Some of California’s highest-paid state workers vote to strike — here’s who they’re angry with

Some of California’s highest-paid public employees are turning up the heat on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration after six months of contract negotiations.

The Union of American Physicians and Dentists, which represents doctors, psychiatrists and other medical staff in state hospitals and prisons, said that 91% of participating members voted on Monday to authorize a strike – the first such vote in state worker history, union leaders claim.

Union leaders say staffing shortages among medical professionals within the state’s hospitals and prisons result in poor care for patients and inmates, and they point to stagnant wages as the main culprit for sluggish hiring. Nearly 45% of psychiatrist positions represented by Bargaining Unit 16 were vacant as of April, according to data from the State Controller’s Office.

The union’s contract expired on July 1, although negotiators have been at the bargaining table since March. The union wants at least 15% raises, but the state’s most recent offer was a total of 6% over three years, union negotiators said.

Just because a strike was authorized doesn’t mean workers will suddenly stop coming to work. Union leaders say there are “plenty of steps to go still” before they’d walk off the job.

“We don’t want to strike,” said Stuart Bussey, president of the union. “We’ve never done this really. This is so frustrating that we’ve come to this point.”

The California Department of Human Resources declined to comment because of ongoing negotiations.

Navreet Mann, a union board member and a senior psychiatrist with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said using limited-term contract employees to fill the care gap might fill vacancies, but it means patients don’t have an opportunity to develop lasting and trusting relationships with their doctors.

“The problem with contractors is when the rate goes up at one facility, they’ll all move to there. And when it goes up at the other facility, because they have a shortage, they’re gonna move there. So there’s no continuity,” Mann said. “You can’t provide care to these patients without actually hiring psychiatrists who will stay.”

Before joining the civil service ranks 12 years ago, Mann started out as a contract psychiatrist for six months. Back then, before the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act limited benefits in 2013, becoming a state worker made more financial sense than working as a contractor.

Now, the union alleges, the opposite is true. A series of 2020 contract amendments between CDCR and vendor Management Solutions LLC, which were reviewed by The Sacramento Bee, show that contract physicians were paid as much as $275 an hour at some facilities, including California State Prison, Sacramento, near Folsom and the California Correctional Center in Susanville. That amounts to roughly $48,400 per month.

Civil service staff psychiatrists who work in state correctional facilities can make as much as $28,600 per month, according to the CalHR pay scale. As a senior psychiatrist, Mann brought home a little more than $30,600 a month in 2022, according to The Bee’s state worker pay database.

The union acknowledges that the stability and benefits associated with state service offset some of the wage disparities. But they argue that the state should still work to close the gap. The last offer they proposed to the state was to increase wages to 12% below the rate of contract workers, according to chief negotiator Patricia Hernandez.

Hernandez said five doctors at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County have recently left their civil service roles and come back to their same jobs as contractors to earn the higher rate.

California Correctional Health Care Services, which provides medical, dental and mental health services to inmates in the state’s 33 prisons, acknowledged that it employs contract workers to fill vacancies and “ensure our patients are receiving an appropriate level of care,” according to a statement Friday. The statement said the division also was recruiting for civil service positions to fill vacancies.

“Compensation for outside contractors is based on a number of factors including location of the facility, demand and other operational factors,” the agency said.