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Oakland Members and the Community Reject Mayor Schaaf’s Cruel Cuts Amidst COVID-19
As Oakland’s strength is being tested by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Libby Schaaf has attacked city workers. First, she issued pre-emptive layoff notices to a thousand so-called “temporary, part-time” workers, many of whom have worked for Oakland for years. Then, she proposed weeks of furlough days and postponing wage increases. At the same time, she was busy appointing her cronies to high-paid positions in the City Administrator’s office.
City of Oakland workers, together with IFPTE Local 21 members and community representatives from groups including ACCE Action, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), and Oakland Rising came together to protest the Mayor’s cruel cuts in a creative, safe way that observed social distancing precautions by decorating their cars with posters and shirts and forming a car caravan to drive around Oakland’s Lake Merritt on the evening of Tuesday, May 26.
Lina Hernandez, a temporary, part-time library worker, said “I’m a young parent in Oakland’s sixth district, and I’m a proud Oaklander, and until recently, I was a proud Oakland city employee. But I have recently received a layoff notice. I’m one of the city’s roughly one thousand ‘temporary, part-time’ workers. I’ve been with the city for four years. That doesn’t feel temporary to me.”
VICTORY! City of Napa workers protect their community by fighting off job cuts amidst COVID-19
“We need the revised estimated expenditures that we have asked for weeks on end to have transparency, to have a dialogue, to get a real gasp of what the city’s financial position is,” said Kendra Bruno, a city waste diversion specialist and Local 1021 member. “This is not a game to us; this is about protecting the community and the level of services we provide.”
On May 27, Napa City officials formally delayed the implementation of 71 planned layoffs after workers and community allies organized a digital press conference to call out officials’ inflated financial reports and divisive communication tactics.
Napa members’ fight continues. In the past few weeks, members started posting yard signs on their lawns to advocate for their jobs by urging the City Council to “Save Napa Parks and Recs”.
You can stand against cuts with our fellow members by taking one minute to sign the online petition today. So far we’ve collected over 8,350 signatures.
Show Up for Oakland City Services!
Mayor Libby Schaaf recently said on KTVU Channel 2 that she stood for “people before profits.” This is just not true, as our temporary, part-time co-workers who were just issued layoff notices can prove.
We need to hold the Mayor and the City administrators to their words. That’s why on Tuesday, May 26, SEIU 1021 & IFPTE 21 members will take a car caravan around Lake Merritt to say #NoCutsToCityServices during COVID-19.
Join us at 5:30 pm in the parking lot next to the Lucky’s Supermarket at 207 E 18th St. We want to be visible and show our unity, so we will have signs for your back side windows, or you can use a purple shirt. We will be observing all social distancing guidelines.
Take Action To Save Jobs and Services
Call your US Senator at 844-967-2163
As the impending economic impact the COVID-19 outbreak will have on our communities comes into focus, we have seen many employers already calling for cuts to services and staff. We know there are difficult times ahead, but many of our communities have not yet fully recovered from the last recession. Cutting services further and not safeguarding against privatization would be devastating for millions, including SEIU 1021 members.
Tell Congress: Pass the HEROES Act
On May 15, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 3 trillion dollar HEROES Act relief legislation as the U.S. coronavirus death toll reached 90,000. HEROES would provide much-needed relief to public jurisdictions across California facing budget shortfalls including those employing SEIU 1021 members.
The legislation must still pass the Senate if it is to become law. Tell Congress: Pass the HEROES ACT. Members of the Senate need to hear our loud demand to #ProtectAllWorkers NOW. They must put working people first.
The HEROES Act Will Authorize:
- $1T for State and Local Governments
- $200B in hazard pay for essential workers
- $75B for testing & contact tracing
- Up to $6K per family in direct payments.
SEIU 1021 and SF Supervisor Matt Haney Secure, Donate and Distribute Thousands of Pieces of PPE for City Workers
Thousands of masks and gowns were delivered to members across San Francisco on May 13. SEIU 1021 secured 10,000 masks for workers throughout northern California, and Supervisor Matt Haney donated over 5,000 masks and 1,500 gowns to SF workers.
“Today we lead by example. Supervisor Matt Haney and our Union have secured around 10,000 masks and gowns for front line workers. We challenge leaders in local governments, business CEOs, and tech titans to use their connections to secure PPE for frontline workers providing essential services to the public,” said Theresa Rutherford, VP of SF and CNA at Laguna Honda Hospital.
SF Chronicle Profiles Eight SEIU 1021 RNs in honor of Nurses Week
In honor of Nurses week, the San Francisco Chronicle profiled seven SEIU 1021 members battling coronavirus on both sides of the Bay Area on May 6.
The work done by every SEIU 1021 member has kept our communities safer and healthier, and the media has noticed. Many of our stories are countless, and often undisclosed in the media, but now thanks to you–our stories are going around the world.
Please share their stories published in San Francisco Chronicle with your co-workers and join the fight for #ProtectAllWorkers.
New County Child Welfare Services executive order
The Governor of California signed a new executive order regarding Child Welfare Services. It will allow county child welfare agencies and probation departments to perform necessary functions using alternative processes other than face-to-face interactions. This includes allowance for a 60-day waiver to allow for flexibility in the emergency placement of foster youth and ensures that foster youth have access to critical programs and technology by verifying foster care status for foster youth and wards of the juvenile court whose cases are pending.
Suspension of Professional Certification Requirements for Home Health Aides (HHAs)
The California Department of Public Health has issued a waiver for certification renewals of Home Health Aides. Home health Aides do not need to renew their certification until the end of the declared emergency.
This also applies to HHAs who have an expired certification, so that they can work if their certification expired within the last 2 years.