Last Tuesday, July 7, dozens of SEIU 1021 members who work for Mendocino County — including public health nurses, social workers, employment and family assistance specialists, mental health clinicians, road crews, and more — rallied and picketed outside the Ukiah Court House. They had a direct message to the Board of Supervisors: the Board has broken Mendocino County, and to stabilize county services, the County must become capable of recruiting and retaining the staff who provide those services.

Mendocino’s staffing crisis is a county-wide problem: a 47% vacancy rate in the Department of Public Health, a 38% vacancy rate in Mental Health, and a 32% vacancy rate in the Substance Use Disorder Department, even as the Board of Supervisors has eliminated nearly 300 full-time positions in the last two years. This is further compounded by high turnover and the loss of experienced staff. 

As a direct result of members’ action, on Wednesday, July 8, the SEIU 1021 bargaining team reached a three-year tentative agreement with Mendocino County. This tentative agreement includes:

• 3% pay increases in the first year for all classifications
• Equity adjustments for many classifications, with the lowest-paid classifications receiving pay increases of up to 14% 
• Increases to on-call pay and bilingual pay
• Free healthcare for those on the Bronze plan
• Juneteenth as a holiday

“We’re happy with the agreement we were able to reach with the county, an agreement that puts us in the direction to stabilize services for the community,” said SEIU 1021 Mendocino County Area Representative Jeff Weston, who works as an eligibility specialist supervisor for Mendocino County. “We rallied, we picked, we organized — that’s how we reached this resolution. I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish together.”

Check out more great photos of their picket on Facebook.