Pa. has reopened for business

"If I miss a paycheck, it will be a financial crisis," Jennings said from the stand Monday at a Commonwealth Court hearing.

Jennings was a witness called by the state's largest workers' unions, which have asked a judge to end the furloughs on the ground that the administration committed unfair labor practices.

"Our members are taking the brunt of this political haggling," testified David Fillman, the director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 13, which represents about 15,500 of the furloughed state workers.

The unions were not challenging the right of the administration to furlough workers, but its classification of some workers as "critical" and others as "noncritical."

About 52,000 workers deemed critical remained on the job with pay during the one-day furlough.

Rendell lawyer Frank Fisher said those classifications are solely the purview of the administration, and were based on whether workers performed duties critical to the public health and safety as defined by state courts.