**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MONDAY, JULY 21**

Contact: Jennie Smith-Camejo, jennie.smith-camejo@seiu1021.org, (510) 710-0201

When frontline workers at Catholic Charities San Francisco—who do critical work from housing assistance to medical case management and legal services for unhoused, formerly unhoused, elderly, and other highly vulnerable residents—learned from recent reporting in the SF Chronicle that CEO Ellen Hammerle was raking in exorbitant pay while demanding concessions and claiming they can’t afford a $25/hour minimum wage in line with SF city workers, they were incensed. Monday, they will rally outside the nonprofit’s headquarters to show their frustration to management and the public.

What: Catholic Charities workers rally for equity and improvements
When: Monday, July 21, 4-5 p.m.
Where: Catholic Charities headquarters, 990 Eddy St., SF
Visuals: Workers wearing union gear, marching, chanting with picket signs

Workers from different programs report extremely high turnover, chronic short staffing, and inequitable working conditions, in large part because of a compensation package that does not compete with comparable positions with other agencies. In current contract negotiations, management is also demanding the right to unilaterally reduce workers’ pay during the contract and to shift any new increases in healthcare premiums entirely to employees—the equivalent of a pay cut. Workers also say that as people leave, their positions are eliminated — but not the workload left behind, leaving them overworked and clients losing services they previously had.

“It’s really disheartening to find out that the CEO’s raise over one year was more than a frontline worker’s annual salary,” said Jasmine Shakesnider, a housing problem solver who has worked for Catholic Charities for five years. “As a parent, commuting because I can’t afford to live in SF means time away from my family. Lots of staff have to work multiple jobs and commute long distances because of the low pay. It weighs on us. We love what we do, but I don’t see how taking such big raises while underpaying and understaffing the organization’s programs is a good look for the people we serve.”

“When someone leaves, their position gets eliminated, and it’s impacting services,” said Sasha Sommer, who is a program coordinator and also a part of the contract negotiations team. “We don’t have capacity to give clients rides to medical appointments like we used to. The number of client-facing positions is going down, yet we’re still taking on new clients—and as a lifetime program, clients stay with us unless they pass away or move away. In negotiations, we’re being told the organization can’t afford to pay a living wage or to keep our healthcare affordable—yet it can afford these huge raises and bonuses for its executives? We believe in serving with love, but how do you treat others how you want to be treated when those at the top don’t do the same?”

###

SEIU Local 1021 represents nearly 60,000 employees in local governments, nonprofit agencies, health care programs, courts, and schools throughout Northern California, including seven private colleges and numerous community colleges. SEIU Local 1021 is a diverse, member-driven organization with members who work to make our cities, schools, colleges, counties, and special districts safe and healthy places to live and raise our families.