Union members authorize walkout.

Fed up with furlough Fridays (three each month) and a budget deal that includes pay cuts, state workers have authorized their union leaders to call a strike unless the lawmakers ratify a contract that SEUI Local 1000 negotiated with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in February. The union, which represents 95,000 state employees, said 74 percent the ballots cast authorized the local to call job actions up to and including a walkout. “This is about our contract," SEIU President Yvonne Walker said on the union’s website. "We wouldn't be in this situation if the governor had lived up to his word and supported the contract that he agreed to, which would save the state $340 million."