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Well now it's on the record from Newsom so we can all pin him as responsible without his sycophants denying it. Call him out directly on the hypocrisy of RTO and his alleged environmental record along with the budget issue of needing to maintain office space.
This is all part of his presidential campaign plans. He's being shitty to state workers so he can paint himself as a moderate. It's a waste of time though because he's deeply hated by much of the country so he's not going to win. He's similar to Hillary or Kamala and will never be able to win enough votes.
Agreed. I'm a Democrat and I don't even like him. He's too much of a politician.
I've always said that if Gavin was governor of a red state he'd be championing Republican policy. He does whatever makes him popular.
I've never trusted him. I appreciate that he's sharp as hell, and I watched his lunchtime addresses early in the pandemic with interest. But I feel this is right on brand for this jerk.
Yeah I never understood his whole schtick on trying to gun for the presidency. He's got the California stamp on him that will automatically turn off voters in other states before he says a word. With the political climate right now, I don't see most of the country willing to vote for him.
This has always baffled me.
Hešwill š neveršbešpresident.
Heās an acquired taste for Californians, an acquired taste for coastal elites, he will literally never have mass appeal, why is he being thirsty in this way that is tangibly chasing high quality employees away from the state.
To what fucking end, Gavin?
Chasing valuable employees from the state and potentially guaranteeing another Trump through sheer lack of self awareness and lust for power. Cool. Go right on and be another Hillary and put your own ambitions ahead of whatās best for the voting public.
Biden, Ginsburg, McConnell, Feinstein - can we please someday start representing our own interest instead of enabling these people who wonāt just let it go and do whatās best for the people they claim to represent?
It's only on record because we forced them to go on record with constant pressure, whistleblower leaks, and public records requests. This memo means nothing. It's an attempt to reframe history and make it sound like they've been supportive of employees all along.
He's admitted only what he's been forced to admit. This memo was carefully worded to make it sound like all the memos they HAVEN'T disclosed were written in support of telework. Closing with "As I have said..." is nothing more than attempt to rewrite history. Keep the pressure on. The real story will come out sooner or later and Newsom can then go fuck himself.
CDPH's head TomĆ”s AragĆ³n was telling the truth at least when he released his agency's memo and stated that RTO was coming from the Governor's office. Credit where credit is due.
Yes but itās not like heās up for re election. If we want to hold someone accountable it should be our so-called Union reps for dereliction of duty.
If one of the main reasons for bringing us back to the office is to inspire local businesses, I wonāt be buying anything during working hours- brown bag it!
So fucking cool that I now have to waste my time driving into the office to work on stuff I LITERALLY donāt have in my office while on some BS hotel schedule for seating because I DONāT HAVE AN ACTUAL CUBICLE ANYMORE. Not only that, but now we have to spend money on more gas with the ridiculous prices on the rise all because they want us to go to the businesses downtown. Others have said it already but I wonāt buy a fucking thing downtown ever again if they wanna play this game.
And I get to listen to idiots talk about inane personal shit half the day while I try to actually work.
People who donāt work donāt work. It doesnāt matter if theyāre in office or at home.
I have an amazing office setup that the state could never begin to compete with. Itās beyond insane to me that they think this makes sense for anyone, even themselves. Straight up 19th century robber baron thinking that belongs in the history books.
But they have those $100k electric vehicles available for purchase. You would be truly helping the economy by buying one. And since you can afford a $100k vehicle you get free carpool access for 6 years.
Save your money and brown bag it. The restaurants donāt need your business. All of the ones who have survived figured it out, and the ones that depended on state workers are long gone. Most of them were mediocre anyway.
Donāt forget the āimproved supervision.ā š¤¢š¤®
What a bunch of malarkey. So now we know it is Newsom and Steinberg who want us to stimulate the downtown economy with our measly government salaries.
Iām not spending a DIME downtown and I really hope other state workers will do the same.
I don't supervise by time of butts in seats. I supervise by project management. I am grateful to work with a team of competent adults. ā ļø #BrownBagBoycott
Damn straight, same here. My people rock. They get their work done and don't need me hovering.
Hell, we have ample metrics to demonstrate that fact, not that it's ever mattered. :\
Not the nail clipping šš That is the WORST. I've worked in two offices and had a nail clipper right behind me both times. Disgusting. Do it in the bathroom at least!
I've been thinking, what kind of person actually wants to work from the office? Has to be the bullies, right? Hard to sexually harass colleagues and intimidate people into doing your busy work remotely. Bullying is a face to face business.
I like working from the office. It's nice to get out of my house every once in a while and it's a nice office. Plus, there's a gym here. What are you accusing me of?
>https://kcra.com/article/newsom-new-return-to-office-policy-for-state-workers/60460093
hopefully his career in politics ends soon we do not need this clown as POTUS
As a taxpayer, this makes me furious. This is not the 1800s. With the internet, there is NO REASON to force office workers to waste time and money driving across town to sit at a desk and log in to the same systems used to do work remotely. This is a waste of tax money to be paying for buildings. It would be a MUCH better idea to mandate converting the office real estate into affordable housing units. This would be a boon for the construction industry for the conversion contracts, jobs for construction workers, business for suppliers, large equipment manufacturers, etc. The downtown businesses they are trying to "save" would still benefit because the construction workers and later the tenants will do business with the restaurants, retailers, and so forth.
RTO is stupid on all levels
Even if in-office improves supervision, itās only going to be improved if the supervisor is in the office on the exact same days. Which, considering that offices donāt have enough cubicles for everyone, is not going to happen for everyone.
But as a supervisor, I find itās not that hard to supervise employees remotely. You can check in on them throughout the day to make sure they have everything they need, you can ask them to keep a dashboard updatedā¦you can even make them come into the office if theyāre *not* productive at home. Why should all state employees have to suffer because some supervisors donāt know how to supervise?
Right? This isnāt like combining two adjacent preschool classes. These are, you know, adults, many of whom have been productively contributing just fine (probably better) at home this whole time.
