California’s Largest State Employee Union Starts One-Day Strike
Up to 95,000 California civil service state employees are set to walk off their jobs Wednesday for a one-day strike that is expected to disrupt operations at many government departments and agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Employment Development Department and State Parks.
The statewide walkout is the first ever by the state’s largest government workers’ union, the Service Employees International Union Local 1000.
Office staffers, cooks, analysts, custodians and other employees are protesting what the union called unfair labor practices by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. Contract negotiations that officially began in June have yet to reach a deal on worker priorities such as pay, healthcare costs and telework requirements.
“The Newsom administration can and must do better. They must return to the table and bargain in good faith toward a contract that allows state workers to afford groceries, child care, rent and other necessities,” said SEIU Local 1000 President Anica Walls in a statement. “Striking is not an action we take lightly.”
Fewer than 5,000 state employees deemed essential at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Transportation, State Hospitals and other agencies are exempted from the walkout and required to work.
The union, which bargains a single contract for all of its members, proposed across-the-board wage raises of 20% over three years, higher state contributions towards healthcare costs, and for each department to develop remote-work policies according to its needs. Newsom’s mandate for tens of thousands of hybrid or remote employees to return to the office at least four days a week, which went into effect in July, remains a hot button issue.
Angela Musallam, a spokesperson with the California Department of Human Resources, which has been bargaining with the union, said her agency is coordinating with state departments to ensure all necessary preparations are in place.
“As part of these preparedness efforts, CalHR continues to provide guidance, training, and support to state departments,” Musallam said in a statement. “The department remains focused on achieving a fair and responsible agreement and continues to be available at the bargaining table.”
Each agency keeps contingency plans to address disruptions in government operations, she added. SEIU Local 1000 represents about 40% of the nearly 246,000 active state employees, excluding California State Universities.
The standoff comes after the administration asked a public-sector labor regulator earlier this month to stop the strike from happening, arguing that it adds “undue pressure” to concede to the union’s demands, as both parties entered mediation. CalHR officials also said public safety and health would be at risk if essential workers joined the strike.
The Public Employees Relations Board decided on Oct. 16 that the walkout could move forward if the union exempted additional employees, the bulk of them at state prison facilities. PERB also directed the state to seek as many replacement workers as possible.
SEIU Local 1000 now plans strike lines in Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles and other cities. The union recommends that participants stay “peaceful and united” and share photos and videos responsibly on social media, while avoiding blocking access into buildings or stopping coworkers from crossing the picket line.
In 2016, the union also threatened a strike, but reached a last-minute agreement with the state.