Hear from the union leading the charge against Newsom’s return-to-office mandate | Opinion

Professional Engineers in California Government, which represents more than 15,000 state engineers and related professionals, is leading the legal fight against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ill-advised mandate that state employees must work in-office four days per week starting July 1.

Why are we leading the fight? It’s not because study after study and the state’s own data show remote work is better for government employers, employees, taxpayers and the environment — even though all of that is undeniably true.

Our union is fighting the order, issued at the beginning of March, because it is illegal. And late last week, a key state authority said our opposition deserves consideration and told the administration to defend itself.

The day after Newsom issued his order, we were the first union to file an unfair practice charge with the state Public Employment Relations Board, which administers the collective bargaining laws that apply to California’s state and local governments. We contended (and still contend) that the governor’s mandate violates our bargaining rights, breaks the specific terms of telework we negotiated and breaches longstanding policy previously established by the Legislature.

We demanded that the Public Employment Relations Board rescind Newsom’s return-to office order and give back the question of in-office requirements to individual departments — not the governor’s office. That would align with the Statewide Telework Policy, which allows telework for workers “to the fullest extent possible.”

We believe Newsom’s order violates collective bargaining laws and therefore is an unfair practice: Telework and a related stipend are benefits that our union and the state agreed to at the bargaining table. Any changes to those benefits must be negotiated.

Based on our letter, the Public Employment Relations Board issued a complaint late Thursday afternoon which alleges that, indeed, the administration violated the collective bargaining rights of the Professional Engineers in California Government and the employees we represent in two ways:

• First, Newsom changed the telework policy and announced it without giving our union the chance to meet and confer about the decision and its impact on our members.
• Second, the administration’s “conduct also interfered with the rights of bargaining unit employees to be represented by (the Professional Engineers in California Government)” and denied our union “its right to represent bargaining unit employees,” according to the Public Employment Relations Board.

The state must respond to the Public Employment Relations Board’s complaint within 20 calendar days. The board has scheduled a May 27 meeting for the parties to informally work out a settlement. If we don’t come to a settlement informally, then the board will set a formal hearing before an administrative law judge.

Meanwhile, the return-to-office order remains in effect until we settle or we receive a decision.

Newsom portrays himself as a progressive, prescient leader. During the pandemic, he sought to make telework permanent for 75% of the state workforce. But at a press event in Modesto on April 2, he offered stale and unsubstantiated talking points to justify going back to old ways, claiming that office work creates community, fosters creativity, makes employees more productive, helps the “mom and pop” economy and gives younger employees a career boost.

Others can speculate on Newsom’s motives for the four-days-in-office order. It makes no difference. It’s illegal and wrong-headed. And our union is committed to fighting it.

It’s still not too late to withdraw your executive order, governor. Reconsider. Let’s work together on making the government of California a visionary model.