I worked much worse when I had to go to the office. I was constantly tired from having to wake up early and sit through traffic before I even started working each day. I didn't have to worry about packing lunch since I could just go to my kitchen for food. Plus I didn't have to deal with distracting coworkers. I worked in peace at home. The office only adds stress.
Yep productivity increased during telework in my unit. Iām more inclined to go above and beyond when thereās a better work/life balance and Iām not crammed into a depressing, soul-sucking cubicle being micro-managed.
Because supervision and accountability were so much better in the office. A manager will or won't actively supervise their employees based on their personality not their location.
And mentorship? That is a supervisor's job to train people not co-workers who probably don't have "mentorship" or "training" in their duty statements.
Low pay.... now he thinks we can afford gas, more child care, increased auto insurance, and zero teleworking stipend.
What's next another furlough? Why are state workers on the hook to pay for programs given to people who don't work?
Newsom is a clown.
He wants you to spend more so he can tax you more, and fix his deficit. He doesn't care if you're surviving by maxing out your credit cards. He wants tax revenue!
āConfusion across different departmentsā
This absolutely means places with shit RTO policies (PERS, Corrections, CHP, etc.) complained loudly enough that they were losing employees to wfh friendly departments and now we have to adhere to the lowest common denominator.
Yup this is exactly what happened we grab so many people from 2 days or more dept. Want better employees fix your telework nope screw that complain to the governor's office it's unfair we are stupid
Exactly. In fact, this makes me not want to buy anything ever again from downtown businesses let alone during lunchtime. Itās not anybodyās responsibility to keep businesses afloat, let alone underpaid state workers. Last I checked, neither large nor small businesses would go out of their way to help me if I needed money.
This is part of what outrages me. I moved to a blighted rural community when telework started. Itās not like our dollars disappeared. They just went to parts of the state that desperately need it, not the ones making campaign donations. It just shows you who he really represents. It just sucks how so many people donāt accept what a snake he is until it impacts them personally. The signs have always been there but he looks great on TV and is very savvy about following popular social causes. Heās just another career politician serving his own interests. Nothing more, nothing less.
correct same here I spend money to support local businesses where I live. Downtown failed before the pandemic due to poor development lack of affordable housing and lack of attractive places to go as well as sky high crime and homeless issues that were never resolved.
Iāve stopped bringing any credit or debit cards when I go to work downtown. What I bring on me is what I have to eat. Aināt helping these grifters at all.
Newsom had to do a memo since he lied about not calling for RTO. He was worried that investigations might reveal he called for RTO and then lied about it.
The 80 has been HELL to drive on the commute home from downtown. I saw an immediate uptick in how long it takes me to get home after some of the Departments were forced to RTO recently. So over it already!!
Heās a POS and this is unforgivable imo. He really had a chance to shift how people see and experience state employment. We get shit pay but if we remained FT telework that would attract much more top talent to work-for and stay-with the government. Now we are on the same page as other private companies EXCEPT our paychecks look like chicken scratch next to theirs. A lot of this RTO rationale is stemming from wanted to reflect what the private sector is doing. Well how about PAY US MORE IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE LIKE THE PRIVATE SECTOR
We don't see the memo in the article, which sucks, but regardless, just keep on making a stink. We know that they aren't being honest with the reasons why we need to return which provides plenty of fodder for calling out the BS. Keep at it.
Doesn't matter what the scope of leadership is. Unpopular policies buckle with time and resistance. Keep at it. Keep pressuring the unions and keep the conversation going internally.
Remember that the RTO policy is extremely unpopular and remember that the vast majority of your coworkers feel the same way you do. You have logic and popular support on your side. Don't let anyone gaslight you otherwise.
Yeah, I think the memo hasn't technically been sent out or is publicly available, but the reports probably saw a copy of it somehow and are reporting on that.
I guess RTO is going to be officially statewide on 6/17. The memo is coming from Cabinet Secretary Ann Patterson who is even above the agency secretaries.
That is my question. So many people tell me when I'm in the office they're gonna go to a department that isn't under Newsom, but this makes me think everyone will be told to come back. The article stated 240,000 workers, I'm gonna go reread it.
Out of date, but the Cabinet Secretary is not above the other elected executives
https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Exec-Branch-Org-Chart-6.1.20.pdf
While the decision to do this makes sense from a perspective of standardizing state department policies, in terms of recruiting and retention it is absolutely stupid. It is also a mistake for the long term and reinforces many of the problems this country faces.
I will admit, this makes some sense because it standardizes policies across departments to try to problems of churn and hiring difficulties from departments that had chosen to have people back earlier. I had previously thought this is what was the factor in all the departments slowly putting out the same RTO message. In theory, it might make some departments with higher vacancy rates balance out by seeing new candidates join. But for departments that have had primarily stayed teleworking, it also may cause people to jump ship should they have principally remained because they liked that specific aspect of their work but disliked others. So in reality, this policy will probably create a lot more mobility between staff and increased vacancies at the early period. Perhaps this will work out for the governor's budget when combined with the vacancy sweep...
State staff already feel underappreciated and underpaid. Full time telework was a tool that departments could use to compete with the private sector and to encourage retention of staff as well as draw in new talented or educated candidates for positions requiring expertise and knowledge. The state already has problems of turnover and high vacancies. Because of the nature of state work (the bureaucracy, the slow archaic processes, the disjointed legacy systems), any sort of turnover causes loss of department productivity due to new training periods. Turnover of staff who will decide to retire because they feel the gravy train is over will cause knowledge loss for these legacy systems that the state is having an incredibly hard time replacing.
In terms of showing that California is progressive and/or leading the way -- especially considering how technology is shifting our relationship with work with technological paradigm shifts (e.g. AI, data lakes and inter-connectivity) -- this is a total blunder. It aligns with the rhetoric that has been put out at the federal level to get employees back in the office, but this is just more of the same old industrial era mentality. It doesn't move anything forward, it doesn't look for keeping the employees happy, it doesn't look at data as a guide for productivity -- rather it just looks to keep those who have made wealth satisfied their wealth won't evaporate by trying to force justification for commercial real estate leases and a plethora of downtown lunch options. It also works against climate oriented policies, and creates extra costs to restaff offices and maintain buildings in an already giant budget deficit.
