Schwarzenegger orders mass layoffs

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he ordered mass layoffs and unpaid furloughs for state workers to help deal with a worsening fiscal crisis.

Schwarzenegger's executive order Friday calls for 238,000 state employees to be forced to take off two unpaid days per month through June 2010, while managers will receive either the furlough or an equivalent salary reduction, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Union leaders for state employees vowed to challenge the legality of the mandatory time off, which amounts to about a 9 percent pay cut. State officials told the newspaper that was unclear how many people would lose their jobs, but that each department would have to cut its payroll by 10 percent. The officials said tens of thousands of state employees in the bottom 20 percent of seniority will receive "surplus" notices within the next month, but not all who receive them will be laid off.

State Controller John Chiang told reporters he wouldn't comment on the viability of carrying out Schwarzenegger's new order, saying he had not seen the administration's implementation plan.

Schwarzenegger said he would veto an $18 billion budget sent to him by state lawmakers, saying he would call the Legislature back into session so they could come up with a better solution to the fiscal crisis.