June 25, 2026
With our current contract set to expire on June 30, our bargaining team continues fighting for the priorities that matter most to state workers: fair pay, affordable healthcare and telework policies that work for both workers and taxpayers. We have proposed a 20% General Salary Increase (GSI) over three years — 7% in 2026, 7% in 2027, and 6% in 2028 — but the State has yet to respond to our proposals on pay and healthcare. They’ve outright rejected our telework proposal and have proposed several takeaways and changes that would weaken or remove protections we currently have in our contract.
That’s why, if we don’t get the Contract we deserve, we’re holding the line on July 1.
For state workers, holding the line means we will not agree to a Contract that falls short of our core priorities, and that we are prepared to keep pushing for a fair Contract even after June 30. Negotiations can continue beyond the contract expiration date and our current Contract protections remain in place until a new agreement is reached. Our bargaining power will come from remaining united and supporting our bargaining team as we continue fighting for the fair Contract state workers deserve.
Our contract may expire on June 30, but our fight for a fair contract does not end there.
So let me get this straight, Gov Newsom leaves office here soon, a new Governor will be elected coming shortly, so why not say No to all our proposals, and drag this out down the line so that way he doesn’t have to be seen as conceding to our demands. Just let the new elected incoming Governor be the one to have to finish up the negotiations and be held to account for whatever they agree to, seems logical to me, that in my opinion is exactly why they said a resounding NO to everything we proposed. So now this whole thing will continue in a round and round circle as the months drag on, until finally some type of weak feeble agreement is made, that is how I am picturing this, we will finally push back with enough mustered willpower to pressure them to agree to something that will pacify the masses, and they and us will try to feel like we got some kind of win out of it.
If the State truly does have the means in a financial sense to take care of its workforce for once and the always stable and time-honored excuse of budget deficit can’t be utilized, then I say it’s a sad system letting us down once again and it just shows that they simply don’t care and won’t care until we do something that will make them care
Good Luck team, it’s going to be a long hard fight, keep strong and don’t give up