Employees at State Facility Plead with Leaders, SEIU to Save Their Jobs

Sacramento, CA (June 11, 2025) – Longtime workers with disabilities and service-disabled veterans held a rally in front of the Capitol office swing space Wednesday morning to urge state legislators and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000 to save their jobs at Vacaville Correctional Medical Facility.

The rally and legislative visits to follow were an eleventh-hour plea to prevent layoffs of nearly 60 people who provide critical custodial services to the medical facility through a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation contract with the Roseville non-profit PRIDE Industries. More than half of these threatened employees have disabilities or are veterans disabled during military service.

The state contract expires on June 30, leaving workers without the jobs and service supports that have enabled them to overcome employment barriers and thrive with dignity, while filling critical correctional facility workforce gaps. PRIDE Industries wants SEIU to return to discussions and to work with the Legislature to keep these workers in their jobs now and in the future.

Chris Fuqua has worked for PRIDE Industries for a decade and is now the assistant operations manager at Vacaville Correctional Medical Facility.

“After 10 years providing hard work and loyalty to PRIDE and reliable service to the state, it’s shocking to me and everyone else that the state wouldn’t come through as they have in the past,” Fuqua said. “This is important to me, my team, family and those of us who are veterans and people with disabilities. I know how difficult it is to find employment and opportunities that give you the support you need to be successful. PRIDE does just that.”

Rally-goers on Wednesday also visited with legislators, asking them to find an immediate, short-term fix before layoffs take effect – as well as support AB 912, which would create a pilot civil service apprenticeship program to help people with disabilities become environmental service technicians at correctional facilities. Assemblymember Lori Wilson’s bill aims to remove longstanding employment barriers for this population and offer a structured pathway into state civil service. Earlier this week, employees at CMF delivered a letter to SEIU 1000 representatives, urgently calling on union leaders to work with PRIDE Industries to preserve these jobs – emphasizing that there’s enough work to go around.

The planned contract termination stems from a decision by the State Personnel Board in May 2023, which agreed with the SEIU that custodial jobs should be given to state employees. California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS), however, extended the contract with PRIDE Industries, stating that it couldn’t fill the custodial positions with civil service workers.

PRIDE Industries has learned that the jobs currently held by PRIDE Industries workers will go to inmates through the California Prison Industry’s inmate worker program – not to civil service employees.

The notion of an inmate getting her job is deeply upsetting to employee Pacita Velasco, who has worked at the facility for five years.

“I have a lot of medical issues, and I’m not sure if I can find another job that will help me with my disabilities,” she said. “I’m widowed, so I don’t have any other insurance, so this is my only option for affordable medical coverage and to be able to pay all my bills.”

Workers under the PRIDE Industries contract, initiated in 2019, have earned high praise over the years. PRIDE Industries achieved a 98% task completion rate and a 98.3% quality rating from the California Correctional Healthcare Services Compliance Unit. The high level of service has helped the facility maintain its licensure and sanitary conditions for patient housing and care.

“This partnership has been a model of the state’s commitment to supporting people with disabilities and service-disabled veterans, and we’d like to continue conversations with the labor union to maintain it,” said Mary Flores, Vice President of Custodial and Environmental Services at PRIDE Industries. “Together with the state, we have provided an able and eager group of workers with meaningful jobs that bring dignity and pride, along with the job coaching, transportation and other accommodations that help them flourish.”

Fear about losing their jobs has haunted many employees who maintain that the supported employment they receive through PRIDE Industries is critical to their well-being.

“Working for PRIDE has never been just about a job,” said Chelsea Davis, a PRIDE Industries employee with a disability who started as an EVS tech and advanced her way up to Operations Manager, thanks to PRIDE’s system of integrated job support and accommodations. “It’s about being part of something bigger than myself and helping others become who they never believed they could be. Losing this job wouldn’t be just losing my ability to financially care for myself and family – it would also be losing a piece of my purpose, my passion and the community I’ve poured my heart into.”