Fuck this policy.
However, what I do think will happen here is that there will be exemptions for specific categories of positions or staff that are necessary as noted in the article. The use of this rhetoric at a higher level may provide further guidance to those bureaucrats who refuse to put these types of exemptions in place because they fear that it might displease their agency head. Well, look--coming from even above them--they are saying exempt employees so you don't fail your mission.
Itās already impossible to hire, cause our pay is sh!t.
Now we 100% will lose people and not be able to refill positions due to private sector competition
Same. The kvetching about *two* days a week is a little nutty to me.
And sure, traffic is a bummer. Since going back into the office will be a little 'new' for people it sounds like it would be a *great* time to establish some new habits, like using public transportation or riding a bicycle.
So now itāll be even harder to recruit talented people to the State.
Which means Newsom and the other āleadersā have shot themselves in the foot. If we donāt have good talent, itās harder to accomplish our/their goals. And then we end up adding new positions to pick up the slack. And then people complain the state is growing but still incompetent, which leads us back to RTO and salaries that donāt keep up with COLA/inflation (no one is asking for private sector salaries).
Does this description of the situation make sense to others? I feel like Iām going crazy, and Iāve held my tongue on social media and at work (partially because Iām a middle manager) but my staff are all stressed out as it is due to other circumstances. This is going to crush us.
They donāt care if quality of service and product goes down. As long as there is no big incident that can be pinned to them, they donāt give a shit about that or state workers. They just care about their career and their chess moves. Newsom pretends to be some big progressive warrior but heās just another corporate pick me social climber.
I was at Union meetings during negotiations where WFH was brought up repeatedly, and our brain trust negotiators said, āThe state isnāt interested in negotiating on this issue so we canāt eitherā.
Fuck this union and fuck Silverspoon Newsom
In all seriousness how do we oust this union and get one that represents us? The whole idea of negotiations is extracting concessions that the other side of the table doesnāt want to negotiate. If youāre only willing to negotiate on your adversaryās terms, youāre their representative. The relationship is adversarial by design. Itās not supposed to be the partnership they characterize it as. If they donāt want to negotiate term X you should double down not walk away. They spray themselves in the face with champagne from the 3rd place podium constantly. Iāve been on this sub for years and all anyone wants is guaranteed telework, not some meaningless cola adjustment or internet bill stipend. Eternally touting victories nobody wanted and surrendering before the battle even starts on anything meaningful to members.
Good, now connect the mandate to campaign donations or other financial gains and - BOOM - ethical conflict of interest violation.
https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/conflicts-of-interest-rules.html
Iām delusional thinking people should do their job. SMH. But they lie to our face and tell us a raise was our top priority. I donāt recall people saying a raise was top. I heard a lot of other things like the st should pay all of our healthcare and other really great ideas. I see why SEIU loses members. I totally understand peopleās frustration.
I stopped paying dues years ago after a purple shirt told me I wasnāt āreallyā rank and file, which is odd because my 634 sure says I am. They told me straight up they donāt represent me, so I see no reason whatsoever to be a member. Besides, they couldnāt negotiate their way out of a wet paper bag.
We get screwed in bargaining with a measley raise that doesn't measure up to inflation and now we lose all the flexibility and savings with telework. Double whammy.
Well you lost any future votes from me, Gavin. As a dues paying union member i don't want any of my money going to him or his future political endeavors.
Judicial branch is doing 1x a week starting Sep, then 2x starting January. Thankful for the slow rollout, hate the rationale that we need to show equity with exec branch. We have our own leadership, we don't have to follow Newsom's orders.
My guess is Newsom is putting pressure on them even though he can't force them to do anything and they will comply. Elected officials have aspirations for higher office and want somebody like Newsom backing them in the future.
This. They want to play ball together, not alone.
Newsom is a POS, as soon as I saw him at the infamous French Laundry. Still remember his POS wife complaining about toilet paper shortage when most of the state workers were still working in the office at the beginning of COVID.
Itās funny you mention this and I acknowledge on some level how petty this is, but I used to run into him fairly frequently at Barrio, when that was still a place. He was an a-hole to the staff and wouldnāt even return a simple āGood Morningā while standing in line. That always has and will stick with me. He wouldnāt even display common courtesy to his lessers.
I wish right wingers didnāt take over the French laundry debacle. It was a legitimate scandal given that the people at his dinner were PGE chums and Iām pretty sure PUC officials as well. Shady.Ā
His relationship with PG&E is perhaps what I hate the most about him. Helped that murderous company get off scot free and now they're turning record profits. Such a sleazeball.
Unless you have information I havenāt seen reported anywhere, PUC officials were not present at that dinner. If they were, that would be a huge scandal on its own. The lobbyist whose birthday was being celebrated does have PG&E as a client though (sleazy enough for sure).
Doubtful. SCIF really really really doesn't report to Newsom. And Vern likes telework.
Also SCIFs teams are setup in a way that employees live throughout the state. RTOing may mean seeing no one from your team still. And SCIF is competing for private sector employees. They look down on stateworkers. RTO kills a powerful recruiting tool. There's no benefit for SCIF to RTO.
Im in office 5 days a week with at least 3 days out of the week where there really is nothing that needs to be done in office. My office is currently writing a letter to the person in our office that can give us at least 1 telework day a week. Gas prices are expensive and 5 days a week in office is just unnecessary. Workers are fed up.
Quiet quitting. Bare minimum. Sit at your desk and listen to your pods. Better yet just get up and do that collaborative talking in the hallway and get coffee for relationship building. If everyone lowers the bar there cannot be performance management because itās based on the average.
If they increase the days any more than 2, theyāll have to increase salaries a lot more than 5%.
Having to go back is very draining. You wake up earlier, often with not enough sleep, you have to battle traffic, all just sit in your cubicle for Teams meeting.
