Fellow Scientists,

Article 7.10.E of our CAPS-UAW MOU states: 

“Department management shall endeavor to provide employees with a minimum of 30 days’ notice for any change in the event of a revision or termination of a Telework Agreement. Thirty days’ notice is the standard by which departments should operate unless emergent issues arise.”

If your department management is attempting to change your current telework schedule, or how often you are required to report in-office, with less than 30 days’ notice, that is a violation of our contract. 

You have the right to:

• Continue following your current telework agreement 

• Refuse to sign a new telework agreement unless it is accompanied by proper notice, as outlined in our MOU

If you are being pressured to update your agreement without proper notice, or report in-office more than you’ve agreed to in your telework agreement, write an email to your supervisor and let them know your rights under our contract. Here is a template: 

“Per the CAPS-UAW MOU, any requests to revise or terminate my telework agreement must come with a minimum 30-day notice.”

Congratulations, PECG workers! 

Yesterday, PECG reached a total tentative agreement with the State, and also agreed to a Side Letter. Their Side Letter #27 suspends the Governor’s 4-day RTO mandate for Unit 9 Engineers until July 1, 2026. PECG’s agreement was won despite the difficult circumstances of the Governor demanding reductions to spending on State employee compensation.

PECG’s Side Letter is a major win and proves what we’ve known all along: Governor Newsom’s 4-day return-to-office has never actually been about increasing collaboration or based on the State’s operational needs, it’s about control. 

What does this mean for us?

The Governor indicated through his May Revise, that he wants us to reopen our contract and engage in concession bargaining, under threat of imposition should we not reach an agreement. We have a closed contract, that we won after four years of fighting for it.

When CalHR reached out to us in May, asking us to come back to the bargaining table to negotiate over budget reductions, our response was and still is: we have a closed contract. Their request to reopen our closed contract before the Budget has been finalized, and threatening to impose changes absent an agreement, circumvents the Dills Act, erodes the foundation of collective bargaining, and undermines the California budget process.  

If the Legislature and/or the Governor do not fully fund the salary increases in our Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the Dills Act allows either party to reopen any provisions of the MOU. This means we would go back to the bargaining table, as we have an obligation to bargain in good faith. We cannot refuse to go back to the table if the economic provisions of our contract are not fully funded. 

We are standing firm, protecting our contractually agreed-upon raises, and fighting RTO. It makes zero sense that Departments mandate that most Scientists come back into the office 4-days a week, especially when other State workers are teleworking more days while doing similar work as Scientists. State Scientists are not just pawns in Newsom’s larger political aspirations. 

Let’s Enforce Our Rights!

Fill out this survey if you:

• Have been instructed to return to the office 4-days a week starting July 1, which conflicts with your approved telework agreement, and/or

• Have been instructed to update your telework agreement with less than 30 days notice to do so, and/or

• Work with Engineers in your office, who will now not be returning to the office 4-days a week, or starting July 1

Responses to the survey will help identify where issues are occurring, help all of us collectively enforce our contract, and strengthen our fight against Newsom’s arbitrary RTO mandate. A fellow Scientist will reach out to you. 

Attend Upcoming Worksite Meetings!

It’s critical that all of us are aware of what’s going on with the State budget, our fight against RTO, and are working together to build our collective power.

Fellow Scientists throughout the State will be facilitating this meeting at various worksite locations. A list of times, dates, and locations for these upcoming worksite meetings is available here.

Don’t have a worksite meeting at your worksite? Host one! If you would like to facilitate an upcoming worksite meeting please reach out to CAPS@capsscientists.org and a fellow Scientist will reach out to you with more information!