SEIU Local 1000 reaches tentative deal with state
A day after halting plans for a strike, state government’s largest employee union announced that it had reached a tentative agreement for a new contract.
Neither SEIU Local 1000 nor the state’s Human Resources Department would disclose the deal’s highlights Saturday morning.
“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with union leaders and look forward to the entire membership voting on the proposal,” said Joe DeAnda, spokesman for the state’s human resources department.
The union, which represents 95,000 workers, had authorized a strike while seeking a better contract than the one initially offered by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The Brown administration had offered a 12 percent wage hike over four years that would be offset somewhat by new employee contributions for retiree health benefits. The retiree health benefits could eventually take up to 4 percent of an employee’s salary.
SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker called the agreement “a contract we can all be proud of.”
“This is a victory we achieved by thousands of members standing together across the state, taking action in our worksites, and having an unrelenting willingness to strike if it became necessary,” she wrote in a Saturday morning message to union members.
The union represents a mix of career fields, including nurses, custodians, many office workers and information technology specialists.
It accounts for nine of the state’s 21 labor contracts. Fourteen of them, including the ones for SEIU Local 1000, expired last summer.
The new contract must be approved by SEIU members. The Legislature also must approve it before it can be adopted.
Adam Ashton: 916-321-1063, @Adam_Ashton
This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 12:07 PM.