lines are longer Mondays through Thursdays, and people who didn?t know about the furloughs get upset when they get to DMV and find it closed,? one DMV employee in the Los Angeles area, who requested anonymity, observed.

Many people perhaps do not realize that when they call the DMV to ask questions or arrange appointments, their calls actually are patched to one of several Telephone Service Centers, or TSC, throughout the state. But within the last few months, TSCs in Southern California were phased out, and the services have since been condensed into only one center?in Riverside?to cover the entire region. Speed and efficiency of service are thus compromised.

?I feel bad they closed TSC because we were all together for all those years as a cohesive team serving the public, and then we all split up,? said Juanito J., a former worker who retired from the DMV last fall.

J. had originally planned to retire this month, July 2009, but did so nine months prematurely because he hoped to avoid the onslaught of the debilitating cuts in working hours and pay.

He said: ?I knew this was coming before I retired. If I didn?t go, I would be dead-worried about making my mortgage, paying for my car, and basically making ends meet.?

Not surprisingly, the furloughs are exacting a heavy toll on frontline operations at DMV offices, as well as on employee morale.

Capulong explains: ?The furloughs are creating huge backlogs, and the only way for us to reduce or catch up with that is to do overtime work. But the rule says we can only get paid for overtime after doing the regular 40 hours. How tricky is that??

Through their union, the Service Employees International Union or SEIU, Capulong said, DMV employees are suggesting that their offices closes to the public at 3:30 to give them an hour-and-a-half, or until 5:00, for paperwork and elimination of backlogs.

?As it is right now,? she added, ?we close the door at 5, but the people who are already inside by that time will have to be serviced just the same. That?s the law. So many of us stay and work an extra 15 to 30 minutes without pay.?

The drawback on operations is less severe in other state offices. Still, furloughs don?t do much in maintaining, let alone improving, the quality of service to the public, even if offices stay open Monday through Friday.

Not everyone in a state senator?s staff, for instance, is required to go on furlough; those receiving an annual salary of less than $50,000 are exempt.

?But at the district level, we do a lot of constituent-based work, and if somebody needs assistance and the right person is on furlough, it is difficult for just anyone to talk to the person and try to be of help,? said Melissa Apuya, Filipino community liaison of Senator Leland Yee. ?Still, we do our best to serve and please our constituents despite the limitations.?

It?s the same positive mindset and attitude that keeps Miles Obosa, a recent client at DMV-Daly City, hopeful about the adverse economic situation and the ?new order? in the way people work and live in California.

?We are all in this together?Let?s just hope for the best, and that the recession will end soon,? he remarked.

Similarly, Capulong sees a silver lining. ?The furloughs help the public understand the kind of economic problems we Californians must learn to survive?and survive well,? she said.