May 14, 2026
Bargaining team negotiators for Unit 1 returned to the table on May 7th and May 12th with a continued focus on compensation and workload issues. In addition, the team presented solutions to address professional development and high vacancy rates in Unit 1 classifications.
On May 7th, BUNC member and Senior Personnel Specialist, CJ Knotts presented newly proposed contract language addressing ongoing workload concerns from our Unit 1 Personnel and Payroll Specialists. In her presentation, Knotts effectively expressed some of the simmering concerns around staff burnout coming from higher workload burdens not keeping pace with current staffing levels for these classifications in some departments. CalHR has not responded as of May 12th.
On Tuesday, May 12th, our negotiators returned to the bargaining table. While we were able to secure agreements to incorporate language in the contract memorializing the Analyst reclassification, the state doesn’t currently have interest in addressing the ongoing overwork of FLSA exempt employees and rejected our team’s initial proposal on that issue.
Our team also proposed language changes to section 11.54.1 of our current contract, which seeks to expand professional development opportunities for employees at the Department of Industrial Relations while increasing recruitment and retention and lowering vacancies.
After presenting the proposal, Carolyn Alluis, a BUNC member and Management Services Technician, commented “Implementation is where the state struggles to meet our Union. We are working to make sure our hard-fought rights are continued for our members.”
Unit 1 will be back at the table on Thursday, May 14 with more updates to come.