Newsom administration gives ground on COVID vaccine order to state worker union
The state Human Resources Department agreed this week to negotiate with California’s largest state worker union before imposing new vaccine rules, backing away from a proclamation Gov. Gavin Newsom made two months ago.
The agreement won’t change much immediately for California state workers. If they do not show proof of vaccination, they will have to accept regular testing for COVID-19.
Newsom garnered national headlines July 26 when he announced new vaccine mandates for California, including a requirement that all state employees show proof of vaccination or submit to regular COVID-19 testing.
About 45 minutes after Newsom’s press conference announcing the new requirements, the Human Resources Department notified the state’s labor unions.
Two unions — including SEIU Local 1000, state government’s largest — filed formal complaints with the Public Employment Relations Board over the new requirement. A third union filed a formal grievance with the state Human Resources Department.
Newsom had ignored standard meet-and-confer protocols that require the state to give unions 30 to 60 days’ notice before making significant changes to working conditions, the unions said in their complaints.
The administration claimed it had the authority to skip the meetings under emergency declarations Newsom issued at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic early last year.
On Wednesday, CalHR settled its PERB case with SEIU Local 1000, agreeing to “suspend and conclude its vaccine verification program” and to bargain with the union over details of the state’s vaccine rules.
“The settlement allows the state to continue with the testing program while reaching an important compromise on changes that were important to our employee groups,” CalHR spokeswoman Camille Travis said in an email Friday.
Newsom’s July 26 order directed departments to “implement procedures to collect and maintain evidence of vaccination from employees” by Aug. 2. Employees who didn’t show proof of vaccination would have to get regular COVID-19 tests and wear masks at work.
The settlement agreement suspends “vaccine verification,” but the agreement specifies state testing programs will remain in place, so employees who choose not to show proof of vaccination still have to undergo testing.
And Local 1000-represented employees who work at health care facilities and prisons, where vaccine rules are stricter, will still be subject to vaccine verification, according to the agreement.
Cal Fire Local 2881 also filed a PERB complaint over the state’s vaccine rules, citing the lack of advance notice. The International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents blue collar workers at state facilities including prisons, filed a grievance with CalHR.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association recently said it was reviewing its options in challenging a court order ordering vaccines for all prison employees, with no alternative testing option except in cases of religious or medical exemption.
This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 5:25 AM with the headline "Newsom administration gives ground on COVID vaccine order to state worker union."