On Thursday, hundreds of state employees demonstrated outside the California State Capitol, demanding their right to be paid and to continue working from home.
Beginning July 1, Governor Gavin Newsom is requiring state employees to resume in-person work at least four days a week.
Many state employees are worried about the cost of going back to work in person, and now those expenses might be even more difficult to bear.
California Department of Education employee Haley Leguizamo stated, “It really feels like state workers are being punished.”
To solve the $12 billion state budget imbalance, the governor is suggesting a nearly $767 million salary cut for public employees.
According to state employees, this implies that they will not receive the 3% rises that were agreed upon for the upcoming two fiscal years.
Josh Hoover, a member of the assembly, demanded an assessment of the costs associated with requiring state employees to return to work.
“Why should Californians who have returned to office in their respective fields care about this? How is state workers returning to the office impacting them?” I inquired.
“People working in the office already will very much notice a difference on their highways when it comes to traffic congestion,” Hoover said.
According to Hoover, it is also having an effect on taxpayer expenditures since state office buildings that he believes could be sold and converted into homes cost around $600 million annually to maintain.
“It’s going to be crazy again,” La Bou employee Andrew Douglas stated.
Companies in the downtown area, such as La Bou, are expecting a boom from state workers, but it might end up being a collapse.
Vincent Green, a state information technology specialist, stated, “People simply cannot afford to go and patronize those businesses.”
Additionally, state employees might be paying more for parking—up to $200 per month in certain facilities.
On July 1, the day the new return-to-office policy for state employees goes into effect, the city intends to raise the cost of some of the less expensive garages.
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Regarding the budget reduction, the state’s finance department released the following statement:
“Closing a $12 billion shortfall requires spending restraint across state government. The budget doesn’t propose any furloughs, salary cuts, or health care reductions for state workers – but it does ask them to forego a three-percent salary increase.”
Newsom has previously defended his call for workers to return to the office, arguing that face-to-face collaboration is beneficial.
According to some state employees, this is all a political ploy.
“We have proven that we can still do our jobs even though we are at home,” Green stated.
