Search: Cities, 12/2021

For years, the City of Oakland had a simple, common-sense approach to drug and alcohol use: if a worker was thought to be impaired at work or under the influence, they would be sent for testing. However, in recent years, some members of the City’s administration started to try to impose a new standard, with a long list of specific job classifications and reduced flexibility for departments. Worst of all, the testing under the new policy was a urine test that would show only the presence of cannabis in the worker’s system, not impairment.

SEIU 1021 members at the City of Chico showed up with their families in large numbers at the City of Chico council hearing on Dec. 7th in a strong showing of union power and solidarity.

City of Richmond part-time workers ratified their new Memorandum of Understanding unanimously last week. The new agreement brings the part-time contract into alignment with the fulltime agreement for the first time in years, and brings big wins to the group, including their first COLAs since 2015, a pro-rated signing bonus, a classification and compensation study, improved bilingual pay and shoe allowances, a simplified, strengthened grievance procedure, and new, stronger union rights.

In 2009, the City amended the Charter to deliberately rig the collective bargaining system in the City’s favor by creating an arbitrary deadline to complete contract negotiations and a harsh penalty for the unions and their members that do not meet the deadline. These changes to the Charter also made it effectively impossible for workers to use the strongest tool available to us – the right to strike – to advocate for ourselves and the community we serve. As a result, the scales have been tipped in management’s favor for years each time we go to the table to bargain a new contract.