How CA state workers convinced one department to reverse return-to-office order

In the immediate aftermath of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement that public employees would be back in office four days a week in July, many of the elected officials who have independent control over their agencies, like the Attorney General’s Office or the State Controller’s Office, held off on making abrupt changes to their telework policies.

But State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, one of eight constitutional officers, was quick to jump into alignment with the governor in March. Thurmond said California educators were back to teaching in-person since the beginning of the pandemic and Department of Education’s 1,400 employees, many of whom work hybrid schedules, should also be coming into offices four days a week.

Weeks later, Thurmond pumped the brakes, delaying the four-day requirement until the end of 2025.

Education Department workers mounted a monthslong campaign to pressure the superintendent to reconsider. They held daily solidarity breaks outside the Education Department’s headquarters, sometimes attended by single protesters, other times with a group of more than 50 loud office workers.

“He didn’t want us to be protesting anymore,” Cecelia Wilson, the president of an SEIU Local 1000 district labor council that represents CDE employees, said of Thurmond’s pivot on telework.

Earlier this month, state workers at CDE celebrated a major win after the superintendent took an even more agreeable approach to telework by announcing the department would maintain the current policy of two days in person. Thurmond also created a joint labor management committee to study best practices around hybrid work.

Thurmond hosted office hours with staff, solicited written comments and met with employees one-on-one to hear their concerns with the policy change.

“The superintendent is listening to staff and that was the intent,” Ingrid Roberson, CDE’s chief deputy superintendent of public instruction, said.

Those included concerns with parking availability, internet bandwidth in the office and spacing issues. Those space issues center on how the department has changed how it provides services to districts across California in recent years.

“Pre-pandemic, we could all be in cubicles because our training and our technical assistance was all in-person,” Roberson said.

Now, CDE can better meet the needs of regional schools and districts by providing technical assistance through telework, Roberson said, “which has been really wonderful.” But that means more private office spaces — not cubicles — are needed. Workers’ home offices provide the quiet and confidential space needed for certain meetings or webinars.

Employees had a key opportunity to speak directly to the superintendent during a recent town hall. Wilson said she was impressed by the number employees who showed up and how their stories documenting accomplishments during COVID-19.

“I know those really hit him,” she said.

While Wilson’s fellow union members were happy with Thurmond’s most recent stance, Wilson said she is holding her breath until the superintendent makes a final decision about whether he will maintain the current telework schedule until the end of this term in 2026.

Wilson hopes to get confirmation in the coming months after SEIU Local 1000 representatives and CDE management participating in the joint labor management committee agree on a hybrid schedule that meets the department’s needs. Until then, Wilson said she and her fellow union members will keep up the pressure and continue organizing for other state workers who aren’t with CDE.

Unlike their colleagues at other departments, such as Caltrans, which are under the governor’s jurisdiction, CDE employees had a more viable pathway to convince Thurmond to reconsider because he has authority as an elected official to establish an agency-specific telework policy.

Meanwhile, Caltrans acting director Michael Keever emailed employees this past week to inform them that, come July 1, the department’s telework schedule will comply with the governor’s executive order to require four days in office per week, “to the extent possible based on operational needs and space availability.”