California state workers begin 1-day strike over return-to-office mandate, pay and healthcare
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California state workers began a one-day strike Wednesday, urging Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration to agree to a new contract that increases workers' pay, ensures affordable healthcare access and allows more flexibility for remote work.
SEIU Local 1000, the largest union for California government workers — representing more than 100,000 employees, including auditors, nurses and counselors — hit the picket lines in cities across the state for the first time since the union's founding in 2004. Members overwhelmingly voted to authorize the strike earlier this month, accusing the state of failing to bargain in good faith after their contract expired in June.
Irene Green, who’s worked with the state’s Employment Development Department for 17 years, said workers were picketing because the state refused to compromise with union leaders on raising salaries, among other issues.
“Seventeen years with the state, I feel disrespected,” said Green, who leads a labor council for the union. “I’ve given up a lot of my time, a lot of my pay in order to help the state out, time and time again.”
Green was among dozens of members picketing outside the secretary of state building in Sacramento on Wednesday afternoon. Most of them wore purple union shirts and many held signs. One read: “Noted. NO raise and RTO with these gas prices??? The math is not mathing,” using an acronym to refer to a return-to-office mandate ordered by Newsom.
The order required state workers to return to the office four days a week by July 1. Newsom, who's preparing to leave office in January and eyeing a 2028 presidential run, argued that the mandate would improve workplace collaboration and innovation, which will help government better serve the public. He vetoed a bill backed by the union last month that would have required state agencies to provide a written justification for making workers report to the office.
The California Department of Human Resources said it was coordinating with the union and with state departments, which have contingency plans in case government operations are disrupted by the strike.
“The department remains focused on achieving a fair and responsible agreement and continues to be available at the bargaining table,” it said in a statement.
The union argues that remote work saves the state money it would otherwise spend on office space and improves people's work-life balance.
The union is also pushing for the state to raise workers' salaries by 20% over the next three years and increase the state contribution toward employees' healthcare costs.
State workers are fighting for a better future, said Josh Guile, who works for the secretary of state's office and leads a labor council within the union.
“Today we’re out here to say enough is enough,” Guile said at a rally in Sacramento. “We deserve a fair contract.”
Jessica Brooks, an innovation analyst at the state's Department of Health Care Services, said she was picketing because the state refused to bargain in good faith. The state should give workers a raise in part to help them afford costs associated with reporting to the office most of the week, she said.
“It's got to be one or the other: Give us a raise or let us save money, both personally and with the state by working from home,” she said.
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