Work Furloughs

A University of California Regents panel approved an emergency plan Wednesday for most faculty and staff to take 11 to 26 unpaid furlough days next school year to offset deep cuts in state funding. But the furlough proposal, which was endorsed despite protests by labor unions, would be only part of a broad retrenchment across the 10-campus UC system, officials said.

More than 2,000 UCLA employees, including researchers, custodians, nurses and secretaries, gathered at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday to protest plans for pay cuts and furloughs proposed by the University of California. Because of the state budget crisis, UC leaders are considering three proposals to reduce payroll spending by about $195 million in the next school year.

The notion that the only safe job in a recession is a state Civil Service job was punctured this week when a Sacramento court gave the governor the authority to take an ax to the government payroll. Thursday's Superior Court ruling, which greenlighted Gov.

Thousands of state workers stayed home without pay Friday, closing Department of Motor Vehicles offices but allowing some agencies to function on Day One of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's mandatory furlough program. "I studied a lot for this test," said a disappointed Anthony Martinez, 17, of Los Angeles, who skipped classes at Belmont High School to take the written test for a driver's learning permit, only to find out the DMV office near USC was closed.

As California and the rest of the nation stagger from massive layoffs and soaring unemployment, companies in Taiwan have largely opted to cut pay and work hours to deal with the economic crisis. Here in Hsinchu Science Park, modeled after California's Silicon Valley, about 100,000 of its 130,000 workers are taking up to 10 days of unpaid leave a month. Part of the reason is pressure from Taiwan's government, they say.

A judge ruled Thursday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has the power to order the 15,600 employees of other elected statewide officials to take furlough days as part of a budget-cutting measure. State Controller John Chiang, who had doubted the governor's authority and asked the court to decide, said he would appeal the ruling.

General Motors workers Mike and Ghada Srour have started playing a new game with their 6-year-old son: counting down the days until their factory's long furlough will finally be over. On Friday, their son, Hadi, counted to 74. "We don't want to complain, because these are good jobs," said Ghada, 34. "But what do you do with all that time? What do you do when your paycheck is cut for that long?"

With Los Angeles facing a $529-million budget deficit, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday urged the City Council to declare a fiscal emergency that would grant him the authority to lay off and furlough thousands of city workers.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday got down to the grim business of slashing spending to make up for an expected $530-million budget shortfall, starting with a possible police hiring freeze, mass layoffs and mandatory unpaid furloughs for city workers.

Saying Los Angeles' financial troubles are grave and expected to grow far worse in the years ahead, the City Council on Monday approved widespread layoffs and furloughs for city workers but set aside enough money to back away from a proposal to freeze police hiring. The severity of the cuts remains in flux, however, as city officials and public employee unions continue to negotiate possible salary and benefit concessions that could save the city more than $230 million.