Local 1000's legal team, attorneys for several other labor organizations and the governor completed oral arguments in the California Supreme Court on Sept. 8. All parties now wait for the panel of justices to render a decision that will impact all other furlough cases currently in the lower courts.
The governor's bargaining team has postponed today's face-to-face contract negotiations...needing additional time to work through Local 1000's comprehensive settlement counterproposal.We'll tell you how to...
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker says the governor is again using state workers as pawns in an attempt to gain leverage over the Legislature....
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker says Local 1000 has a good contract proposal on the table and will continue pushing hard for a settlement that saves the state money and provides security for our members.
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker called Gov. Schwarzenegger's newest furlough order another example of his failed leadership and said, "He is unable to provide the leadership necessary to work out a compromise solution to the state's budget crisis."
This afternoon, Governor Schwarzenegger issued a new executive order to implement threefurlough days per month. Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker responds to the new...
Local 1000 member negotiators are awaiting a response from the governor's bargaining team after delivering our comprehensive counterproposal for settlement Tuesday evening.
Our settlement package addresses key issues, including salaries, the Personal Leave Program (PLP), pensions, holidays and overtime, and the length of the agreement.
As the number of member actions continued to escalate throughout the state, Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker called on members to increase their actions in support of our bargaining team and opposing minimum wage.
The fight continues: Thousands take action to avert minimum wage, support our bargaining team for a fair contractKnow Your Rights: You have the right to...
Local 1000 member negotiators are at the bargaining table today with the union's latest settlement proposal covering six issues including salaries and benefits.Plus, state...
All signs from the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento, indicate state workers will receive full pay September 1 instead of minimum wage, as ordered by Governor Schwarzenegger.
The Superior Court of California judge who prevented the minimum wage order from going into effect two weeks ago has now pushed back the date for attorneys to argue the governor's order in court.
Local 1000 member negotiators are at the bargaining table today with the union's latest settlement proposal covering six key issues, including salaries and retirement.
Following meetings with the governor's negotiators on Monday our bargaining team worked late into the night developing a comprehensive settlement counterproposal.
Regional Social Security Commissioner Pete Spencer has asked Local 1000 DDSD campaign activists to support the Obama Administration's efforts to halt state-imposed furloughs.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is submitting legislation to Congress that would prohibit states, without the Commissioner's prior authorization, from reducing the number of state personnel who make disability determinations for Social Security or reduce the hours they work below the amount the agency authorizes.
Last week, the governor ordered state workers' salaries be reduced to federal minimum wage.
Today Local 1000 member negotiators kick off the first of five consecutive days of meetings with the governor's bargaining team as they work to build the framework for a new contract.
Our team is working on a multi-year contract that takes into account the state's $20 billion budget deficit and the need for real pension reform, while providing certainty and security for all Local 1000 members.
Local 1000 member negotiators are kicking off a full week of meetings with the governor's bargaining team as we work to build the framework...
As our bargaining teams work to secure a fair contract, your rights to take action in support of Local 1000 are protected by California state law and provisions in our union contract. If you are ever prevented from exercising your right to participate in any way, contact your Local 1000 job steward.
Members have participated in more than 100 worksite actions this month. We'll take you to San Francisco to show you today's lunchtime rally.We'll update...
Reporting from Washington -- President Obama signed legislation extending unemployment benefits Thursday for 2.5 million jobless Americans, a hard-fought achievement his party will use to portray Republicans as callous to the needs of ordinary workers in a fall election campaign tied to the country's economic fate.
Let's tie off a few loose ends from last week's state worker minimum-wage lawsuit news:
State legal fees in the 2-year-old fight have crossed the $1 million threshold.
The law subjects more financial companies to federal oversight and regulates many derivatives contracts while creating a consumer protection regulator and a panel to detect risks to the financial system.
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker is calling on members to increase worksite actions statewide in support of our bargaining team as face-to-face contract discussions continue with the state.
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker and our member negotiating teams are calling on members to increase actions statewide.We have the latest details from the...
Members fight statewide: More than 20,000 say 'No' to minimum wage, 'Yes' to a fair contractKnow Your Rights: the right to participate in union actionsupdate_072110.pdf...
In her gubernatorial campaign, California billionaire Meg Whitman fancies herself a turnaround artist, not unlike CEOs who take on failing companies and put them in the black. In her analysis of why the nation's most populous state and the world's 12th largest economy has a chronically dysfunctional government, one villain stands out: public-employee unions.
