TIJUANA – After negotiations collapsed between Baja California's government and an employees' union, an estimated 5,000 state administrative workers, a little more 3,000 of them in Tijuana, walked off their jobs Thursday.

The workers, known as "burócratas" in Mexico, are demanding an 8.2 percent increase in their base salary.

Baja California's chief of staff, Francisco Antonio García, issued a statement Wednesday calling the employees' demand excessive because it would affect the state's finances as well as those of the five municipalities.

Meanwhile, the union's leader, Ricardo Medina, said that the raise was at the same level requested last year and that the funds were already budgeted for this year.

The state's offer, as of Wednesday, was a 4.8 percent raise in base pay.

"We're interested in maintaining and improving our employees' purchasing power, however, the salary increase must be supported by the state's finances and be responsible in not affecting social programs, investment in infrastructure for development

and services for all residents," García's statement said.

He explained that the state had extraordinary expenses in 2010 and this year to help people affected by the massive earthquake in Mexicali and severe rains on the coast, as well as new programs launched in the 2011 budget.

The state government has destined about $107 million for these programs, and it's expecting a cut in funds it receives from the federal government, so it's projecting that it will not have the funds budgeted for this year, García said.

State administrative employees serve the community in a wide range of state offices in health, security and education matters as well as process business and construction licenses.

On Thursday, they gathered at state government offices across Baja California, where they said they would remain until the end of their workday, at 3 p.m.

Medina, the union leader, said that if the state government did not meet its demand, the workers would continue the strike on Friday.

According to Tijuana officials, the strike will not affect services in the city because management employees are filling in. In fact, the managers are prepared to extend office hours if needed.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com