Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, California state department leaders decided which of their employees were essential and which weren’t under guidelines issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.

Those deemed essential had to keep reporting in-person to prisons, state hospitals, fire stations and office buildings while others could work from home.

Now the administration is issuing $1,500 pandemic bonuses to state law enforcement officers, health care facility employees and firefighters, but not other employees. That’s drawing claims of unfairness from some union representatives.

“It’s just blatantly disrespectful that they will not acknowledge the work and the risk that these two units did,” said Brandy Johnson, an International Union of Operating Engineers representative.

Johnson said all of the roughly 13,000 employees she represents were deemed essential during the pandemic. But only those who work inside prisons — as groundskeepers, maintenance workers, HVAC specialists and other roles — became eligible for the bonuses after the union pressed the administration to include them, Johnson said.

Newsom’s administration has been negotiating with the unions over pandemic pay since spring, after the federal government finalized guidelines specifying how state and local governments could use pandemic relief money to boost pay for public employees by up to $13 per hour.

Several state and local governments, including Sacramento County, settled on “essential” or “hazard” pay bonuses ranging from around $1,500 to $3,000. Some school districts have been distributing bonuses, too. California lawmakers authorized $1,500 payments to all health care employees in the state.

Several state government unions representing eligible employees secured the bonuses with relative ease. The IUOE employees represented by Johnson have shifted toward asking for paid leave instead of cash. At least two unions have rejected the state’s offer and are pressing for more money.

California Human Resources Department spokeswoman Camille Travis did not directly respond to an emailed question about why some essential state workers are receiving the bonuses but not others, saying only that “the bonuses are a result of negotiated agreements.”

Travis didn’t provide a total cost for the bonuses, noting varying conditions for payment under the agreements. The agreements for the three law enforcement unions cover about 42,000 employees, which would equate to about $63 million if all are eligible for $1,500.

$6,000 bonuses for SEIU Local 1000?

All California state employees took base pay cuts of 9.23% from July 2020 to July 2021 when the state anticipated a deep recession early in the coronavirus pandemic. In exchange, state workers received two days off per month. Plus they didn’t have to make contributions toward their retirement health care for the year.

Instead of a deficit, the state ended up with two years of massive budget surpluses fueled by income tax from higher-earners.

When the administration ended the pay cuts, it promised to reopen negotiations over pandemic pay once the federal government issued guidelines for how states could spend stimulus money. That happened in April, but California had already earmarked all of the federal money for other uses. The administration reached agreements for the $1,500 bonuses using other funds.

Service Employees International Union Local 1000, the largest state worker union, represents 100,000 employees across a broad swath of state government, ranging from librarians and office assistants to custodians and prison nurses.

The state offered $1,500 bonuses only to the Local 1000 employees who work in prisons, state hospitals, veterans homes and other health care settings, according to a bargaining update the union posted on its website.

The union last week made a counter: $6,000 bonuses for a larger group of employees, to include those at the Employment Development Department, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and at “scores of other agencies who kept the revenue coming in,” Vice President of Bargaining Irene Green said in the online post.

Green did not make herself available for an interview to provide more detail last week.

CHP, CCPOA contracts

AFSCME Local 2620, which represents about 5,600 employees including psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, pharmacists, dietitians and nutritionists, rejected the state’s $1,500 offer for select classifications in July, according to a post on its website.

“We explained that this proposal fails to recognize the hard work and dedication made by all our members across the state,” a negotiation team said in a note on its website. “Their proposal does not respect the sacrifices that all our members have made by continuing to provide essential services and keeping California running during the pandemic.”

Union president Shukimba Carlis said in a text that there haven’t been any changes since the post.

Pandemic bonus agreements for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and the California Association of Highway Patrolmen include clauses saying that if any other state union receives a bonus larger than $1,500 after negotiations on the same subject, those groups would also be entitled to the same amount. That could affect negotiations for the groups seeking bigger bonuses.

This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 5:25 AM with the headline "Gavin Newsom rewards law enforcement, fire, health care workers with COVID pay. Not others."