January 10, 2022: City of Hayward workers came into their latest contract campaign knowing things had to change. The City had allowed some workers to fall behind. In years past, management had even imposed onerous, unfair contract terms on its workforce—a move which was later reversed by a Public Employment Relations Board judge, but which showed clearly their lack of respect for and understanding of the City’s workers.

This time, the workers banded together, regardless of their union, to form a coalition including SEIU Local 1021, IFPTE Local 21, and HAME (Hayward Association of Management Employees).

The coalition took many actions—they held a lunchtime rally at City Hall to press the City to settle fair contracts with the whole coalition, tabled at farmer’s markets to get their message out, ran a series of petitions online to call on City Council to do the right thing, and put together a coalition website to get the word out about their fight at haywardtogether.org.

In the end, the solidarity showed by workers across the city’s unions won the day, as all three groups ended up with solid new contracts. SEIU 1021 members secured a three-year contract, through June 30, 2024, with a $1,500 signing bonus upon Council approval, a 2% raise effective December, 2021, a 3% raise effective July 1, 2022, and a 5% raise effective July 1, 2023. We also won new longevity pay provisions to reward long-time workers, increases in night shift and notary pay, a new equity study, and many more improvements to contract language that will help workers get ahead and have a say in their work lives.

Members voted overwhelmingly to approve the new contract, and it has been sent to City Council for approval.

Suzanne Philis is a Senior Secretary in the City Manager’s office. She served on the bargaining team, and said, “I am very proud of our negotiations team for working together and standing strong to fight for a contract that respects and acknowledges the hard work of our members. I want to thank my coalition team members with Local 21 and HAME for our precedent-setting partnership and I want to thank the City of Hayward and our Council Members for really listening to workers as we worked to reach our agreement. SEIU workers are the essential workers that keep Hayward’s heart beating strong. I’m proud to be a part of this group of solid, hard-working people.”