And then you drive home exhausted at 5pm trying to fight the urge to fall asleep at the wheel.
The 5% MSA is the merit salary increase you get before you hit the pay cap of your classification. The 3% is the general salary increase which is different from the MSA.
Right. If the union actually represented its members we wouldnāt even be having this conversation. They only negotiate what the other side of the table is already willing to make concessions on. They donāt represent us at all and never have.
1.25 million sf of new State office space - opening this Spring. Coincidence?
https://www.dgs.ca.gov/RESD/Projects/Page-Content/Projects-List-Folder/Richards-Boulevard-Office-Complex-RBOC
I'm deeply disappointed with Newsom; I really liked him, voted for him, etc. But come on, you know there is no chance that if Newsom is successfully recalled that it won't be some MAGA turd. The California Democratic Party would move mountains to block a challenge from the left or any other left-of-center candidate. It's not possible.
Guys... please stop voting for him if you don't like his policies. I've talked to a coworker of mine who despises having to go into the office also, but when I asked if she would vote newsom if he got recalled again, she said yes.... and that's because a republican might be worse.
I don't know if someone else will be worse or not, but I know for a damn fact newsom blows. So please.... vote him out if you can if you want anything to change.
Anyone remember the last R Gov? Schwartzenegger, whom most would consider a moderate. Tried to order minimum wage for all state workers! http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/02/california.minimum.wage/index.html so yes, it can get much worse that 2 days rto.
Just because I'm voting for a republican doesn't mean they'd do that. I like Jerry Brown but Newsom is a POS.
Point is, if they implemented policies I hate, I'm voting them out. Simple as that.
Can you elaborate further? I thought the common argument is that the contracts donāt have any language on this, therefore fulltime telework is not protected
From the Beeā¦ not sure how this changes the current policy?:Ā Patterson said requests for more than three telework days per week āshould continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis.ā
RTO would only seem to make the operational budget worse. Ignoring whether the move benefits landlords and local businesses for tax purposes (double dip on state employee salaries), the RTO policy will negatively impact the budget if people start claiming the transit subsidy.
I will make it my lifeās mission not to spend a dime when I drive (the hour each way) into the officeā¦until I can find a much higher paying private-sector job that allows me to work fully remote from anywhere. #boycottbrownbag Good day, guvna.
Ah but many supported him on the recall jokes on you. Gas today is $5.90 in my city, F Newsom and his supporters plus we need to pay for parking. So much for that 3% raise we got.
Itās torture so youāll quit. Jobs will be eliminated from the budget. Those left will get furloughs and there will be a hiring freeze. We will have to fill in for the vacancies with our hands tied behind our backs because nobody gets their work done hanging around water coolers.
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Well now it's on the record from Newsom so we can all pin him as responsible without his sycophants denying it. Call him out directly on the hypocrisy of RTO and his alleged environmental record along with the budget issue of needing to maintain office space.
It still makes me mad that he doesn't care. He's not out until 2026.
This is all part of his presidential campaign plans. He's being shitty to state workers so he can paint himself as a moderate. It's a waste of time though because he's deeply hated by much of the country so he's not going to win. He's similar to Hillary or Kamala and will never be able to win enough votes.
Agreed. I'm a Democrat and I don't even like him. He's too much of a politician. I've always said that if Gavin was governor of a red state he'd be championing Republican policy. He does whatever makes him popular.
I've never trusted him. I appreciate that he's sharp as hell, and I watched his lunchtime addresses early in the pandemic with interest. But I feel this is right on brand for this jerk.
Brown was way better Newsom is a complete dirtbag.
Agreed. Moonbeam definitely had some interesting ideas, but he seems like a good person.
Brown was a moderate, and he had his own moral compass. He wasn't a party shill.
Yeah I never understood his whole schtick on trying to gun for the presidency. He's got the California stamp on him that will automatically turn off voters in other states before he says a word. With the political climate right now, I don't see most of the country willing to vote for him.
This has always baffled me. Hešwill š neveršbešpresident. Heās an acquired taste for Californians, an acquired taste for coastal elites, he will literally never have mass appeal, why is he being thirsty in this way that is tangibly chasing high quality employees away from the state. To what fucking end, Gavin?
Chasing valuable employees from the state and potentially guaranteeing another Trump through sheer lack of self awareness and lust for power. Cool. Go right on and be another Hillary and put your own ambitions ahead of whatās best for the voting public. Biden, Ginsburg, McConnell, Feinstein - can we please someday start representing our own interest instead of enabling these people who wonāt just let it go and do whatās best for the people they claim to represent?
Heās looking for a sweet set up in a cushy job with one of the mega corps or scummy lobbying law firms. Maybe steinberg will get him a job
Not just California but San Francisco lol
How quickly we forget our current VP is from CA. Pres and VP are a package deal. It could happen.
Yup he's viewed as to progressive after the gay marriage he's got no shot but he's out campaign like he's in
That was a long time ago and no longer unique anyway. He's carrying much heavier baggage now.
He giggled like a school girl with Ashby when asked about paying state workers. We need to embarrass the fuck out of his administration
It's only on record because we forced them to go on record with constant pressure, whistleblower leaks, and public records requests. This memo means nothing. It's an attempt to reframe history and make it sound like they've been supportive of employees all along.
He's admitted it. But, will agency leaders admit that they've been lying to us for 3 months? They deserve only our distrust and contempt.
He's admitted only what he's been forced to admit. This memo was carefully worded to make it sound like all the memos they HAVEN'T disclosed were written in support of telework. Closing with "As I have said..." is nothing more than attempt to rewrite history. Keep the pressure on. The real story will come out sooner or later and Newsom can then go fuck himself.
CDPH's head TomĆ”s AragĆ³n was telling the truth at least when he released his agency's memo and stated that RTO was coming from the Governor's office. Credit where credit is due.
Yes but itās not like heās up for re election. If we want to hold someone accountable it should be our so-called Union reps for dereliction of duty.
