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California’s largest state worker union, SEIU Local 1000, says contract negotiations have reached a stalemate.
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The union filed a charge Tuesday with the Public Employment Relations Board asking the body refereeing employment disputes to declare an impasse, which could bring in a neutral third-party mediator to oversee negotiations.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Human Resources confirmed the agency received the filing and is in the processes of evaluating it.
Tuesday’s filing is the latest in the union’s fight for a new contract. Negotiations have been paused since Aug. 1 and the union is asking its members to authorize a strike. That vote ends Oct. 7, but the union would still have to call a strike if members approve it.
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Negotiations started in April and SEIU Local 1000’s contract expired at the end of June. The union is accusing the state of bargaining in bad faith because it denied requests that would affect the budget, such as 20% wage increase spread across three years.
Of 16 such proposals, according to the union, nine were rejected on June 30 — the same day the previous agreement expired. This led the union to file a PERB charge in late July accusing the state of bargaining in bad faith. Also on Tuesday, PERB issued a complaint in that case, signaling concerns voiced by SEIU Local 1000 likely has enough substance to continue through the process.
Beyond wage increases, the union negotiations are seen as a pathway to reinstate flexible work-from-home policies for state workers after Gov. Gavin Newsom required many employees to work in person four days a week. That order started July 1.
The two parties reached tentative agreements on 13 issues, according to the July filing. What these agreements are hasn’t been disclosed, but the union says these provisions update language, ensure compliance with state law and clarify existing practices.
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While negotiations for a new contract have stalled, in an interview last week with The Sacramento Bee, SEIU Local 1000 President Anica Walls said the union is in conversations with state to determine which positions are considered essential to public safety should there be a strike.
SEIU Local 1000 threatened a strike back in 2016 but narrowly avoided a walkout with a last-minute deal. About 6,000 union members were deemed essential and unable to participate in the threatened strike. Those excluded were primarily nurses, cooks and janitors stationed at state hospitals and prisons.
Walls said that might not be the case this time.
“Moving forward as we’re looking at and in the middle of our strike authorization vote, institutions like this are (debating their workers’ status) being essential. And I think that’s just kind of a preconception from COVID,” she said.
It is possible the state and union don’t agree on who is classified as an essential work. If that happens, labor attorney Tim Yeung said PERB could step in to help make the determination.
“(The state) can go to PERB saying some of the employees that are going on strike are essential to public health and safety, and they have to outline who they think it is and why,” Yeung said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2026 at 12:03 PM with the headline “SEIU Local 1000 asks labor agency to declare impasse as negotiations stall.”
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