100,000 California State Workers Strike for One Day in a First for Their Union

California state workers launched a one-day strike on Wednesday, October 21, in the first statewide walkout in the history of SEIU Local 1000, the union that represents more than 100,000 state employees. Bloomberg Law reported that the union began the unfair practice strike on Wednesday morning, and the Associated Press reported that members would picket in cities across the state.

The local represents cooks, custodians, nurses and office staff, along with DMV clerks, information technology workers and staff at the Employment Development Department who process unemployment and disability claims. Bloomberg Law put the membership across more than 140 state agencies and departments.

A contract that expired on June 30

The union has worked without a contract since its last agreement expired on June 30. Bargaining began in April. Members voted to authorize the strike earlier this month, with 96 percent of those who voted in favour, and the union announced the result on October 8 and set October 21 as the strike day.

The union is asking for raises of 7 percent this year, 7 percent in 2027 and 6 percent in 2028, about 20 percent over three years. It also wants cheaper health care and more flexibility to work from home. Most state employees have been required to be in the office four days a week since July under Governor Gavin Newsom's return-to-office policy, and Newsom vetoed a union-backed telework bill in September.

"We are ready to hold the line on Oct. 21," union President Anica Walls told the Sacramento Bee before the walkout.

The state tried to stop it, and failed

The fight moved through the state labor board before it reached the picket lines. The union filed a complaint accusing the California Department of Human Resources, known as CalHR, of bargaining in bad faith. In late September the Public Employment Relations Board sided with the union and concluded that CalHR had refused to meet and confer in good faith, CalMatters reported.

The board declared an impasse on October 2 and sent both sides to mediation, which began on October 15 and produced no deal. CalHR asked the board to seek a court order blocking the strike. The board declined to seek an injunction after the union agreed in writing to keep designated essential workers on the job. About 4,400 essential employees, many of them nurses and nursing assistants in prison health care, were exempted from the walkout.

CalHR spokesperson Angela Musallam said the department continues working with the union toward a fair and responsible agreement for state employees.

What Wednesday looks like

Picket lines opened as early as 7 a.m. outside state buildings from Crescent City to San Diego, according to the union's strike page. The union warned residents to expect delays at the DMV and at unemployment and disability offices while the walkout runs.

The strike is set for one day only. Workers who are not designated essential and who take part do not report for their Wednesday shifts, and the union says members return for their next regularly scheduled shift from late on October 22. The union also says the state intends to dock pay for hours missed during the strike.

Talks are not scheduled again until after the strike, union leaders said before Wednesday. That leaves the contract fight exactly where mediation left it, with pay, health care costs and telework still unresolved, and with both sides now able to point to a walkout that the union had threatened for weeks and the state could not stop.