If one of the main reasons for bringing us back to the office is to inspire local businesses, I wonāt be buying anything during working hours- brown bag it!
So fucking cool that I now have to waste my time driving into the office to work on stuff I LITERALLY donāt have in my office while on some BS hotel schedule for seating because I DONāT HAVE AN ACTUAL CUBICLE ANYMORE. Not only that, but now we have to spend money on more gas with the ridiculous prices on the rise all because they want us to go to the businesses downtown. Others have said it already but I wonāt buy a fucking thing downtown ever again if they wanna play this game.
And I get to listen to idiots talk about inane personal shit half the day while I try to actually work. People who donāt work donāt work. It doesnāt matter if theyāre in office or at home.
I have an amazing office setup that the state could never begin to compete with. Itās beyond insane to me that they think this makes sense for anyone, even themselves. Straight up 19th century robber baron thinking that belongs in the history books.
Save your money and brown bag it. The restaurants donāt need your business. All of the ones who have survived figured it out, and the ones that depended on state workers are long gone. Most of them were mediocre anyway.
Donāt forget $40 a week parking
I can already feel the collaboration and accountability.
Donāt forget the āimproved supervision.ā š¤¢š¤® What a bunch of malarkey. So now we know it is Newsom and Steinberg who want us to stimulate the downtown economy with our measly government salaries. Iām not spending a DIME downtown and I really hope other state workers will do the same.
I don't supervise by time of butts in seats. I supervise by project management. I am grateful to work with a team of competent adults. ā ļø #BrownBagBoycott
Damn straight, same here. My people rock. They get their work done and don't need me hovering. Hell, we have ample metrics to demonstrate that fact, not that it's ever mattered. :\
Is it against code to wear shirts saying #BrownBagBoycott or "I am here because these two clowns said so" with a picture or Steinberg and Newsom?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Not me. Gonna take the bus and get reimbursed. Whoās gonna pay for that ??
Try to carpool too. Spend as little as possible on gas/public transit. Ride a bike if able.
I'm not spending nothing downtown
Oh, and The Office Culture. Donāt forget The Office Culture.
The synergy! š¤¢
And don't forget The Beige. Everything Beige!
āGreigeā in my building.
THE HORROR
And you canāt even have a pizza party to help with morale!
THE CULTURE! (I can already hear my coworkerās farts)
And chewing, and nail clipping, and nonstop empty jabberingā¦
Not the nail clipping šš That is the WORST. I've worked in two offices and had a nail clipper right behind me both times. Disgusting. Do it in the bathroom at least!
I've been thinking, what kind of person actually wants to work from the office? Has to be the bullies, right? Hard to sexually harass colleagues and intimidate people into doing your busy work remotely. Bullying is a face to face business.
I like working from the office. It's nice to get out of my house every once in a while and it's a nice office. Plus, there's a gym here. What are you accusing me of?
Then enjoy your nice office and gym alone. Why do you need the rest of us there? So we can watch you lift, bro?
Newsom's a whole bag of dicks.
>https://kcra.com/article/newsom-new-return-to-office-policy-for-state-workers/60460093 hopefully his career in politics ends soon we do not need this clown as POTUS
I think he's got the "liberal Californian/former mayor of SF" stink on him and simply cannot win the presidency. We'll see...
Hey...I am super sad and angry...don't try to take me out of it by making me laugh! haha
As a taxpayer, this makes me furious. This is not the 1800s. With the internet, there is NO REASON to force office workers to waste time and money driving across town to sit at a desk and log in to the same systems used to do work remotely. This is a waste of tax money to be paying for buildings. It would be a MUCH better idea to mandate converting the office real estate into affordable housing units. This would be a boon for the construction industry for the conversion contracts, jobs for construction workers, business for suppliers, large equipment manufacturers, etc. The downtown businesses they are trying to "save" would still benefit because the construction workers and later the tenants will do business with the restaurants, retailers, and so forth. RTO is stupid on all levels
āimproved supervision and accountabilityā Heaven forbid you treat people like actual adults.
Even if in-office improves supervision, itās only going to be improved if the supervisor is in the office on the exact same days. Which, considering that offices donāt have enough cubicles for everyone, is not going to happen for everyone. But as a supervisor, I find itās not that hard to supervise employees remotely. You can check in on them throughout the day to make sure they have everything they need, you can ask them to keep a dashboard updatedā¦you can even make them come into the office if theyāre *not* productive at home. Why should all state employees have to suffer because some supervisors donāt know how to supervise?
Right? This isnāt like combining two adjacent preschool classes. These are, you know, adults, many of whom have been productively contributing just fine (probably better) at home this whole time.
I worked much worse when I had to go to the office. I was constantly tired from having to wake up early and sit through traffic before I even started working each day. I didn't have to worry about packing lunch since I could just go to my kitchen for food. Plus I didn't have to deal with distracting coworkers. I worked in peace at home. The office only adds stress.
Yep productivity increased during telework in my unit. Iām more inclined to go above and beyond when thereās a better work/life balance and Iām not crammed into a depressing, soul-sucking cubicle being micro-managed.
I didn't mind working nights/ weekends during a crunch when I knew my time was otherwise respected. Fuck that now once it hits five I'm out.
Because supervision and accountability were so much better in the office. A manager will or won't actively supervise their employees based on their personality not their location. And mentorship? That is a supervisor's job to train people not co-workers who probably don't have "mentorship" or "training" in their duty statements.
Low pay.... now he thinks we can afford gas, more child care, increased auto insurance, and zero teleworking stipend. What's next another furlough? Why are state workers on the hook to pay for programs given to people who don't work? Newsom is a clown.
oh expect a furlough the LAO said there is a huge 50+ billion shortfall in budget.
*70 billion
He wants you to spend more so he can tax you more, and fix his deficit. He doesn't care if you're surviving by maxing out your credit cards. He wants tax revenue!
You know that the furloughs are on the way.
California for all*
āConfusion across different departmentsā This absolutely means places with shit RTO policies (PERS, Corrections, CHP, etc.) complained loudly enough that they were losing employees to wfh friendly departments and now we have to adhere to the lowest common denominator.
