New California state worker contract gives 5% raises right away with more to come
Nearly 6,000 California state health and social workers will get a 5% pay raise this month under a new three-year contract their union recently reached with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.
The 5.06% pay raise kicks in retroactively effective July 1 for the members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2620, which includes physical therapists, pharmacists and behavior specialists. Workers will get another 2.5% pay raise on July 1, 2022.
The union’s previous contract had expired in July 2020.
More than 2,000 of those workers will get even more pay raises next year under the new contract. Adoption specialists, for instance, will get 8% pay hikes. Some pharmacists and physical therapists at the top of their steps will also get 8% raises.
The contract also doubles the bonuses workers get for working nights and weekends, said Cliff Tillman, a senior business agent for the union. Those working between midnight and 6 a.m, for instance, will now be paid $2 an hour extra, up from $1 an hour extra they were paid before.
Bilingual workers will also get more pay, from $100 per month to $200 per month.
The contract allows for the union to negotiate pandemic bonuses for its members once the federal government gives guidance on how California can spend $26 billion it’s getting from the COVID-19 relief package.
In June, the union reached a separate agreement to end a 9.23% pay cut that it had agreed to with the Newsom administration in 2020 when the state had predicted a $54 billion budget deficit that did not materialize. The state is now projecting a $76 billion surplus.
AFSCME’s agreement, if ratified, means only two of the state’s 21 bargaining units will be working with an expired contract. A union representing California state scientists and Cal Fire are those still negotiating with the Newsom administration.
AFSCME members have until July 21 to ratify the contract, which is to expire in July 2023.
This story was originally published July 13, 2021 at 5:25 AM.
