California state law enforcement union strikes deal to end pay cuts, restore raises

Another California state worker union has a deal to end the pay cuts Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature demanded from public employees last year.

The new pact for the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association restores wages and raises to about 7,000 workers. It also ends the personal leave program, which gave workers two unpaid days off each month in exchange for the pay cuts.

CSLEA-represented employees on July 1 will receive a compounded raise of 5.06%, according to the union.

That accounts for the 2.5% CSLEA raise that was suspended last year, as well as a 2.5% raise that was previously negotiated for the upcoming budget year. CSLEA negotiated an extra .06% to accounting for compounding pay that workers missed because of the delayed raise.

The contract also calls for raises on July 1, 2022, with peace officers scheduled to receive 3.75% and non-sworn personnel receving 2.25%. The union says peace offices will receive more because of a requirement that they pay more into their pension plans.

CSLEA, like other California public employee unions, negotiated the pay cuts when Newsom and the Legislature braced for a severe recession early in the coronavirus pandemic.

Those projections proved incorrect, with the state amassing a $76 billion surplus for the upcoming budget year.

CSLEA represents public employees in 180 different jobs including state park rangers, firefighters, hospital police officers and conservationists who took a 9.23% wage reduction.

The Newsom administration offset the pain of those wage cuts last year by suspending a paycheck deduction for CSLEA-represented workers that funds their retiree health care. That 4% paycheck deduction will resume July 1, according to the agreement.

This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 11:45 AM.