Morale killer: California scientists fight over pay disparities

One scientist who works for the state of California drives for Uber and Lyft on weekends, nights, and holidays to support his family in Sonoma County. One other manages the Berkeley building, where he lives, for extra cash. Another has been pushing for years to be reclassified from scientist to engineer, a change that could result in higher pay for the same work.

California scientists are vital in food safety, cleaning up hazardous materials, and protecting wildlife, water, and wetlands. Their work is used to inform the state’s efforts to combat climate change and wildfires.

Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsoms cabinet Scientists in Their agenciesThey were significantly underpaid, earning less than their state counterparts and federal counterparts. in similar rolesEngineers are those who are classified as such.

After nearly two years of trying to update a contract for staff scientists, the union representing them is back at negotiations This expired July 2020. They want to reduce or close the gap with state workers like their colleagues in engineering.

According to a January report, full-time rank-and file state scientists earned 27% less in 2020 wages than state engineers $83,586 compared with $114,012, Assessment of the state. Engineers are part of a larger union. A greater proportion of men are involved in the construction industry.

About 78% of the state Engineers are men.According to a state report that only included binary genders, it was equal. According to state scientists, the gender ratio is about equal.

The following are the pay rates for state employees who do not have to be managers or supervisors. They are negotiated by their unionsand the state Department. of Human Resources, and it works within the limits established by the Department of Finances as well as the governor’s office. The governor signs the contracts after the lawmakers vote.

California’s legislators are trying to figure out how to spend the surplus budget. Workers and environmental organizations warn that the state must fix the pay gap, or it will undermine its scientific ambitions and policy goals.

Every day, I get to wear my superhero cape and fight for a better California. Christina Toms, state scientist, says it’s a privilege to work with the state to protect and restore San Francisco Bay as well as other coastal wetlands that are vulnerable to sea level rise.

I am terrified that all these amazing people I work with, who aren’t as well-paid (environmental scientists), will be leaving.

Toms and the other scientists Toms interviewed said they were speaking as members of the union, the California Association of Professional ScientistsThey are not employees of their agencies.

California’s disparity in scientists and engineers is a result of a national trend. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated this figure for the entire nation. Specialists and environmental scientistsThe median wage for this occupation was $73,230. In 2020, it was 20% lower than Environmental engineersHe earned $92,120.

Scientists and engineers often work side by side in California’s agencies on state projects. Both require high levels in technical expertise and specialized education.Non-partisan analystsThe states personnel administratorsThere have been overlaps between the classifications.

Hope Smythe was a supervisor for scientists, engineers, and geologists Recently retired as executive DirectorSanta Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board stated that there is no clear distinction between their work which would justify different pay.

Smythe stated that all the people in my unit were working on the same thing. There was no clear definition of well. This could be defined as engineers work or geologists work. Or scientists work.

After engineers negotiated a new contract, state engineer salaries began to outpace scientist salaries in 2000. This caused significant retention problems in the scientist class, where the duties and responsibilities overlap with the engineer classes. In 2006, state personnel officials wrote.

After a series of court battles in 2014, scientist supervisors were awarded Pay increases of up 43%They were so happy. They are more in line than their engineer colleagues. However, there was a pay gap among rank and file scientists.

Toms, who was an engineer by training, did not realize the difference in pay when she applied to a permanent position at the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board.

She stated that she has been trying since then to be reclassified an engineer. Toms said that being a scientist for California gave her a greater sense of purpose as well as a salary cut that was absolutely brutal.

The Professional Engineers in California GovernmentThe union that represents engineers and some geologists involved in California’s infrastructure, technology, and protecting water quality would not comment about the pay disparity.

A gender pay gap could explain at least some of the disparity. The union members wrote to the administration asking for gender pay equity for women, Black, Native, Latinx and other scientists of diverse. A long-standing and severe inequity in state employee discipline pay is just another form of institutional discrimination.

Tricia Lee, a senior environmental scientist working with the states, said that the pay disparity feels like it’s always been the same. Delta Stewardship CouncilHe works to reduce the threats to California’s water supplies.

She stated that there is still a belief that state scientists are doing less valuable or technical work and are therefore less deserving.

Some research suggests that fields with A greater proportion of women are involved in the business.Pay lower salaries because employers assign a lower value to work done in occupations with high female representation and therefore set lower wage levels.

Dramatic parity challenges

Science was on the ballot, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared after his victory during the September recall elections. We said yes for science.

However, his administration members warned two years ago that underpaying scientists could compromise the scientific endeavors of the state.

California Natural Resources Secretary: Rank and filed scientists do similar work as rank-and-file engineers, but they are paid much less. Wade CrowfootWarned In a 2020 memoTo Eraina OrtegaDirector of the California Department of Human Resources. Pay equity is essential to ensure high-quality science.

The state scientists are facing dramatic parity problems that threaten CalEPA’s ability to fully execute its mission to preserve California’s resources, products, and climate. Secretary of Environmental Protection Agency Jared BlumenfeldEchoed in his own letter.

Some state scientists (e.g., chemists or epidemiologists) make more than the average market. According to a state assessmentSupervisors were also included. The majority of them are environmental scientists and experts, who earn about 22% less than the average public sector scientist in California and 8% less federally. However, their vacancy rate is slightly lower than that of the other states.

According to staff from the Human Resources department, the report compares median wages. This would be based on rank and file classifications. However, the scientists union claims that the analysis is distorted by the inclusion of supervisors who aren’t part of collective bargaining.

According to the state assessment, environmental science professionals in the Bay Area are subject to steep inequalities. They make 23% less than those in local government and 41% less as federal scientists.

22% of the 59 scientists from the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the State Water Resources Control Board who responded to an informal survey in 2019 said they had held second jobs. Many said that the pay was limiting their willingness to hire others.

Chuck Striplen works in intergovernmental affairs state and tribal for an agency that he declined to name because it doesn’t control his salary A PhDHe has a masters degree, two bachelors and an archeology certificate. His job is to protect the state’s natural resources.

Striplen, who is located in Sonoma County said that he started driving for Uber and Lyft as a way to supplement his income and accumulated thousands of miles before the pandemic.

The father of four said, “You do what you have to do to take care your children,” and he is a California tribal citizen. After overcoming the traditional barriers of education and housing, you can now enter state service, but be so woefully underpaid because of a different type of discrimination that it’s just a bit of an morale killer.

Kim Tenggardjaja is an engineer who works for the Department of Fish and Wildlife. She said it was disheartening to find out that she was making less than her colleagues in engineering.

California is considered a forward-thinking, progressive state. She also said that there is a significant lack of pay parity. She added that not addressing it is a statement. It is saying, “Well maybe scientists don’t matter so much as we would love for others to believe.”

Organizations that are health- and environmental-focused Newsom was contacted by the authorI asked him to address the differences in pay, calling it a moral issue, but also an unsustainable condition that could threaten vital services.

Ortega, the Director of the Department of Human Resources and Newsoms office, declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations.

Toms said that no one enters the state service expecting riches. However, science continues to be crucial in combating major challenges ahead for California like climate change, she said.

Californians deserve the best. You pay them.