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APALA celebrates Lunar New Year by honoring essential workers
COVID-19 means that Lunar New Year celebrations won’t proceed the same way this year, but Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) members are finding creative ways to celebrate and honor frontline workers.
This year, SF APALA members made a video honoring essential workers everywhere, including those who aren’t as publicly visible. The video will be part of KTVU’s virtual parade on Saturday, Feb 20 at 6 pm. You can also get a sneak peek at this month’s SF Regional Meeting on February 18. Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Need our help with an EEO claim? Let us know!
For years, our union has called for an end to harassment and discrimination by management against our city’s workers. The work we’ve done over the years has begun coming to fruition, as evidenced by William Gould, former National Labor Relations Board President being brought in to review San Francisco’s EEO practices, as well as the creation of the the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy.
Although it is our work that, in large part, has led to these developments, our union is not automatically notified of EEO complaints by DHR.
OEWD member wins over $1,000 in back pay
In December 2019, a member working in San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development filed a grievance over working above their classification without additional pay.
“It was a very scary thing for me to file and I almost didn’t do it,” said the member, who requested anonymity. Just last month, this member received over $1,000 in compensation they were owed for working out of class. “My claim literally took a year, which is crazy but I’m glad it had a positive ending for me.”
Make sure you contact a steward, rep, or the Member Resource Center (1-877-687-1021) if you believe you’re in a situation where you’re working above your classification without appropriate pay.
P103 nurses fight for COVID-19 leave
On Tuesday, January 19, Registered Nurses from San Francisco’s hospitals, clinics, and beyond spoke out at the Health Commission meeting to condemn the ongoing refusal by the city to provide emergency COVID-19 leave to all of San Francisco’s nurses.
When the city rolled out its COVID-19 leave bank last March, they decided that P103 nurses should not have access to that emergency leave. Many P103 nurses often work full-time hours or beyond in in some of the most dangerous work settings, such as the COVID-19 ICU, quarantine hotels, and street testing.
DPH workers lead the charge for a fair, transparent, and equitable plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccines
When told vaccinations for frontline workers at Laguna Honda would have to wait until the first two weeks of January 2021, Nebyat Negaci, a 10-year employee at Laguna Honda, was determined to change that.
Last month, frontline workers were told they needed to wait to be vaccinated, despite vaccines being made available to managers not working at the bedside. “I believe if you are ready today then you deserve to take your vaccine today,” said Nebyat, who began organizing to ensure the safety of her unit.
Felton Institute FSA members secure strong new agreement
Members at the Felton Institute Family Service Agency fought and won a new agreement containing strong health and safety provisions and a significant pay increase. Despite the impacts of COVID, we secured a 2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to the wage scale.
Another big priority for members was winning the ability to donate sick time to colleagues in need whose sick bank may be depleted. Members have now secured the ability to donate up to 37.5 weeks of sick time. Congratulations!
SF Art Institute members help preserve famed Diego Rivera mural
Last month, leaders in SEIU 1021’s SFAI Adjunct Union, students, alumni, and the arts community worked with SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin to declare the college’s Diego Rivera mural a local landmark. Union leaders took this step to prevent the college’s board from selling the mural, which depicts working people building the City of San Francisco.
Asian Art Museum Foundation workers fight back against layoff threats
When the Asian Art Museum said they would be pursuing layoffs due to COVID-19 last November, members knew they needed to spring into action and fight back. Immediately, leadership dug in their heels, got the membership engaged, and began using the Labor Management Committee to force negotiations on every issue possible to find solutions.
Refusing to be bullied into concessions, SFMTA workers stand strong and speak out
Towards the end of last year, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency gave a budget presentation with various made-up budget scenarios heavily implying that layoffs would be necessary to balance the operating budget as a result of COVID-19’s impact. This was a transparent attempt by management to pressure members into giving back our hard-fought raises while we struggle to work safely through this pandemic.
After years of fighting, radiology workers secure huge reclassification victory to raise wages and secure retro pay for members
For years, San Francisco lagged behind regional hospitals like UC, Kaiser, Stanford, and others in compensating radiology staff. Those hospitals had distinct career paths to compliment different areas of specialty (called modalities) such as CT, MRI, mammography, and more, but DPH had no path rewarding workers for expanding their skills or growing in their careers. Six and a half years ago, SEIU 1021 members at SF General Hospital decided enough was enough.