The State - News from July 5, 1987

The 80,000-member California State Employees Assn. filed suit in a state appeals court to block cuts in the Cal/OSHA job-safety program ordered by Gov. George Deukmejian. Hours after the suit was filed, the court rejected the union’s request for an immediate halt to the $8 million in cuts and the layoffs of about 380 employees, but ordered the Deukmejian Administration to “file opposition papers” defending its position, a spokeswoman for the 3rd District Court of Appeal said. A hearing has not yet been scheduled. Cal/OSHA monitored the job safety of about 14 million workers at 600,000 sites throughout California until last week, when jurisdiction was assumed by the federal OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The suit is one of several filed by various employee groups against the Cal/OSHA cut in the governor’s 1987-88 budget plan. Deukmejian contends that the state’s work places are over-regulated, but his cuts are opposed by virtually every major union in the state, and some employers’ groups--such as the Associated General Contractors--who believe that the federal program is not as good as California’s.