Search: 09/2022

In the midst of a hotly-contested political season, there is a race for a vital position that may fly under the radar. Retired members, as of July 1, 2022, of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) have an opportunity to vote for their retired representative seat on the CalPERS Board of Administration. The 13-member CalPERS Board of Administration consists of officers who are elected, appointed, or hold office ex officio. The board of administration is responsible for the management and control of CalPERS.

Public-sector workers across Northern California are facing staffing and retention issues, which in turn are impacting the important services they provide. Now, in partnership with IFPTE 21, our members in Solano County are calling attention to the ways that understaffing hurts us all, and in particular the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Dear SEIU 1021 Member:
 
Last week a difficult week for Alameda Health System, as two workers there passed away: Maria Tran, a psychiatric nurse at John George, and Dr. Jing Mai, a physician resident intern at Highland. These untimely deaths are terribly sad, and while we may never fully understand why tragedies like these occur, we know the effects will be felt in our workplaces and in our communities for a long time.
 

SEIU 1021 members working in San Francisco’s nonprofits provide a range of important services. They work for social services organizations, supportive housing nonprofits, museums, and more. They help feed, educate, heal, and house people. They are there for some of our city’s most vulnerable residents at their most difficult moments—and this year, they’ve shown how belonging to SEIU 1021 allows them to do this life-changing work without being taken advantage of by their employers.

SEIU 1021 members working for Mendocino County are still locked in a tough fight for a fair contract with the county administration and board of supervisors, who continue to cry poverty despite lack of evidence of a financial crisis. Even worse, they are blaming faulty bookkeeping for their own incompetence or unwillingness to find solutions to the County’s severe staffing crisis, even as it slows down and endangers crucial services for the most vulnerable residents.

August 31, newly elected members of the Sonoma County bargaining team met at the SEIU 1021 Santa Rosa office for an initial meeting to start getting to know each other and familiarizing themselves with what to expect in contract negotiations this year.

The new bargaining team includes representatives elected from the clerical, service and tech, non-supervisory maintenance, social services, nursing, and general supervisory divisions, as well as chapter officers.

In a year where many SEIU 1021 chapters have been negotiating new contracts, the North Coast region from Marin County to Del Norte County has been scoring some important wins.

For example, the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) bargaining team, with the help of members’ advocacy and activism, won an impressive 24% wage increase over three years (8% per year starting July 1, 2022), in addition to one-time hazard pay bonuses of $750-1500 and improvements in contract language around non-discrimination, working conditions, layoffs, and more.

When a mass movement of workers comes together, nothing is impossible. Assembly Bill 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, or FAST Recovery Act, passed the California State Senate last Monday, August 29, 2022. The next day, the California State Assembly re-approved the bill.