State Workers Just Want to Stay Home

Public employee unions claim that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s return-to-office order violates the state’s ‘landmark’ environmental law, which highlights the need for its reform.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — There’s no better example summarizing California’s enduring problems than the recent Sacramento Bee story explaining that a union representing some public employees has “sent ‘exhaustion’ letters to over 100 state departments, arguing that the return-to-office order will require more than 90,000 state workers to commute four days a week, which will negatively impact California’s environment.” The union claims that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort to force state workers to finally return to their cubicles after years of COVID-related stay-at-home laxity runs afoul of the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA (pronounced See-kwa) is the “landmark” 1970 environmental law that requires every construction project that needs a discretionary governmental approval to navigate a maze of environmental impact reports, oversight, and even lawsuits. It’s a pitch-perfect summary of why California — a state that once led the nation in its infrastructure advancements — cannot build anything efficiently. This self-serving argument spotlights the way that public employee unions and environmental interest groups paralyze the state. Newsom ended California’s COVID State of Emergency in February 2023. Yet more than three years later, he has been unable to force his own employees to head back to the office. When it comes to public employee unions, it’s like the tail wagging the dog. The governor set a July 1 return-to-office date, but the SEIU Local 1000 filed an unfair labor practice complaint. The union has argued that Newsom hasn’t bargained in good faith, but here’s a key demand from that union: “The state shall have the burden to demonstrate, by clear and compelling evidence, why the employee is unable to perform the essential duties and functions of their job 100% remotely.” That union’s officials also are demanding a variety of benefits and stipends in exchange for any return to the office. You’ve got to read some of this yourself to believe it. This is basical...