{"id":503565,"date":"2026-10-22T01:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T01:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503565\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T01:04:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T01:04:21","slug":"californias-largest-state-employee-union-holds-1-day-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503565\/","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s Largest State Employee Union Holds 1-Day Strike"},"content":{"rendered":"

The California Department of Human Resources said it\u2019s coordinating with state agencies and the union to ensure preparations are in place.<\/p>\n

Oct 21, 2026<\/p>\n

Updated 5:00 pm PT<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Supporters and union members display signs during a rally in support of a one-day California state workers strike in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2026. Tens of thousands of California civil service state employees plan to strike Wednesday over alleged unfair labor practices.\u00a0(Miles Cull\/KQED)<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of California<\/a> civil service state employees walked off<\/a> their jobs Wednesday for a one-day strike that was expected to disrupt operations at many government departments and agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Employment Development Department and State Parks.<\/p>\n

The walkout is the first ever by the state\u2019s largest government workers\u2019 union, the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which represents about 96,000 employees. Picket lines were held in Sacramento, San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles and other cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are making history!\u201d Susan Rodriguez, a claims adjuster with the State Compensation Insurance Fund, and a bargaining team member, told a cheering crowd outside the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building in Oakland. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of everyone for having the courage to do this because I\u2019ve had a lot of conversations with people over the last few weeks and there were a lot of nervous souls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysts, paralegals, health educators, custodians and other employees protested what the union called delayed meaningful negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s administration. Months-long contract talks have yet to reach a deal on worker priorities such as pay, healthcare costs and telework requirements.<\/p>\n

\"\"Shop steward Ezra Roberts leads a marching chant during a rally in support of a one-day California state workers strike in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2026.\u00a0(Miles Cull\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intention for today is to withhold our labor, let the state know that we need them to come back to the table and bargain with us in good faith,\u201d Rodriguez, who has worked for the state for 24 years, told KQED.<\/p>\n

Fewer than 5,000 state employees deemed essential at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Transportation, State Hospitals and other agencies were exempted from the walkout and required to work<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Angela Musallam, a spokesperson with the California Department of Human Resources, which has been bargaining with the union, said her agency coordinated with state departments to ensure all necessary preparations were in place.<\/p>\n

\"\"Supporters and union members display signs during a rally in support of a one-day California state workers strike in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2026.\u00a0(Miles Cull\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three days that we have been doing for the past years were taken away just like that,\u201d said Yunsa, who has worked for the state for 33 years. \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The standoff comes after the administration asked a public-sector labor regulator earlier this month to stop the strike from happening, arguing that it adds \u201cundue pressure\u201d to concede to the union\u2019s demands, as both parties entered mediation. CalHR officials also said public safety and health would be at risk if essential workers joined the strike.<\/p>\n

The Public Employees Relations Board decided on Oct. 16 that the walkout could move forward if the union exempted additional employees, the bulk of them at state prison facilities. PERB also directed the state to seek as many replacement workers as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the Oakland rally, workers said the administration delayed previously promised raises, stagnating their wages even as the price of food and gas has continued to increase.<\/p>\n

\u201cState workers are underpaid compared to private industry and we definitely use benefits to try and make up for some of that. But more recently, our premiums have gone up significantly,\u201d said Ezra Roberts, an analyst with CalTrans. \u201cIt can be hard to make ends meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, the union also threatened a strike, but reached a last-minute agreement with the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The California Department of Human Resources said it\u2019s coordinating with state agencies and the union to ensure preparations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-503565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}