After Friday's minimum wage decision by Judge Patrick Marlette, state worker Kara Kemmler sent this e-mail. We called her and secured permission to post her words here, unedited. She speaks only for herself, not her employer or her union.
Our member negotiators are meeting with the governor's representatives again today--they're focusing on six key issues.Plus, we'll talk to Local 1000 members about the...
Local 1000 member negotiators spent all weekend in discussions with state negotiators and are now waiting for more data from the state on the cost of their pension proposal and all other "concessionary" proposals before returning to face-to-face meetings.
More than 20,000 say 'No' to minimum wage, 'Yes' to a fair contract
In an unprecedented display of activism, more than 20,000 Local 1000 members have engaged in work actions, made phone calls, written letters, sent e-mails and contacted their elected state representatives in support of our bargaining team and opposed to minimum wage.
Local 1000 attorneys say declarations of hardship by our members were a key reason the governor's request to slash state worker salaries to minimum wage...
The bottom line: it means state workers will receive their full paychecks in July.
State workers will receive their full paychecks for at least the next two months after a Sacramento judge on Friday denied Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's request to immediately force State Controller John Chiang to pay them minimum wage until a budget is approved.
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker is asking members to keep up the pressure on lawmakers and the governor. Member negotiators are preparing to work over...
A judge denied Gov. Schwarzenegger's legal request to immediately impose federal minimum wage on state workers - meaning that members will receive a full pay check on Aug. 1. The legal battle will continue next month.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette said the technical issues raised by state Controller John Chiang merited a full hearing, most likely in August. Chiang has argued that the state's antiquated payroll system made it impossible for him to legally implement the governor's executive order for months.
If you can't see/view live broadcasts from Channel 1000 Channel 1000 uses a third party application (Ustream.tv) for live broadcasts. If you cannot view...
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker says state negotiators returned to the bargaining table on July 14 because of the growing number of member actions. Wednesday's negotiations focused on developing a framework for settlement on six key issues: salaries, the personal leave program, retirement, holidays and overtime, and the length of the agreement.
Walker is calling on members to keep the pressure on through more actions.
Local 1000 negotiators say worksite actions by members are forcing the state to return to the bargaining table. We'll tell you what Local 1000's...
More than 50 local state employees picketed outside the Department of Motor Vehicle office in El Centro on Tuesday over the temporary push by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration to impose the federal minimum wage on all state workers.
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker answers your bargaining and minimum wage questions. The show starts at 6:30 p.m.
State-by-State: Senators and House members opposing UI extension, despite jobless rates, cut-offs, millions in stimulus available, and overwhelming public support for extensions
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie star who swept to power in 2003 to replace California's unpopular chief executive, is now tied with the lowest approval rating of any sitting governor in the state in 50 years, a public opinion poll shows.
Art Vallejo is not a state employee. But Gov. Schwarzenegger's decision to impose federal minimum wage may cost him more income than most state workers.
Members stepping up: state workers lobby legislators for continuous fundingState employees did not cause this budget crisis: a local business owner's account of minimum wage...
State cuts off negotiations after 30 minutes
The governor's bargaining team cut off negotiations after less than 30 minutes Monday, asking only a few questions and offering no counter-proposal to the settlement package Local 1000 presented last Friday. Now state negotiators say they won't be prepared to meet again until Wednesday.
On July 12, Local 1000 negotiators presented a comprehensive settlement proposal that is designed to provide wage and benefit security for the next five years, addressing the reality of the state's $20 billion budget deficit.
The governor's bargaining team cut off negotiations after less than 30 minutes and presented no counterproposal to the settlement package Local 1000 presented last...
The governor's decision to use state workers as budget pawns is going to cost California's struggling economy more than $1 billion a month according to a just-completed forecast of the economic impact of cutting state employees to the federal minimum wage.
Nearly 500 state workers participated in a July 7 lobby event urging Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg to call the Senate back into session so they can pass AB 1699, which would ensure the state can pay its bills--including state worker salaries.
Local 1000 member negotiators are returning to the bargaining table this afternoon after delivering a comprehensive settlement proposal to state negotiators on Friday. We'll...
A summer of minimum wage for state workers would likely make Sacramentans nostalgic for Furlough Fridays.
