{"id":503827,"date":"2026-10-22T05:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503827\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T05:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:46:18","slug":"ca-state-workers-strike-in-contract-dispute-with-newsom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503827\/","title":{"rendered":"CA state workers strike in contract dispute with Newsom"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lynn La<\/a> and Kate Wolffe<\/a>, CalMatters<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\""People\"
\n\t\t\t\tState workers represented by SEIU Local 1000 strike at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Oct. 21, 2026. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by CalMatters<\/a>. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

Garbed in purple and holding signs that read \u201cFair contracts now!\u201d and \u201cHere to serve, not to starve,\u201d thousands of state workers rallied at government buildings across California Wednesday to protest what they describe as unfair labor practices by Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SEIU Local 1000\u2019s first strike in its 44-year history unfolded in several cities including Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The union \u2014 which represents about 100,000 workers, nearly half the state workforce \u2014 has been in contentious labor talks<\/a> with the Newsom administration since its latest contract expired in late June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its members want a better raise than Newsom has offered as well as more flexibility to work from home. Newsom just a year ago demanded wage reductions from the union to help shore up a budget crisis. State workers have accepted pay cuts in three of the eight years Newsmom led the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe budget is balanced on state employees\u2019 backs,\u201d said Local 1000 President Anica Walls. \u201cIt\u2019s just showing how frustrated employees are with the lack of prioritizing us as people who really help California remain the fourth largest economy in the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Angela Musallam, a spokesperson for the California Department of Human Resources, which handles labor negotiations on behalf of the administration, said the department \u201cremains focused on achieving a fair and responsible agreement and continues to be available at the bargaining table.\u201d Both parties are scheduled to resume mediation talks on Oct. 30<\/p>\n

In anticipation of the strike, operations at some state departments have been modified<\/a> or limited, including at DMV offices and parks. Outside the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building in downtown Oakland, workers marched outside chanting \u201cNo contract, no peace.\u201d They played drums, snacked on muffins and Little Caesar pizzas and cheered as cars honked along Clay Street in solidarity.<\/p>\n

Amy Dickinson, an information technology associate at California Department of Industrial Relations\u2019 Office of Information Systems, said she was striking \u201cbecause the state has decided that we are not worth even bargaining with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have done nothing but say \u2018no\u2019 all this time. They won\u2019t even give any counteroffers \u2014 that\u2019s not bargaining, that\u2019s a maximalist position,\u201d said the San Leandro resident.<\/p>\n

Democratic U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, who represents the East Bay Area,, spoke to the crowd in Oakland before joining them briefly in marching.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing happens without the workers,\u201d said Simon. \u201cFor anyone to say that you don\u2019t deserve wage justice, they haven\u2019t looked at the rates of rent \u2026 at grocery prices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is enough for everything that you\u2019re asking for. But the floor is respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unions, including Local 1000, traditionally are Newsom\u2019s allies. They contributed to his campaigns and helped him defeat Republican opponents. But the Local 1000 strike is the second state worker walkout to occur on his watch. Previously, the California Association of Professional Scientists held a three-day strike in 2023<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Besides pay boosts, Local 1000 members are pushing for higher state contributions for healthcare coverage, and changes to Newsom\u2019s four-day-a-week in-office mandate<\/a>, which they argue costs workers and taxpayers money and increases traffic and pollution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Sacramento, Don Chaddock, a longtime analyst for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, wore a Santa costume and held a sign reading \u201cNewsom + CalHR = Naughty List.\u201d Chaddock, who volunteers as Santa during the holidays for rural schools in his foothills area, said he is frustrated by the state\u2019s in-office policy, which has him commuting to a suburb south of Sacramento.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t mind in-person if we\u2019re actually doing something in-person,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now, I drive to Elk Grove to sit in a cubicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""An\"State workers represented by SEIU Local 1000 strike outside the CalHR building in Sacramento on Oct. 21, 2026. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters<\/p>\n

Rebecca Bean, another employee who is against the return-to-office mandate, put it even more bluntly: \u201cWe\u2019re not asking for stupid sh\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bean commutes three hours a day by public transportation to Oakland as an analyst at the industrial relations\u2019 office. She said the policy has made it more difficult to take care of her ailing mother who is in her seventies.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time she has an emergency, I have to run all the way home. She won\u2019t go to any medical appointments without me,\u201d Bean said. Before the policy took effect in July, Bean scheduled appointments at the end or beginning of the day and was out only a few hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas here I have to schedule at least four hours to do something,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a> and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a> license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Lynn La and Kate Wolffe, CalMatters State workers represented by SEIU Local 1000 strike at the state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-503827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503827","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=503827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}