Strike Threat Looms as Key Test for Davis

Gov. Gray Davis is facing a defining moment in his nascent tenure, as the powerful labor unions he has long championed threaten to strike if he does not find more money for their depressed salaries.

Davis associates privately compare the showdown to the one that led former President Ronald Reagan to dismiss the nation’s air traffic controllers in 1981--a decision that framed the Republican newcomer as a no-nonsense leader.

“For some people, this is going to be a rude awakening,” one Democrat said. “This will define him to some extent as a fiscal conservative. And that is who he really is. He is a really serious bean counter.”

The stakes go far beyond state workers because many groups are watching the labor protest closely and have their own high expectations of the first Democratic governor in 16 years. And state workers make a strong case for attention--particularly from Davis.

Most have not had a raise for more than four years because the unions could not reach agreement with former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. And most channeled their frustration into Davis’ campaign last year, viewing his election as their best hope for better conditions.

State workers contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Davis’ campaign and devoted weekends and evenings to an unprecedented grass-roots effort to solicit votes door to door, staff phone banks and lick campaign envelopes.

The ironic result is this: Wilson--longtime union nemesis--caused the workers’ outrage, but it is Davis who may suffer more.

“The problem is that they are new in office and they don’t have the same perception we do,” said Cathy Hackett, deputy division director for the California State Employees Assn.

“They are expecting patience from people who have waited for four years,” she said. “The average state worker participated more in this campaign than they ever have before . . . and that’s the fundamental issue. We need a raise, [and] we worked for you.”

Davis acknowledged during the campaign and in his first days as governor that a raise for state workers was overdue. But with forecasters saying that the state budget could be facing a $2-billion shortfall next year, Davis opted to be fiscally prudent.

The budget proposal he released this month included money for only a 1% raise this year and another 2% next year.

The state employees association countered this week with a demand for a 6% raise retroactive to July, another 6% raise effective last month and another raise to be negotiated that would be effective next July. The union, representing about 82,000 workers, coupled its demand with a strike authorization vote last weekend.

On Wednesday, the same issue drove state prosecutors to take their complaint public.

Hundreds of lawyers from the state attorney general’s office joined the association’s workers in a pair of lunch hour protests at the governor’s offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento. The groups presented Davis with petitions and more than 400 angry letters.

“Our candidate, Gray Davis, seems to have forgotten how he got to the governor’s mansion,” the letters said.

The public spectacle is expected to increase next week when employee groups say they plan more picketing. All of this could eventually lead to strikes.

Davis associates said privately that the protest is unfortunate and complicates matters for the new governor--particularly if it leads to a shutdown of functions such as Department of Motor Vehicles offices or state parks.

But they also insisted that the governor will maintain his fiscal prudence, solidifying his profile as a political moderate.

“It is going to hurt the employees more than it is going to hurt Gray in terms of public perception,” one Democrat said.

The Davis supporter added that whatever the resolution of the labor issue, it is certain to set a precedent.

Davis’ proposed budget does not include as much money for schools as many education advocates had expected, for example. A divided California Teachers Assn.--another powerful Davis ally--last weekend voted to remain neutral on the education reform plan the governor has submitted to the Legislature.

In addition, environmental groups have a list of financial needs; farmers want a costly solution to the problem of state water supply; and there is a road construction backlog.

Labor groups are testing the route to Davis’ attention.