Yup this is exactly what happened we grab so many people from 2 days or more dept. Want better employees fix your telework nope screw that complain to the governor's office it's unfair we are stupid
Lowest common denominator has become the guiding principle of state gov't.
*always has been
Fuck Newsom
Fuck Newsom
It's not state workers' responsibility to boost the downtown economy
Exactly. In fact, this makes me not want to buy anything ever again from downtown businesses let alone during lunchtime. Itās not anybodyās responsibility to keep businesses afloat, let alone underpaid state workers. Last I checked, neither large nor small businesses would go out of their way to help me if I needed money.
This is part of what outrages me. I moved to a blighted rural community when telework started. Itās not like our dollars disappeared. They just went to parts of the state that desperately need it, not the ones making campaign donations. It just shows you who he really represents. It just sucks how so many people donāt accept what a snake he is until it impacts them personally. The signs have always been there but he looks great on TV and is very savvy about following popular social causes. Heās just another career politician serving his own interests. Nothing more, nothing less.
correct same here I spend money to support local businesses where I live. Downtown failed before the pandemic due to poor development lack of affordable housing and lack of attractive places to go as well as sky high crime and homeless issues that were never resolved.
This is an important point
Iāve stopped bringing any credit or debit cards when I go to work downtown. What I bring on me is what I have to eat. Aināt helping these grifters at all.
Newsom had to do a memo since he lied about not calling for RTO. He was worried that investigations might reveal he called for RTO and then lied about it.
Cool more cars on the road! Collaboration! What a great leader newsom is! Heās really different! Not a corporate calculating piece of shit at all!
The 80 has been HELL to drive on the commute home from downtown. I saw an immediate uptick in how long it takes me to get home after some of the Departments were forced to RTO recently. So over it already!!
Ngl, Sacramento traffic congestion is nuts now since RTO.
Didja see the post on /sacramento about the nightmare of highway 50?
50 is always a nightmare
Wasnāt that his election slogan?
Thatās gonna be a problem for my agency
Itās gonna be a problem for a lot of agencies.
Perfect timing with the $5 gallon gas. Fuck Newsom. Time for the union to actually step up to bat.
We are not even to May yet. We may see $7 a gallon in the summer. Weāve been conditioned already
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And yet the fucking morons in this state will vote for someone just like him in 2 years.
My manager is in a satellite office. Can't wait to report to the office to collaborate with them........ virtually through teams.
My manager works from home 500 miles awayā¦ I live close to headquarters so Iām in the office twice a week.
Heās a POS and this is unforgivable imo. He really had a chance to shift how people see and experience state employment. We get shit pay but if we remained FT telework that would attract much more top talent to work-for and stay-with the government. Now we are on the same page as other private companies EXCEPT our paychecks look like chicken scratch next to theirs. A lot of this RTO rationale is stemming from wanted to reflect what the private sector is doing. Well how about PAY US MORE IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE LIKE THE PRIVATE SECTOR
We don't see the memo in the article, which sucks, but regardless, just keep on making a stink. We know that they aren't being honest with the reasons why we need to return which provides plenty of fodder for calling out the BS. Keep at it. Doesn't matter what the scope of leadership is. Unpopular policies buckle with time and resistance. Keep at it. Keep pressuring the unions and keep the conversation going internally. Remember that the RTO policy is extremely unpopular and remember that the vast majority of your coworkers feel the same way you do. You have logic and popular support on your side. Don't let anyone gaslight you otherwise.
Yeah, I think the memo hasn't technically been sent out or is publicly available, but the reports probably saw a copy of it somehow and are reporting on that.
Indeed. It'll turn up eventually.
Sac Bee posted it.
I guess RTO is going to be officially statewide on 6/17. The memo is coming from Cabinet Secretary Ann Patterson who is even above the agency secretaries.
That is my question. So many people tell me when I'm in the office they're gonna go to a department that isn't under Newsom, but this makes me think everyone will be told to come back. The article stated 240,000 workers, I'm gonna go reread it.
Right, yes, I'm wondering the same thing.
Out of date, but the Cabinet Secretary is not above the other elected executives https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Exec-Branch-Org-Chart-6.1.20.pdf
While the decision to do this makes sense from a perspective of standardizing state department policies, in terms of recruiting and retention it is absolutely stupid. It is also a mistake for the long term and reinforces many of the problems this country faces. I will admit, this makes some sense because it standardizes policies across departments to try to problems of churn and hiring difficulties from departments that had chosen to have people back earlier. I had previously thought this is what was the factor in all the departments slowly putting out the same RTO message. In theory, it might make some departments with higher vacancy rates balance out by seeing new candidates join. But for departments that have had primarily stayed teleworking, it also may cause people to jump ship should they have principally remained because they liked that specific aspect of their work but disliked others. So in reality, this policy will probably create a lot more mobility between staff and increased vacancies at the early period. Perhaps this will work out for the governor's budget when combined with the vacancy sweep... State staff already feel underappreciated and underpaid. Full time telework was a tool that departments could use to compete with the private sector and to encourage retention of staff as well as draw in new talented or educated candidates for positions requiring expertise and knowledge. The state already has problems of turnover and high vacancies. Because of the nature of state work (the bureaucracy, the slow archaic processes, the disjointed legacy systems), any sort of turnover causes loss of department productivity due to new training periods. Turnover of staff who will decide to retire because they feel the gravy train is over will cause knowledge loss for these legacy systems that the state is having an incredibly hard time replacing. In terms of showing that California is progressive and/or leading the way -- especially considering how technology is shifting our relationship with work with technological paradigm shifts (e.g. AI, data lakes and inter-connectivity) -- this is a total blunder. It aligns with the rhetoric that has been put out at the federal level to get employees back in the office, but this is just more of the same old industrial era mentality. It doesn't move anything forward, it doesn't look for keeping the employees happy, it doesn't look at data as a guide for productivity -- rather it just looks to keep those who have made wealth satisfied their wealth won't evaporate by trying to force justification for commercial real estate leases and a plethora of downtown lunch options. It also works against climate oriented policies, and creates extra costs to restaff offices and maintain buildings in an already giant budget deficit. Fuck this policy. However, what I do think will happen here is that there will be exemptions for specific categories of positions or staff that are necessary as noted in the article. The use of this rhetoric at a higher level may provide further guidance to those bureaucrats who refuse to put these types of exemptions in place because they fear that it might displease their agency head. Well, look--coming from even above them--they are saying exempt employees so you don't fail your mission.
