r/news • u/IchTanze • 11h ago

California state workers launching 1-day strike over return-to-office mandate, pay and healthcare

https://apnews.com/article/california-state-workers-strike-newsom-a3a4f547a612a68360e75e7feaaffb96
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94

u/NumerousVisit4453 8h ago

This is the first strike in the history of a union that represents over 100,000 California state workers who work hard every day for Californians.

96.2% of SEIU 1000 union members voted to strike in response to the state of California’s bad-faith bargaining and refusal to give employees a fair contract.

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u/HughHimbo33 7h ago

Return to work should be mandatory but sounds like this is about other things.

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u/kickrocks16 6h ago

It’s about so many other things than just RTO.

But speaking of going to office, nothing changes when I’m in office to when I’m home. In office we still having meetings over teams. They just want bodies in desk and for the tax payer to fund it at the tune of 250 million + a year.

1

u/PiccoloAwkward465 5h ago

Most modern office workers know the drill. Get to your desk, put on noise cancelling headphones, work, and take various Teams meetings - often with people in the same building.

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u/HughHimbo33 1h ago

I genuinely think at home working is bad for basically everyone but parents with young kids.

3

u/kickrocks16 1h ago

Working at home is good for every tax payer. Working from home studies have already shown employees are more productive, better work life balance and better mental health.

It’s also shown that when your work station is at home people are willing to put in extra hours to get things done.

But we all have our own opinions and can go look at actual studies on the topic.

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u/Midway000 6h ago

Funny "this is about so many other things" and then you go on to defend your WFH. Kinda hard not to see this as the RTO mandate being the catalyst and main driver of the strike.  

14

u/daniboo94 6h ago

It definitely is a huge tipping point because being forced to RTO while also not receiving a raise in 3 years really pisses people off. Your take home goes down significantly when having to pay $200+ extra a month for parking and gas.

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u/Midway000 6h ago

And what about the state workers who don't WFH. Where the RTO mandate means nothing to them and have in fact been driving and paying for parking these past 6 years?

6

u/daniboo94 6h ago

All state workers want a raise. The state continues to cut benefits with no raise. Parking in downtown Sacramento actually went up with the forced RTO so everyone is losing even more money now.

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u/Midway000 6h ago

So union members are demanding that their coworkers go home and continue to not pay for parking or gas while they still have to? When does the solidarity pendulum swing back?

7

u/No_Growth6200 6h ago

This is for raises and coat of living adjustments, and decreasing healthcare costs. What is your problem?

5

u/daniboo94 5h ago

As someone who only qualifies for WFH 2-3 days a month, I want a raise. I’m able to apply for jobs that are more remote if I wish to do so, but I currently like the work I do. I am supporting the union because inflation has been crazy and I haven’t gotten a raise in years.

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u/kickrocks16 5h ago

I didn’t work from home a single day during Covid because my job required me to be in office and I 100% support others being able to WFH. It’s about wasting tax payers money because Newsom wants to please his real-estate donors to get more foot traffic downtown.

Like said before California tax payers will foot the bill at a toon of 250+ million a year to have people do jobs they can 100% do from home.

This isn’t even talking about the pollution from cars or traffic or anything else his stupid order causes.

3

u/OneManFight 6h ago

Sounds like you really want to wfh. You should get a state job where you can wfh and then join the strike. Why do you want to drag everyone else down into the shit with you instead of rising up out of the shit? Also this strike isn't primarily about RTO it's about pay.

3

u/BeuTheSlayer 5h ago

They were saving time and money with less traffic, because of RTO the city started raising the price of parking to price gouge the state workers as well, as well as now they have to deal with more annoying people in the office everyday that they never had to deal with before. the people that have to work in office are being negatively effected by this as well

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u/kickrocks16 6h ago

Would you like a break down of what it’s about because I can do that as well.

You mentioned RTO so I put it in my response because honestly most jobs could and should be WFH. It’s not the 80’s anymore. Things should change.

0

u/Midway000 6h ago

Just seems that RTO is more important to people here. While the other two points are for ALL workers RTO is only for a percentage. And it's seems to be the catalyst for the strike even though they say otherwise. But that's got to be a hard thing to navigate for the union. How do they get people to strike for something that doesn't effect them but greatly benefits a coworker. And keep in mind the general opinion of what WFH people really do during the day. Here in Minnesota the union quickly backed out of tough talk when our governor mandated 50%. They said things like "strike" but then saw their numbers drop from essential employees. However they did gain more WFH employees. So you could say it's a wash but it's not good to have a wedge like this. 

6

u/BeuTheSlayer 5h ago

It’s not a return to work, they never stopped working, they were just saving the state a shit ton of tax dollars by allowing the state to pay less for rent, utilities, furniture etc that is now going to be wasted again and result in lower productivity, worse traffic for everyone, and a heavier environmental impact. Which of those are you a fan of?

1

u/sospeso 2h ago

It's an unfair practice strike because the union has alleged - and the Public Employee Relations Board has agreed in its initial review - that the state is not bargaining in good faith.