California’s largest state worker union opens strike vote against Newsom administration

SEIU Local 1000 opened a strike authorization vote on September 9 that runs through October 7, asking the more than 100,000 California state workers it represents whether to authorize a strike against Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration. The union represents state employees across nine bargaining units, according to an unfair practice charge SEIU Local 1000 filed with California’s Public Employment Relations Board.

The vote follows the expiration of the union’s prior three-year contract on June 30, according to CBS Sacramento. In July, SEIU Local 1000 filed an unfair practice charge with the Public Employment Relations Board alleging the state failed to bargain in good faith, CBS Sacramento reported. The charge, according to the union’s complaint, states that the California Department of Human Resources rejected nine of the union’s 16 budget-related proposals on June 30, the day the prior contract expired, and did not offer individual counterproposals on at least eight of them. The complaint says the state cited a 2025 side letter that deferred a 3 percent wage increase from summer 2026 to 2027 as its rationale for rejecting the other proposals.

SEIU Local 1000 President Anica Walls said, “I know the power that we have when we fight together. We are using that power to demand what the law requires.” Walls also said, “Give us affordable health care, and let us help modernize the way that we do our job and save Californians hundreds of thousands of dollars,” CBS Sacramento reported.

Bobby Roy, the union’s chief negotiator, described the state’s response to the union’s proposals as “a blanket rejection with no counterproposal,” adding, “It absolutely means that it’s an unfair practice.”

The California Department of Human Resources said in a statement that “the state will continue to bargain in good faith to reach an agreement,” CBS Sacramento reported.

On its strike vote page, SEIU Local 1000 tells members that “the State failed to bargain fairly over the priorities state workers brought to the table” and that “a YES vote gives our union the authority to call an unfair practice strike.”

The union’s contract campaign lists three priorities: “Fair Pay,” “Affordable Healthcare” and “Telework That Works.” The telework priority is described on the page as seeking “transparent telework policies that support both telework and on-site staff who don’t have the option to work remotely.”

The dispute over remote work includes opposition to a return-to-office requirement that took effect July 1 for Local 1000 employees, which generally requires four in-person workdays each week, according to the union’s complaint.

SEIU Local 1000 held a prior strike authorization vote in 2016. Members approved that vote, but the union and the state reached a deal days before a planned walkout, CBS Sacramento reported.

The unfair practice charge was filed against the California Department of Human Resources and names Governor Newsom, in his role as the state’s appointing power, according to the charge filing. The charge is brought under the Ralph C. Dills Act, the state law governing labor relations for California state employees, and alleges violations of Government Code section 3519, subsections (a), (b) and (c).

SEIU Local 1000 warns members on its strike vote page that they “are not eligible to receive pay, leave or unemployment for a strike action” if a walkout occurs.