If the mark of a real independent is lack of friends, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the quintessential nonpartisan in American politics right now.
As politicians run for statewide office this year, we hear many of the same old myths about state government trotted out. In the absence of any better ideas on how to remedy the budget problem, conservative candidates hope that they can ride the coattails of conventional bigotry aimed at state employees to shrink state government.
Amid growing concern around the nation's deficit, and out of a desire to protect tax loopholes for well-to-do Americans and corporations, the Senate was unable to break a filibuster of H.R. 4213, the bill that would have extended eligibility for federal unemployment benefits (including both the Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits programs) through the end of November, 2010.
Scared of foreclosures, divorces, repossessed cars and the other stresses tied to substantial pay cuts, Porterville Developmental Center employees hit the street Thursday evening to protest Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to reduce pay for all hourly state employees to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 until lawmakers approve a budget.
Nearly 500 Sacramento area state workers participated in a lobbying event July 7 urging Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg to call the Senate back into session and pass Assembly Bill 1699. The bill will allow for continuous appropriations to ensure the state can pay its bills, including state worker salaries.
Nearly 500 state workers participated in a lobbying event urging Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to call the Senate back into session and pass...
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker and Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear weigh in on the minimum wage order.
Minimum Wage: Local 1000 takes action to block the governor's bad choiceKnow Your Rights: Layoff protectionsState workers pledgeupdate_070810.pdf...
State Controller John Chiang filed suit today in an attempt to block Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to reduce pay for most state workers to the federal minimum wage during the current budget impasse.
Local 1000 member negotiators are preparing a comprehensive contract settlement proposal that will be delivered to the governor's bargaining team on Fri., July 9.
Thousands of Local 1000 members took time out of their day to send a letter to state senators urging them to return to the...
On July 7, the Health and Human Services Network of California and the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research & Education released a new policy brief detailing the devastating economic repercussions of Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts to vital health and human services.
Local 1000 is fighting the governor's minimum wage order at the bargaining table, in the Legislature and the courts.
"This can still be settled at the bargaining table," SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker said. "Our negotiators have been meeting with the state for the past week and half and are ready to meet day and night to reach a settlement that will avoid minimum wage, protect our long-term retirement security and help the state get through this budget crisis."
Thousands of Local 1000 members gathered at the June 30 rally at the Capitol and
pledged to elect a governor and Legislature that supports state workers and the programs state workers provide, and to build a new and different union.
The Schwarzenegger administration filed a new legal action today asking the Sacramento Superior Court to force Controller John Chiang to pay state employees minimum wage for this month if no state budget is enacted.
Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker says the governor's order to slash your pay can be settled in two places. We'll tell you what Local 1000...
California state workers are the life blood of downtown Sacramento merchants and without them, owners say their businesses will die.
SEIU Local 1000 said the governor's imposition of minimum wage of $7.25 an hour on state employees has only added to the state's budget crisis and will also hurt the overall state economy by about $1 billion per month.
"The governor is once again using state workers as pawns in his budget game," said SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker. "Reducing state employees to minimum wage is not going to reduce the state' budget shortfall."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the state controller to cut the pay for most state workers to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour due to the lack of a budget being in place by the start of the fiscal year, which began Thursday.
In a strongly worded rebuke, state Controller John Chiang said Thursday that he would defy Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to slash the pay of state workers until "the courts hand down a final resolution."
A state appeals court has ruled that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can legally cut the salaries of state workers to minimum wage amid the budget impasse.
The following statement was issued by the Controller in response to a notice by the Department of Personnel Administration that they were planning on issuing a pay letter ordering the Controller to reduce state employee salaries to the minimum wage, with the exception of the six bargaining units the administration has reached an agreement with.
State worker salaries are not keeping up with inflation.
Nearly 8,000 state workers joined together in a June 30 rally to support state services and the workers who provide them.
"We provide important, vital state services to Californians on a daily basis without any fanfare or attention," Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker told reporters. "Today we are getting out the word that we are your neighbors, we are active participants in your communities, and we are California."
Bargaining resumes today at 4 p.m.
Local 1000 member negotiators are expected to return to the bargaining table this afternoon after governor Schwarzenegger's bargaining team asked for additional time to review past tentative agreements.
An ocean of purple washed over the west side of the state Capitol today as thousands of SEIU Local 1000 members wearing the union's signature t-shirts rallied for a new contract and held signs that pushed a new message, "I am California."
