Local unions are up in arms after Sacramento County announced plans to layoff county employees, reclassify their jobs as part-time, and rehire them as part of efforts to save $4.6 million on the county's budget. Unions are protesting the plan as a "backdoor furlough" that violates terms of the county's contract with union workers and is therefore illegal. The county proposed the layoffs to fight an expected $68 million general fund shortfall after tax revenues fell short of recent goals. Local unions in the county are expected to file a grievance soon.
See "Unions attack Sacramento County plan to impose layoffs", Robert Lewis, The Sacramento Bee, September 9, 2009