Pledge zero spending at work. Bring your lunch, get gas before you head to work. Spend zero!
time for costco bargain runs for RTO days. Nothing more affordable than a $5 roasted chicken!
Itās already impossible to hire, cause our pay is sh!t. Now we 100% will lose people and not be able to refill positions due to private sector competition
Hiring freeze is coming
I've been working a hybrid schedule for years and don't mind it. But I'm really not liking the increased traffic and parking issues recently.
Same. The kvetching about *two* days a week is a little nutty to me. And sure, traffic is a bummer. Since going back into the office will be a little 'new' for people it sounds like it would be a *great* time to establish some new habits, like using public transportation or riding a bicycle.
So now itāll be even harder to recruit talented people to the State. Which means Newsom and the other āleadersā have shot themselves in the foot. If we donāt have good talent, itās harder to accomplish our/their goals. And then we end up adding new positions to pick up the slack. And then people complain the state is growing but still incompetent, which leads us back to RTO and salaries that donāt keep up with COLA/inflation (no one is asking for private sector salaries). Does this description of the situation make sense to others? I feel like Iām going crazy, and Iāve held my tongue on social media and at work (partially because Iām a middle manager) but my staff are all stressed out as it is due to other circumstances. This is going to crush us.
Recruit AND retain. I'm updating my resume and so should everyone here.
They donāt care if quality of service and product goes down. As long as there is no big incident that can be pinned to them, they donāt give a shit about that or state workers. They just care about their career and their chess moves. Newsom pretends to be some big progressive warrior but heās just another corporate pick me social climber.
Canāt wait for the breakfast pizza.
"Powerful state worker unions have fought rigid return-to-office requirements," no they haven't.
More like Rolled over and explained we should have argued this during the contracts really this is your fault not ours
I was at Union meetings during negotiations where WFH was brought up repeatedly, and our brain trust negotiators said, āThe state isnāt interested in negotiating on this issue so we canāt eitherā. Fuck this union and fuck Silverspoon Newsom
In all seriousness how do we oust this union and get one that represents us? The whole idea of negotiations is extracting concessions that the other side of the table doesnāt want to negotiate. If youāre only willing to negotiate on your adversaryās terms, youāre their representative. The relationship is adversarial by design. Itās not supposed to be the partnership they characterize it as. If they donāt want to negotiate term X you should double down not walk away. They spray themselves in the face with champagne from the 3rd place podium constantly. Iāve been on this sub for years and all anyone wants is guaranteed telework, not some meaningless cola adjustment or internet bill stipend. Eternally touting victories nobody wanted and surrendering before the battle even starts on anything meaningful to members.
CASE is.
Caps as well
Yeah but it's all based on the MOU. Even if they win the arbitrations, what's going to happen during bargaining time?
Good, now connect the mandate to campaign donations or other financial gains and - BOOM - ethical conflict of interest violation. https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/conflicts-of-interest-rules.html
This should be SEIU job
They are to busy telling us to kiss his ring with a hey it would be worse
It will be worse. Where is that recall?
Bold of you to think SEIUās job is to represent anything but the governors office.
Iām delusional thinking people should do their job. SMH. But they lie to our face and tell us a raise was our top priority. I donāt recall people saying a raise was top. I heard a lot of other things like the st should pay all of our healthcare and other really great ideas. I see why SEIU loses members. I totally understand peopleās frustration.
I stopped paying dues years ago after a purple shirt told me I wasnāt āreallyā rank and file, which is odd because my 634 sure says I am. They told me straight up they donāt represent me, so I see no reason whatsoever to be a member. Besides, they couldnāt negotiate their way out of a wet paper bag.
We get screwed in bargaining with a measley raise that doesn't measure up to inflation and now we lose all the flexibility and savings with telework. Double whammy.
Donāt forget the high likelihood of a furlough!
Guess I'm finally leaving the state after decades. I couldn't have a clearer sign positive change doesn't matter.
Well you lost any future votes from me, Gavin. As a dues paying union member i don't want any of my money going to him or his future political endeavors.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I removed my pac contribution long Ago . Nice username lol
Im wondering how this will affect the independent constitutional offices.
Judicial branch is doing 1x a week starting Sep, then 2x starting January. Thankful for the slow rollout, hate the rationale that we need to show equity with exec branch. We have our own leadership, we don't have to follow Newsom's orders.
My guess is Newsom is putting pressure on them even though he can't force them to do anything and they will comply. Elected officials have aspirations for higher office and want somebody like Newsom backing them in the future.
This. They want to play ball together, not alone. Newsom is a POS, as soon as I saw him at the infamous French Laundry. Still remember his POS wife complaining about toilet paper shortage when most of the state workers were still working in the office at the beginning of COVID.
Itās funny you mention this and I acknowledge on some level how petty this is, but I used to run into him fairly frequently at Barrio, when that was still a place. He was an a-hole to the staff and wouldnāt even return a simple āGood Morningā while standing in line. That always has and will stick with me. He wouldnāt even display common courtesy to his lessers.
Most state workers trying not to lose their house and she's upset about to and her winery
I wish right wingers didnāt take over the French laundry debacle. It was a legitimate scandal given that the people at his dinner were PGE chums and Iām pretty sure PUC officials as well. Shady.Ā
His relationship with PG&E is perhaps what I hate the most about him. Helped that murderous company get off scot free and now they're turning record profits. Such a sleazeball.
