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In the nineteen-thirties and forties, it was the labor movement that brought the United States, and the world, out of the Great Depression. Only a decade ago, it was millions of working-class people that saved the U.S. and the world from the worst of the Great Recession.

Now, COVID-19 has revealed the structural inequalities about how our profit-first society runs. The pandemic has laid bare the injustice we see in race, class, gender, ethnicity, and more. It has also exposed the indifference to human suffering that is endemic to a system that favors the few over the many.

“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”

–U.S. Representative John Lewis, Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama, March 1, 2020

Every three years, the leadership of SEIU 1021 organizes a convention where members gather, build community, and lay the foundation for our organizing in the years to come. You can learn more about this year’s convention at 1021convention.org.

On Monday, July 20, our members in San Francisco, the East Bay, and Sacramento joined tens of thousands of workers nationwide in more than 25 cities in solidarity with the #StrikeForBlackLives.

Our union has a vision for a just society where all workers are valued and all people respected, no matter where they are from or the color of their skin. All families deserve to thrive in a more just and equitable but until Black communities and other communities of color can thrive, none of our communities truly can. 

In May of 2020, the country and most of the world were shocked as we witnessed the untimely loss of George Floyd’s life at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department. As the pain and outrage of another state-sanctioned murder sparked movements and marches across the globe, Troyle Tognoli, the Mendocino County Chapter Vice President, was activated to call on her peers and organize her community to bring awareness and change through the Black Lives Matter movement.

McDonald’s workers outside of a San Francisco location donned in bright red t-shirts that read “Our labor is worth more” and “Respect Us, Protect Us, Pay Us.” while chanting and holding powerful signage.

Every three years, the leadership and staff at SEIU 1021 organize a member convention where we gather, build community, and lay the foundation for organizing in the years to come. This year, we’re going virtual with the same intention and goal to bring our members and leaders together for a day of celebration, acknowledgment, and organizing around economic, climate, and racial justice.