Today, the Governor issued the May Budget Revise which was previously represented as being the event which would allow CalHR and the various State bargaining units to commence negotiations over the 2020 side letters which allowed for the implementation of the Personal Leave Program (PLP) and the deferral of certain General Salary Increases (GSI) in existing MOU’s.  The PLP reduced Unit 7 employee pay by 9.23% in exchange for sixteen (16) hours of paid leave each month as well as the suspension of the 4% employee contribution towards retiree health care funding.  The side letter also deferred the 2.5% GSI adjustments in fiscal year 2020/21 and 2021/22.

In anticipation of the May Revise, the CSLEA Negotiations Team crafted proposals for revising the 2020 side letter which were shared informally with CalHR.  Now that the May Revise has been released, CalHR and CLSEA will engage in formal bargaining to address the discontinuance of the PLP, the deferred GSIs, and other proposals to compensate Unit 7 employees for the sacrifices they have made during the pandemic.

Today, CalHR sent a notification letter to CSLEA confirming negotiations will commence regarding the above issues. Once a conceptual agreement has been reached by CSLEA and CalHR, the CSLEA Board of Directors will meet to determine whether to authorize the entry into any new agreement.  CSLEA is optimistic that an agreement will be reached prior to the end of the current fiscal year which will result in increases to employee compensation in the July pay period.  CSLEA will continue to update the membership as developments in bargaining occur.