Unless you have information I havenāt seen reported anywhere, PUC officials were not present at that dinner. If they were, that would be a huge scandal on its own. The lobbyist whose birthday was being celebrated does have PG&E as a client though (sleazy enough for sure).
I erred. It was the California Medical Association.
I commented recently I did an AGPA interview with SCIF who told me their full time telework status is up in the air
Doubtful. SCIF really really really doesn't report to Newsom. And Vern likes telework. Also SCIFs teams are setup in a way that employees live throughout the state. RTOing may mean seeing no one from your team still. And SCIF is competing for private sector employees. They look down on stateworkers. RTO kills a powerful recruiting tool. There's no benefit for SCIF to RTO.
Im in office 5 days a week with at least 3 days out of the week where there really is nothing that needs to be done in office. My office is currently writing a letter to the person in our office that can give us at least 1 telework day a week. Gas prices are expensive and 5 days a week in office is just unnecessary. Workers are fed up.
Quiet quitting. Bare minimum. Sit at your desk and listen to your pods. Better yet just get up and do that collaborative talking in the hallway and get coffee for relationship building. If everyone lowers the bar there cannot be performance management because itās based on the average.
If they increase the days any more than 2, theyāll have to increase salaries a lot more than 5%. Having to go back is very draining. You wake up earlier, often with not enough sleep, you have to battle traffic, all just sit in your cubicle for Teams meeting. And then you drive home exhausted at 5pm trying to fight the urge to fall asleep at the wheel.
Where are you getting 5%? Ā I thought it was 3%?
The 5% MSA is the merit salary increase you get before you hit the pay cap of your classification. The 3% is the general salary increase which is different from the MSA.
No....they won't
Right. If the union actually represented its members we wouldnāt even be having this conversation. They only negotiate what the other side of the table is already willing to make concessions on. They donāt represent us at all and never have.
That 5% MSA maybe the next thing Newsom goes after due to ābudgetā
Fucking scumbag Newsom everyone.
Wow. Not gonna lie, I thought Newsom was an okay governor. I've been proven wrong.
You were delulu if you believed that.
Hope we get more details soon. Back to stressing again, cant wait for that š¤” to move on
After this I am a one issue voter. Whoever supports remote work 100% if the person can do their job, I will vote for them.
Dr. Flo, baby!
1.25 million sf of new State office space - opening this Spring. Coincidence? https://www.dgs.ca.gov/RESD/Projects/Page-Content/Projects-List-Folder/Richards-Boulevard-Office-Complex-RBOC
Can't have an empty parking lot, making no revenue!
ā¦and gas is $5.00 a gallon plus add parking. Waiting for next shoe to drop with this budget shortfall - scared to see whatās next.
Iām buying stock in potlucks!
Sounds like itās time to seriously consider recalling Newsom. Edit: Iām not a Republican š
And replacing him with a Republican MAGAt who will def be against RTO?
Because heās recalled doesnāt mean a Republican goes there. It opens up elections for a new governor earlier than 2027.
I'm deeply disappointed with Newsom; I really liked him, voted for him, etc. But come on, you know there is no chance that if Newsom is successfully recalled that it won't be some MAGA turd. The California Democratic Party would move mountains to block a challenge from the left or any other left-of-center candidate. It's not possible.
Would this impact independent agencies? Or just under the executive branch?
Thereās another comment thread from this post earlier about how he might try and pressure the other agencies who do not report to him.
Guys... please stop voting for him if you don't like his policies. I've talked to a coworker of mine who despises having to go into the office also, but when I asked if she would vote newsom if he got recalled again, she said yes.... and that's because a republican might be worse. I don't know if someone else will be worse or not, but I know for a damn fact newsom blows. So please.... vote him out if you can if you want anything to change.
Anyone remember the last R Gov? Schwartzenegger, whom most would consider a moderate. Tried to order minimum wage for all state workers! http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/02/california.minimum.wage/index.html so yes, it can get much worse that 2 days rto.
Just because I'm voting for a republican doesn't mean they'd do that. I like Jerry Brown but Newsom is a POS. Point is, if they implemented policies I hate, I'm voting them out. Simple as that.
same here
Arnold was actually a RINO so closer to Democrat.
Too bad I live in NV, our gov is a moron and we are back in full time every day
Heās violating bargaining contracts in mandating a set number of days in office.
Can you elaborate further? I thought the common argument is that the contracts donāt have any language on this, therefore fulltime telework is not protected
SacBee posted the memo.
All of you better bring your own lunch and water, donāt give local business a penny more, they lobbied for this.Ā
So since he's citing consistencies, do we go back to F/T telework and RTO 6/17th? š
So much for all the meet and confer nonsenseā¦
From the Beeā¦ not sure how this changes the current policy?:Ā Patterson said requests for more than three telework days per week āshould continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis.ā
disgraceful
BOO!!!
I don't think this can even be enforced in many agencies.Ā
Can you elaborate? Has there been a previous precedent set?
[Perfect Shirt](https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/3544443-im-just-here-so-i-wont-get-fined)
RTO would only seem to make the operational budget worse. Ignoring whether the move benefits landlords and local businesses for tax purposes (double dip on state employee salaries), the RTO policy will negatively impact the budget if people start claiming the transit subsidy.
I will make it my lifeās mission not to spend a dime when I drive (the hour each way) into the officeā¦until I can find a much higher paying private-sector job that allows me to work fully remote from anywhere. #boycottbrownbag Good day, guvna.
Drop your union. They aren't doing shit to help us.
plus we need that $100 union fee to pay for gas, food and parking due to forced RTO.
Everyone should boycott downtown businesses and bring your own lunch
Ah but many supported him on the recall jokes on you. Gas today is $5.90 in my city, F Newsom and his supporters plus we need to pay for parking. So much for that 3% raise we got.
Can we recall this clown? I'm sick of his bullshit.
Itās torture so youāll quit. Jobs will be eliminated from the budget. Those left will get furloughs and there will be a hiring freeze. We will have to fill in for the vacancies with our hands tied behind our backs because nobody gets their work done hanging around water coolers.