Members of SEIU Local 1000 have authorized a one-day strike for Oct. 21, setting up a potential walkout by nearly 100,000 California state employees amid stalled contract negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. Ninety-six percent of union members who voted supported authorizing the strike. The vote gives union leaders the authority to call a walkout but does not require every member to participate. The workers’ contract expired July 1, and negotiations have been stalled for more than two months. The union is seeking a 20% pay increase over three years, more affordable health care and greater flexibility to work remotely. It has also proposed stipends for employees required to work in person. SEIU says the state can afford a stronger offer, pointing to an approximately $20 billion increase in general fund spending over the past two years. SEIU has accused the California Department of Human Resources, known as CalHR, of delaying negotiations and rejecting proposals without bargaining over them. The union filed a complaint with the Public Employment Relations Board, which determined in late September that CalHR had “refused to meet and confer in good faith,” according to reporting on the dispute. CalHR disputes the union’s account. Agency communications deputy director Angela Musallam said the state remains willing to negotiate and is prepared to enter mediation. She also cited the union’s opposition to Newsom’s four-day return-to-office mandate. SEIU chief negotiator Bobby Roy said in September the union would return to negotiations if the state made a meaningful offer on compensation and other issues, not only telework. The dispute follows a 2025 budget agreement that included temporary concessions from workers. A previously negotiated 3% raise took effect July 1, while a separate 3% payroll deduction under a Personal Leave Program reduced gross pay in exchange for five hours of leave each month. The state also suspended employees’ 3% contributions toward future retiree health care costs, and postponed another 3% raise from July 2026 to July 2027. A Local 1000 walkout would be the first statewide strike in the 44-year history of the labor groups that became the union. Members came close to striking in 2016 before reaching an agreement with then-Gov. Jerry Brown. The California Association of Professional Scientists, represented by CAPS-UAW, was the last major state employee union to strike, in 2023. Local 1000 members include nurses, clerks, program analysts, information technology workers and custodians. A strike could disrupt services at DMV offices and agencies handling unemployment and disability insurance, union President Anica Walls has warned. Workers who strike would not be paid for the time they are out, though the union maintains a fund to help cover expenses such as legal costs in cases involving alleged retaliation. “This vote is a notice to the Newsom administration that if they continue to bargain in bad faith, we will take action,” Walls said in a statement. The union says its negotiating position will not depend on who is governor after the next election.