Defending California Science
by Fighting Governor Newsom's Harmful
Return-to-Office Mandate
Show up, Speak out!
May 4: Rally for California Science in Sacramento!
On Monday, May 4th, CAPS-UAW members, along with other UAW siblings and community members, will rally in Sacramento to demand Governor Newsom place the California Health & Science Research Bond on the 2026 ballot! The rally will begin at 12PM at the Capitol in Downtown Sacramento, after the rally, CAPS-UAW members will march over to the Swing Space to deliver our RTO bargaining demands to the Governor’s office.
There will be buses and carpools transporting attendees from across the State!
State Worker Union Coalition Sign-on Letter
Our union has joined fellow state employee unions, including SEIU Local 1000, AFSCME 2620, CASE, and others to launch a petition that opposes the Governor’s RTO mandate. Add your name to this State Worker Union Coalition Sign-On Letter to tell Governor Newsom to rescind his costly RTO mandate. Collectively, we are demanding respect and fighting back against attacks on public sector workers.
Assembly Bill 1729
(State Employment: Telework Programs)
CAPS-UAW, in proud partnership with a coalition of other state employee labor unions, helped introduce a bill about Telework. The Telework Bill, AB 1729 ( State Employment: Telework Programs) was introduced by Assemblymember Alex Lee in early February. This is a huge step in our collective fight against the Governor’s arbitrary Executive Order (EO) requiring state employees to return to office 4 days per week, but the bill alone is not enough. Now is the time to stand united in our fight to get the EO overturned. We are stronger together – solidarity forever!
Join Your Union, CAPS-UAW
It’s up to every State Scientist to stand together in our fight for respect. Whether you are a rank-and-file scientist, a supervisor or manager, by joining your union, CAPS-UAW, you strengthen State Scientists’collective power to enforce rights, benefits, and protections, fight for better working conditions, and demand the respect that every State Scientist deserves!
Contact your Representative!
How to find your California State Assembly or Senate representative
You have one elected representative in the State Assembly and one representative in the State Senate. You can find your representative via this tool: https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
Once you’ve found your representative, click through to their website for their phone number or contact form to send an email, or you can find their contact information here: https://legiscan.com/CA/roster
Phone Call Guide
Call the offices of your elected officials to share why you and all state workers across California deserve just compensation and respect. Below is a template to help guide your conversation.
“My name is [Your Name], and I’m a state scientist [and your department if you wish] and a proud member of my union CAPS-UAW. I’m writing to urge you to support AB 1729 and protect State workers’ right to telework.
[Insert your points here — highlight how your work serves the environment, public health, and people of California.]
AB 1729 saves California taxpayers as much as $225 million annually when state workers telework three days a week. California agencies can realize these savings by implementing effective and commonsense telework policies. Failing to adopt these policies will further exacerbate the State’s current budget woes and cause the state to forfeit the potential for additional cost savings if telework were offered four to five days a week.
I respectfully urge you to stand with my coworkers and me in supporting AB 1729.
Thank you for your time and leadership.”
Submit a Comment
Use the template below to let your elected State Representative know why you oppose the Governor’s Return-to-Office mandate.
“Dear [Name of Elected Official],
My name is [Your Name], and I’m a state scientist [and your department if you wish] and a proud member of my union CAPS-UAW. I’m writing to urge you to support AB 1729 and protect State workers’ right to telework.
[Insert a short paragraph here—highlight how your work serves the environment, public health, and people of California.]
AB 1729 saves California taxpayers as much as $225 million annually when state workers telework three days a week. California agencies can realize these savings by implementing effective and commonsense telework policies. Failing to adopt these policies will further exacerbate the State’s current budget woes and cause the state to forfeit the potential for additional cost savings if telework were offered four to five days a week.
I respectfully urge you to stand with my coworkers and me in supporting AB 1729.
Thank you for your time and leadership.”
CAPS-UAW members, along with our state worker siblings, packed the Assembly PERs hearing on April 8!
Last week, over 100 State workers (over 40 of which were CAPS-UAW members) packed the Assembly Committee on Public Employment and Retirement (PERs committee) hearing room to demonstrate our support for AB 1729 (the Telework Bill). Our collective action resulted in the bill passing unanimously, with bipartisan support, through the PERs committee.
If you weren’t able to attend the hearings, call your elected representative and urge them to support AB 1729 and protecting State workers’ right to telework.
Virtual Backgrounds
