Exclusive | California state workers unload on Gavin Newsoms return-to-office order: Doesnt make sense

State workers are back in downtown Sacramento offices for their first full week since Gov.Gavin Newsom ordered most state employees who were working remotely return to the office starting July 1 — and they’re not happy about it.The California Post traversed around state offices on Tuesday and spoke to government workers and others who confirmed it’s busier in the office corridor near the Capitol — but said their lives aren’t necessarily better for it, describing rising costs of food and parking, painful commutes and poor morale.

Juan Murillo, a resource strategies analyst who works at the California Energy Commission building, blasted the governor for forcing people back into the office without good-faith bargaining.“The feeling around the office is a little bit off, right? People are a little bit — not necessarily just working remote.It’s the fact that the governor’s office is able to make demands and make decisions on behalf of all of state of California employees,” he said.“What if he’s able to tell us you have to work Saturdays and Sundays? What if what if he’s able to tell us your new schedule is 7:30 a.m.

to whatever, right?” he added.“Just can’t have the governor’s office and any one person really making decisions across the state like that.”Newsom’s order, which applies to roughly 108,000 state employees, is a major shift for workers who had expanded telework arrangements stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now they need to be in the office a minimum of four days per week, though agencies have discretion to make exceptions for operational needs.The return to offices was needed to improve collaboration and public service, Newsom has said.But labor groups representing state employees have protested the decision.

Murillo listed out some of the same issues the groups have flagged that are now personally affecting him and his coworkers.For instance, child care was much easier remote, but balancing that with going int...