OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - California's powerful prison guards' union sued Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, claiming that after cutting their pay by 10% and ordering state workers to take two days of unpaid leave per month, to address the state's enormous budget deficit, the state refused to let the guards take the days off, citing understaffing in the prisons. This unfair act rendered "the purported quid pro quo for their pay reduction wholly illusory," the California Correctional Peace Officers Association claims in Alameda County Court.
Schwarzenegger's forced furlough plan, with pay reduction, is slated to operate from Feb. 1 this year through June 30, 2010, according to the complaint.
The prison guards are represented by Jonathan Yank with Carroll, Burdick & McDonough of San Francisco.
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