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In introducing the fifth plank at the 2021 Virtual Convention, SEIU 1021 East Bay Vice President Yeon Park shared a deeply personal, heart-wrenching example of how unions can be a vital tool to fight racism and discrimination in the workplace.

The first guest speaker at the SEIU 1021 Virtual Convention on Saturday, September 25, 2021, was Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who this spring successfully prosecuted Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who murdered George Floyd last year, setting off months of uprisings for racial justice across not only the U.S. but the world. In addressing the racial justice plank, Ellison emphasized the need to do more than just tinker around the edges of a system built to oppress.

The final plank our 2021 Virtual Convention delegates deliberated and voted on was reclaiming our democracy. Protecting and expanding rights can only happen when everyone can meaningfully participate in our democratic system. And, as guest speakers California Attorney General Rob Bonta (did you know he’s also a 1021 member, as an adjunct professor at Mills College?) and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla emphasized, reactionary politicians understand that their best hope of holding onto power and maintaining the unequal, unjust status quo is suppressing the vote.

“As a union, we grow, or we die,” proclaimed SEIU 1021 Vice President of Organizing Jennifer Esteen in introducing the fourth plank of the 2021 convention platform: unions for all. “Organizing is how we grow. It’s the way we bring new members into our union. It also means fighting for justice, fighting for equality, and fighting to build power with unorganized workers.”