We have been asked by a member to post this furlough information on the blog so it is up front rather than on the less-accessible furlough page. We're happy to comply: After getting some good news from DPA recently -- that excluded employees may take their furlough time in one-hour increments -- the news from our April 7 DPA meet and confer kind of burst our bubble: Contrary to what we had previously been made to understand, excluded employees are not eligible to replace the two holidays the governor cut with floating holidays (which SEIU has negotiated).

 The holiday takeaways -- Lincoln's birthday and Columbus Day -- are written into the budget bill and cannot be changed except through bargaining or a law change, we were told. Excluded employees can have their furlough reduced and per diem increased -- but only if the bargaining units they're tied to negotiate those provisions. For example, if SIEU's contract is ratified, excluded employees tied to SEIU's bargaining units will get the one-day furlough and the per diem increase but will not get the two holidays or lower health care premiums that SEIU members get. The SEIU contract may be in jeopardy in the Legislature, and no other bargaining units have ratified new contracts.