Posts tagged return-to-office
State workers picket outside CalHR headquarters during SEIU 1000 negotiations
July 24, 2026 // Conversation about remote work comes as state workers are now required to work in-person at least four days a week in hopes of increased productivity. However, those opposed to in-person mandates point to cost savings. Assemblymember Alex Lee, D-San Jose, proposed a bill that would allow telework, citing improved air quality from fewer commutes and reduced office space needs bringing $225 million in potential savings. “We’re able to save the state billions of dollars when we have structural deficits,” Walls said. The topic was top-of-mind Wednesday as picketers held signs reading “Telework is not political,” “I’d rather be home working,” and “No RTO.”
Arbitrator restores telework for IRS workers
July 22, 2026 // The Internal Revenue Service withdrew from participating in the National Treasury Employees Union’s grievance against the agency for its 2025 return-to-office push in March, forcing independent arbitrator Christopher Shulman to conduct proceedings with management in absentia.
As Newsom’s return-to-office mandate is just one week away, state workers and unions continue pushback
June 29, 2026 // Governor's order requiring most employees in the office four days a week takes effect July 1 amid concerns over costs, staffing and workplace readiness
California state workers union warns of mass exodus with Newsom’s return to office order
June 22, 2026 // From an economic perspective, the return-to-office mandate could benefit local businesses, according to Robert Heidt, president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber. “There is a lot of value in bringing people back to the office. The ebb and flow. The next generation of workforce. There is a value in experiencing by observation. Even me as the CEO, if I wasn't here every day, there are things I wouldn't notice or pick up or see in the office,” Heidt said. “I can't imagine that we can sustain an acceptable level of business and commerce with everyone remote. It just doesn't make sense,” he added.
Op-ed: IRS Union Cancellation Brings ‘Hardened’ Environment for Staff
June 13, 2026 // IRS CEO Frank Bisignano shut down concerns about the termination of the union contract during an April appearance before Congress, telling House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., that employees are “losing nothing.” “Federal employees under statute, under law, have greater benefits than any union in the world can provide for their people,” Bisignano said.
California Public Sector Union Threatens Environmental Lawsuit Over Gavin Newsom’s Return-to-Office Policy
May 31, 2026 // Unionized state workers say agencies need to study the additional emissions that would be caused by requiring employees to come into the office four days a week.
Unions moan as California state workers ordered back into the office 4 days week
May 21, 2026 // Last year, Newsom faced push back from unions over Executive Order N-22-25 and it’s happening again. Unions like SEIU Local 1000 — which represents nearly 100,000 state workers, and CAPS UAW, representing 6,000 scientific workers for the state — have blasted the governor over the move. In a press release from SEIU Local 1000 — it wrote that “as the State refuses to bargain in good faith over changes to teleworking conditions, SEIU Local 1000 filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).” “SEIU Local 1000 remains committed to fighting for Telework that Works through bargaining, legislation, and statewide member organizing efforts.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom to California agencies: Get ready for a four-day return to office
May 15, 2026 // SEIU Local 1000 President Anica Walls said that union members recently began receiving notices from their departments that they will be expected to report to work in person four days a week. “This was not a surprise at all,” Walls said of Newsom’s communication to departments. “We knew that this was going to be a fight from the beginning.” The return-to-office deadline was originally set to go into effect July 2025, but that timeline was pushed back last year after the Newsom administration and unions struck a deal in the face of larger-than-expected budget problems last summer.
A quiet filing could decide what happens next inside one of gaming’s biggest studios
April 28, 2026 // From layoffs and return-to-office mandates to challenges around AI and creativity, it’s not all fun and games for video game workers. And now, some are seeking to unionize. On April 27, a group of game developers behind the digital collectible card game Magic: The Gathering Arena announced the intent to form a union in affiliation with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The group is a part of the gaming studio Wizards of the Coast (WOTC), a division of Hasbro.
Hachette Employees Seek to Unionize
April 28, 2026 // The HWC would be the largest union in trade publisher history, according to the announcement, comprising hundreds of in-person and remote non-management workers. Among the Big Five, it joins the Association of HarperCollins Employees, members of Local 2110 of the UAW, which encompasses 180 staffers.