Last April, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) told California’s 95,000 hybrid state employees to spend at least two days each week in the office. Then, three months ago, he abruptly doubled that requirement to four in-person days, starting July 1.
The realization of this mandate seems unlikely. First, the Professional Engineers in California Government negotiated a one-year reprieve. Days later, the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers union also secured an extension. In both cases, the unions gave up higher salary demands to avoid working four days in the office.
The symmetry of those deals — short-term payroll givebacks traded for long-term flexibility — makes one wonder: Was the four-day order ever meant to stick? Or was it an opening bid that lured unions to the table on the governor’s terms, letting him shave labor costs in a year when the state is facing a projected $12 billion deficit?…