2020 Special Legislative Session

Over the last few weeks, thousands of state employees took action: attending rallies, signing petitions, sending letters to legislators, calling the Governor’s office and sharing your stories during legislative hearings. Together, we spoke out, and our collective voices were heard.  

On Thursday evening, July 16, representatives from the governor’s office reached out to restart negotiations over proposed changes to our working conditions.  We appreciate the governor for honoring our rights as workers under the collective bargaining law. 

We came to agreement on reinstating merit pay, reducing furloughs to six days a year and protecting an additional 28 workers from layoffs.  

On Sunday July 19, the Nevada state legislature moved forward with passing a budget for fiscal year 2021, which included the provisions of our agreement with the governor. We thank the legislature, particularly Speaker Jason Frierson, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, Chairwoman Maggie Carlton, Chairwoman Joyce Woodhouse and Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, for listening to state workers as we shared how another round of cuts would devastate our families as we all continue to fight this pandemic. Their input was vital in crafting a solution that became the basis of our agreement with the governor.    

The agreement with the Governor is historic. It’s the first time we have had a say in changes to our working conditions and the first time we’ve had a written agreement over these changes.  

This budget fight has proven that the actions we take outside the bargaining table are just as important as what we negotiate. Because of actions you have taken, we avoided the disastrous cuts like the ones we lived through over the last 12 years.