{"id":793,"date":"2026-06-22T23:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=793"},"modified":"2026-06-22T23:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:32:12","slug":"california-union-warns-of-mass-exodus-with-newsoms-return-to-office-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=793","title":{"rendered":"California union warns of mass exodus with Newsom\u2019s return to office order"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This story originally\u00a0appeared on KCRA.<\/em><\/p><\/div>

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California state workers are challenging a new mandate requiring them to return to the office four days a week starting July 1, as lawmakers advance a bill to ensure\u00a0telework options.\u00a0A billboard off a Sacramento highway warns of future traffic jams caused by Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s order. State workers argue they have been working efficiently under hybrid schedules since the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>

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\u201cSince COVID we have been working and doing the jobs and being efficient and doing the jobs to keep California running,\u201d said Anica Walls, the president of SEIU Local 1000, which represents state workers in Sacramento. \u201cThis mandate as overarching as it does not give departments the space to bring back our workers as needed.\u201d<\/p><\/div>

It\u2019s not clear which departments exactly are struggling with space and how the Newsom administration is handling it. A spokesman with California\u2019s Government Operations Agency declined an interview request with California Politics 360.<\/p><\/div>

At his budget presentation in May, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the challenges of returning to the office but emphasized the benefits of in-person work.<\/p><\/div>

\u201cChange is hard. I’m empathetic\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone has unique criteria, circumstance. We try to accommodate for that. I mean, four days a week, nice to see you again. I mean, would be nice to see you again, nice to see you again, nice to run into you in the hall, nice to develop a relationship, nice not feel so alone,\u201d Newsom said.<\/p><\/div>

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From an economic perspective, the return-to-office mandate could benefit local businesses, according to Robert Heidt, president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber.<\/p><\/div>

\u201cThere is a lot of value in bringing people back to the office. The ebb and flow. The next generation of workforce. There is a value in experiencing by observation. Even me as the CEO, if I wasn’t here every day, there are things I wouldn’t notice or pick up or see in the office,\u201d Heidt said.<\/p><\/div>

\u201cI can’t imagine that we can sustain an acceptable level of business and commerce with everyone remote. It just doesn’t make sense,\u201d he added.<\/p>

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State workers packed committee hearings at the Capitol this week, advocating for a law that would require state agencies to provide telework options or justify why specific roles must be performed in-office. Democratic Assemblyman Alex Lee, who authored the bill AB 1729, said the issue is critical for many state employees.<\/p><\/div>

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\u201cI have heard from so many state workers from even the Bay Area all up and down the state who said this is the thing that matters the most to them,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThey don’t want to move. They love their job, but they don’t, they aren’t willing to move after working 4-5 years in state service.”<\/p><\/div>

Lee\u2019s proposal also requires the state to establish an online dashboard to show how much taxpayer money is saved with telework. Lee and SEIU have estimated remote work saves the state up to $225 million a year.\u00a0When asked about concerns that state workers might misuse telework arrangement, Walls defended her members.<\/p><\/div>

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