State workers critique Gavin Newsom’s return-to-work order with protest caravan
Service Employees International Union members gathered Wednesday outside SEIU headquarters, adorned their cars in purple and gold, and drove to the Capitol to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wildly unpopular in-person work directive.
The order was originally supposed to go into effect in 2025 but was postponed for a year after widespread union upset. Now that the deadline has come back around and takes effect next month, the union that represents thousands of state workers, has continued to protest the return-to-work order that would have its members, returning to government offices four days a week.
SEIU Local 1000 President Anica Wall criticized Newsom’s in-person work directive for underestimating the work that needs to be done to secure adequate conditions for in-person work. “We’re being told to come back when we don’t have the same buildings and parking spaces to come back to.”
She also raised concerns about maintenance in government offices that have been vacant or low-capacity since the COVID pandemic, “Pipes aren’t getting flushed, maintenance is not kept up for many years, now imagine you have thousands of workers coming in at one time.”
Wall also claims “a handful” of departments have not notified union employees of the return-to-work order.
SEIU has put forth a proposal that contains stipends to cover the costs associated with in-person work, including parking fees, tolls, and increased funding for state workers who work in high-crime areas, which District Labor Council 752 President Kevin Healy co-signed. “There are state workers who are lucky to make $100 a day, and they also have to spend 16 of those on bridge tolls to get to work.”
DLC 768 President Joshua Guile said free parking is the “very least” the government can do if it wants state workers back in the office four days a week by July 1st, though he says he believes the government is unlikely to follow through on SEIU’s desired stipends because it needs to purchase more office space to house the influx of in-person workers.
Healy said that low wages coupled with high parking fees pose huge problems for retention of state employees. “We put all this time into training and supporting state workers, and now they want to leave their jobs.”
Monica Hassan, deputy director for the Department of General Services, told The Sacramento Bee in an email that they “expect departments can meet the needs of the overwhelming majority of employees using existing state workspace, and we’ll continue collaborating with departments as needed.”
She also said, “DGS provides affordable parking solutions for California state employees,” and that DGS has opened three additional lots in response to the parking waitlist created by Newsom’s directive.
Guile said in an interview that he hoped the government was finding ways to recalibrate after “the two times they took pay from state workers,” referring to the 9.23% pay reduction in the 2020-2023 Master Agreement and the 3% raise that has been deferred until 2027.
In reaction to pay decreases and general concerns around the cost of living, SEIU has sought legislative and contract relief in the form of a 20% wage increase from 2026 to 2028. It has also backed Assembly Bill 1927, which mandates that departments provide a detailed, written explanation as to why in-person work is essential to workplace functionality.
As contract negotiations continue, Angela Musallam, deputy director of communications for the California Department of Human Resources, said CalHR is “continuing negotiation in good faith with SEIU Local 1000 in the weeks ahead.”
A spokesman for the governor’s office said it had nothing to say about the union’s complaints or Wednesday’s protest.
