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A Message from SEIU 1021’s Executive Board

The struggle for the rights of working people happens on many levels. There is organizing and the hard work of bringing new members into the union. There are contract negotiations and sometimes, strikes. There are shop stewards and union staff who make sure contracts are enforced. There are legal battles and fights to protect our rights in the courts.

Nearly 30 Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) faculty members, dressed in their academic robes, marched to university president Judith Maxwell Greig’s office Oct. 25, and unfurled a 30ft. scrolled petition containing more than 300 signatures in favor of rescinding the proposed cuts. The campus has been entangled in controversy sparked by president’s unilateral decision to eliminate 10 graduate and undergraduate programs.

Hundreds of Bay Area unionists turned out in Oakland Thursday, November 10 in solidiarity with the Standing Rock Sioux and their fight to stop the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Members of the Tribes have camped out at a pipeline construction site in North Dakota since August. SEIU 1021 was among the 25 local unions that co-sponsored the event, including the California Nurses Association (CNA) and unions united in the Alameda Labor Council.

In a stunning victory for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the indigenous rights and environmental justice movement, the federal government halted the Dakota Access Pipeline project. News of the victory arrived just one day before deadline for demonstrators occupying the North Dakota site to evacuate or face forcible eviction.

The Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday, Dec. 4 announced it would instead conduct an environmental impact review of the 1,170-mile pipeline project and determine if there are other ways to route it to avoid a crossing on the Missouri River.

Last week Congress took the first steps to strip Medi-Cal from millions, hike taxes on middle-class families and workers who buy insurance through the federal exchange, and to stick seniors with soaring prescription drug costs. And they voted set up a process to cut protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, contraceptive coverage, allowing children on their parents plan until age 26 and more.

Dr. Kamal Fadlalla, a second-year resident physician and member of SEIU’s Committee of Interns and Residents, is one of thousands of immigrant Americans who have been disenfranchised by President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant Executive Order.

City Workers and Museum Patrons Call for Action to Stop Abuse and Corruption

Security guards,and admission attendants who are SEIU 1021 members at the Asian Art Museum, de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor, testified on Friday about the rampant abuse and corruption by board members and top executives at the Fine Arts Museum (FAM) and the Corporation of Fine Arts Museums (COFAM). Their testimonies detailed financial mismanagement, lack of transparency, and unsafe working conditions at FAM and COFAM at the Government Audit Oversight Committee.

On International Workers’ Day, we honor the sacrifices workers and immigrants have made in the fight for justice.

Seize this moment in history. Demonstrate the strength of working people standing together. Show that we’re ready to defend worker and immigrant rights against fear and hate and that we have the power to stand up to the threats facing working families and our communities.

By building a mass movement in the streets that unites all of our struggles, we can win our fight for justice and dignity.