California’s largest state employees’ union is moving ahead with a strike threat, sharply escalating its long-running dispute with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration over wages, benefits and remote-work policies. The walkout could disrupt some government services.
SEIU Local 1000, which represents roughly 100,000 state workers, said Thursday that 96.2% of members who voted support a one-day strike on October 21. The planned walkout would take place before Newsom leaves office in January and could delay basic services Californians depend on.
“State workers have spoken loud and clear,” union President Anica Walls said in a video message. SEIU Local 1000 said the strike is being organized in response to what it described as the state’s “bad-faith bargaining.”
In California’s capital, striking workers will hold demonstrations outside the California Department of Human Resources, the Secretary of State building, the Department of Education’s May Lee Complex, the Department of Motor Vehicles headquarters and the Resources Building, Walls said.
The union’s website lists additional strike lines outside government buildings in Oakland, Fresno, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Norwalk and San Bernardino.
Residents could face delays at DMV facilities as well as state unemployment and disability insurance offices, Walls said.
The contract dispute could affect any service delivered by state employees, including operations involving Caltrans and the State Department of Food and Agriculture, according to the Porterville Recorder.
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If it takes place, the October 21 walkout would be the first strike in the history of the massive union.
SEIU Local 1000 last held a strike vote in 2016, but the sides reached a labor agreement just days before workers were scheduled to walk off the job.
“It is an important step that state employees are taking,” Walls told CalMatters. “They’re exercising their right to hold the line and say, we deserve to be respected, paid and protected for the work that we do.”
The conflict centers on the union’s accusations that the Newsom administration has negotiated in bad faith. The two sides remain divided over pay and working conditions, including Newsom’s refusal to reverse a return-to-office order that triggered an angry response from state employee unions.
The union’s previous contract expired on June 30, and a replacement agreement has not yet been reached.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Human Resources told The Post that “CalHR remains ready to sit down anytime with the union to negotiate a fair and responsible agreement.”
“The state remains focused on protecting the critical and essential services that Californians rely on,” the department added.
The Post left a voicemail with SEIU Local 1000 seeking additional information about the potential impact of the strike.
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