100,000 California State Workers Authorize Strike: 96.2% in Favor, Oct. 21 Walkout Possible If Talks Fail
California's largest state workers' union is set to stage the first statewide strike in its 44-year history. SEIU Local 1000 announced on Oct. 8 that 96.2 percent of voting members authorized a one-day strike on Oct. 21, concluding a month-long internal vote, to protest what the union calls bad-faith bargaining by the state. 'State workers have spoken loud and clear,' union president Anica Walls said in a video message.
SEIU Local 1000 represents about 100,000 state employees across 140 departments and agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, unemployment and disability insurance offices, Caltrans, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and state hospitals. The current contract expired June 30, leaving employees without a new agreement for more than three months. The union's core demands total a 20 percent raise over three years — 7 percent in 2026, another 7 percent in 2027 and 6 percent in 2028 — plus affordable health care and modernized remote-work rules. Walls said the Newsom administration rejected all of the union's proposals for the contract renewal.
If the walkout proceeds, delays are expected at the DMV and the state's unemployment and disability insurance offices. The union has published its picket plans: starting at 7 a.m. on Oct. 21, five picket lines will go up in Sacramento — outside the California Department of Human Resources, the Secretary of State building, the Department of Education building, DMV headquarters and the Resources Building — with additional lines in Oakland, San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles, Norwalk, San Bernardino and San Diego.
Notably, the union authorized a strike in 2016 but reached a last-minute agreement with then-Gov. Jerry Brown, so no walkout occurred. If this one goes forward, it will be the first statewide strike in the union's 44-year history. The timing is sensitive: term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom leaves office in January 2027, making this labor showdown a major test in the final months of his administration.
The governor's office has not formally responded to the strike authorization. Economist Wayne Winegarden said raises of this magnitude are not financially sustainable for taxpayers in a high-tax state. The union counters that state workers make up less than 3 percent of the state budget while performing essential functions that keep benefits flowing to Californians. Reported by the New York Post, The Center Square and others.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 加州议会大厦穹顶，公有领域（Wikimedia Commons）
