There are hundreds of union members employed in Los Angeles County's court system, working as clerical staff and in numerous other support roles.
Due to California's budget "crisis," these employees were forced to begin taking a day off without pay each month. Judges were called upon to match this sacrifice and, with their much loftier salaries, one would think they'd be glad to.
However, there's a law saying that judges' salaries may not be reduced involuntarily. And none would waive a portion of their salaries voluntarily ... until just a couple of months ago.
LA County judges tricked local press into reporting that they had "agreed to voluntarily cut their own pay, in a show of solidarity with court employees who are facing furloughs."
Why is this a trick? Because in the interim, the judges and county supervisors struck an under-the-table deal that gave judges raises ... of about $11,000 per year! Doing the math revealed that, even subtracting for the cut in pay, judges are now making even more than they were before. And it cost the County nothing in that the raises were given out with the one hand, then taken back with the other.
And what of the union staff that makes running a courthouse possible? They've been denied raises for years, and are now being forced to suffer a cut indefinitely. Meanwhile, they've been led to believe that the judges are in it with them when that could not be further from the truth.
So what's a little team of medical misfits to do, now that they've figured this out?
(Learn the background here of a stunning tale of corruption, of which the above is just the tip of the iceberg.)