California + unions = peak absurdity

Entitled California unions will make any excuse to prevent their members from (gasp!) returning to work in the office.

From rats and roaches to diversity to childcare costs, union reps have dropped a litany of reasons why they shouldn’t have to get dressed, commute in and show up, despite a state order to report to work four days a week starting July 1, 2026.

The latest laugher: If they drive to work, their cars will emit carbon emissions, exacerbating climate change.  

A union representing state legal workers now argues –– we kid you not –– that a directive that state workers return to the office requires a thorough environmental review.

It’s an argument only a lawyer could love. 

The California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE) claim the return to work order requires review under CEQA, the state’s torturous environmental law.

In a scathing letter, the union called the directive –– initially issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024 –– “a discretionary decision that will have myriad environmental impacts that must be analyzed, disclosed, and mitigated.”

Well, that sounds like a long process. Perhaps the idea is to delay any real obligation to show up until all current state workers have retired. 

Naturally, the union threatens legal action if the state declines to comply.

Hmm. Who exactly is in charge here?

It doesn’t sound like Newsom or legislators, or the Californians who pay for it all: salaries, empty state offices, litigation, CEQA reviews and more.

The union demands land as self-centered, heavy-handed and very entitled.

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Much of the private sector returned to pre-COVID work norms years ago. But state employees, somehow, deserve indefinite special treatment? 

And it’s hard to see an order to show up four days a week as onerous; many private-sector working stiffs would love to work remotely 20% of the time.

Besides, employers should have the right to determine this, perhaps the most basic of all employment conditions. 

Already, union reps’ stalling has delayed, for a year, the implementation of the show-up-to-work order.

And by claiming now that vehicle emissions oblige workers to keep staying home, the unions have turned Newsom’s own climate zeal against him.

It’s all peak absurdity.

CEQA, after all, is generally meant to address the environmental impacts of construction, public works and infrastructure projects –– not driving to existing work sites.

And if state workers are so bothered by carbon emissions, perhaps they should invest in personal electric vehicles, or walk, carpool, bicycle, roller skate, skateboard, or take a bus, train or scooter to the office. 

But really, for union reps, the environmental-review demand is just a pretext, another excuse for doing what they want instead of what’s right or what’s best for Californians. 

It’s clear that unionized state workers will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid working in an actual office. Why?