Early Saturday morning, the SEIU Local 1000 bargaining team reached an overall Tentative Agreement with the State. If ratified, the contract would significantly raise the wage floor for tens of thousands of state workers. It represents the largest three-year contract in Local 1000 history.
At the master table, we negotiated a retroactive pay raise for all employees, won retroactive special salary adjustments for more than 300 job classifications, maintained the health care stipend with no expiration date, reduced the pre-retirement (OPEB) funding, secured a health facility retention payment, and added, changed, or preserved a number of skill-based differentials, allowances, and other reimbursements that factor into our state income. Our general salary increase, our wage equity increase, and our unit-based Special Salary Adjustments are retroactive to July 1, 2023.
Here are the highlights from the Unit 15 (Allied Service Workers) bargaining table:
5 different classifications in Unit 15 received pay increases ranging from 4% – 6.61% (11.1.15 Special Salary Increases). Another 21 classifications received 4% (11.5 Wage Equity Adjustment). These increases are on top of the general salary increase, retroactive to July 1, 2023, and pensionable. You can read a complete list of classifications affected by these increases here.
Nine different classifications will be eligible for a Staged Pay Differential. There are three levels: 2% after passing probation, 2% after 12 months in the classification, and another 1.5% after 24 months.
The State will establish an alternative range—Increasing the minimum and maximum of the salary ranges by 10%—for employees in the Custodian I and Custodian II classifications who are employed by CCHCS, CDCR, CalVet, CalPIA, DDS, DSH (11.XX.15)
Our uniform allowance has increased to $650. The safety footwear allowance for custodians has increased to $165 and is now assured to be included directly in the employee’s paycheck each year. (12.11.15)
New language creates an opportunity to negotiate a yearly vacation bidding process at each institution in CDCR and CCHCS. (8.X.15)
Three Joint Labor Management Committees (JLMC) (Custodians, Food Service Workers, Upward Mobility and Career Development) will all have additional departments participating, moving forward. In addition, we’ve split CDCR & CCHCS into its own JLMC, while maintaining the existing Food Service Workers JLMC. (5.16.15, 5.18.15, 13.11.15)
We’ve expanded the number of departments that will now offer training on how to properly handle infectious diseases and how to keep Unit 15 employees safe. (10.25.15)
12.9.15 Overtime Meal Allowance (Excluding CDCR and CCHCS) (Unit 15). This language now excludes CDCR and CCHCS as these departments are now covered under 12.9 for overtime meal allowances.
We secured a voluntary overtime seniority process for all non-CDCR worksites and strengthened language to protect employees’ RDOs. (19.13.15). Similarly, we strengthened language to protect employee RDOs at CDCR, Adult Programs, and CCHCS (19.14.15)
In 21.26.15-Custodial Routes (Unit 15), we added language to modify work duties when short-staffed.
Protecting our existing hard-won rights from previous campaigns, we kept the same language and protections in more than two dozen Unit 15-specific contract sections.
This email summary shares highlights from the Unit 15 table; you may have already received the email recap from the master table. During the ratification process, you’ll be able to read and learn more detail about the Tentative Agreement. Besides email, we’ll be posting information about our Tentative Agreement on our Contract Action Center page.
What happens next?
To become a contract, our Tentative Agreement must go through a number of steps in order to become law and the document that governs our working relationship with the State. Those steps include approval by the Statewide Bargaining Advisory Committee, a ratification vote by Local 1000 membership, legislative approval, and the Governor’s signature. Click here to read more about what steps we’ll be taking.