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Courts Workers Storm Sacramento
On Tuesday, May 14, court workers from throughout the state met
with fellow SEIU members to talk to elected officials about the
need to continue to devote funds to courts most in
need. Court workers encouraged elected officials to make sure
those who interact with the courts obtain fair,
equitable, and timely access to services. To do this, elected
officials must invest in court hours, staff adequately, and
provide reasonable pay to retain dedicated, experienced
workers.
Sandy Walden, a court reporter at Contra
Costa Courts explained why she and her coworkers
decided to come to Sacramento to speak directly to legislators,
“Elected officials need to hear directly from us and the issues
that confront us everyday. They need to see and hear the people
whose lives they impact with the policies they pass or deny.”
Workers also spoke to elected officials and their staff about
closing the pay gap in the trial court industry. Court reporters
provide a necessary service to our judicial system, maintaining
not only the record, but the sanctity of court proceedings. Court
Reporters, which consists of a predominantly female workforce,
have not received an increase in their statutorily set transcript
rate in 30 years. It is time to close the gender pay gap.
Santa Clara University adjuncts and lecturers win their union election in resounding victory!
Welcome to SEIU 1021!
In 2017, adjunct faculty and lecturers at Santa Clara University began organizing to form a union. On June 21, 2022, votes from their union election were counted — and they won big, with over 72% of the votes cast for the union in an election with impressive turnout.
The fight for worker power is the fight for LGBTQIA+ justice
The high-profile worker-organizing campaigns at Amazon, Starbucks, and most recently Apple signal a resurgence of the labor movement. Across the country, workers are rising up to fight back against unsafe workplace conditions, unfair labor practices, and a system that values profit over the health and wellbeing of its people. The reinvigorated movement is driven particularly by younger people, who are also carrying the torch of the fight for justice for LGBTQIA+ people.
Napa County workers speak out on staffing crisis at board of supervisors meeting
The County currently has a 20% vacancy rate that is decimating service delivery and fueling burnout
Dozens of Napa County workers gathered at the administration building this morning to speak out at the Napa County Board of Supervisors meeting about how understaffing in critical departments is hurting residents. Workers called on the county elected officials to commit to filling the hundreds of vacancies that are already budgeted for while using the county’s budget surplus to expand public services and invest in good-paying, permanent, county jobs that serve our residents.
With the June primary behind us, we look toward the general election in November and plan to support pro-worker candidates
The work of best representing our members takes place on a number of levels. There are contract negotiations, grievances, and sometimes even strikes. We have legal battles and fights to protect our rights in the courts. We organize new members into the union to protect the standards we set in bargaining and raise the bar for everyone. And then there is politics and the work we do at election time.
STRIKE: Fast-food workers statewide fight to win FAST Recovery Act
On Thursday, June 9, 2022, Fast-food workers across California served up an order or worker rights. From San Diego to Los Angeles and Oakland to Sacramento, fast-food workers walked off the job and into the streets. Their demand? Have California state senators pass Assembly Bill 257 – the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act, and have Governor Gavin Newsom sign it into law.
Hundreds of Union Members Will Rally for Contra Costa County Services
Join us on Tuesday, June 21 at noon!
Contra Costa County workers have dealt with an epidemic of understaffing for far too long. That’s why a huge union coalition of nine unions—representing more than 6,200 County workers—has rallied across the county’s worksites for weeks to call attention to the staffing crisis and force the Board of Supervisors to take action.
Mendocino County Workers Rally at Board of Supervisors Meeting to Demand Action on Staffing Crisis
Overworked child protective service workers are unable to follow up on reports of abuse and neglect in a timely manner. Public works employees are unable to keep up with important infrastructural work like filling potholes. Eligibility workers are too short-staffed to keep pace with the volume of applications for food stamps and other safety-net services desperately needed in a county with a poverty rate of over 14%. These are the costs to the residents of Mendocino County of the County’s staffing crisis.
SF RN Worksite Meetings & Ratification Details
Our Registered Nurse bargaining team has signed a Tentative Agreement (TA) for a new RN contract with the City and County of San Francisco. The TA includes progress on many of the priorities identified by members and your elected bargaining team: recruitment and retention of nurses, chronic understaffing, safety, and over-reliance on temps and travelers.
Adjunct faculty and lecturers at Santa Clara University will vote on whether to form their union
Adjunct faculty and lecturers at Santa Clara University, a private Jesuit university in Silicon Valley, have been working to organize a non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty union for five years. After years of organizing, adjuncts and lecturers are currently voting in their long-awaited union election. Nevertheless, after years of organizing and union-busting, NTT faculty at Santa Clara are currently voting in their long-awaited union election.
Fast-food workers rallying in Oakland and Sacramento on June 9 for the FAST Recovery Act
Fast-food workers are mobilizing for the first in a series of public events meant to apply pressure on California state senators and the governor to support Assembly Bill 257 - the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act.
Last chance to vote for leaders who will stand with working people!
Today is Election Day. Make sure to return your ballot before 8pm.
This is it. For months, and especially over the past few weeks, you have heard a lot from SEIU 1021 about the importance of today’s primary election. We have an excellent shot at making sure candidates who uphold our values, are committed to improving conditions in our communities, and are accountable to working people like us — not big corporations — are on the November ballot.
It’s time we fight and win at the ballot box
SEIU Local 1021 members actively participating the political process to win real change in and out of the workplace
To protect our rights, improve our working conditions and quality of life, and better our communities, the candidates we elect and the ballot measures we pass–or reject–matter. That’s especially true when it comes to local and state races. The 2022 statewide and midterm elections are our opportunity to showcase worker power at the ballot box. We have made significant progress over the last two years. Now, we must build upon our advancements.
Zone 7 Water Agency Workers Stick Together and Win!
Workers at the Zone 7 Water Agency are responsible for providing flood protection and safe drinking water for the Livermore-Amador Valley. Recently, their bargaining team, including Tom Hempill, Alfonso Espinoza, and Mike Garguilo, went through wage negotiations with management, securing a three-year deal, with Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) of 6% in the first year, 5% in the second, and 4% in the third. They also proposed doubling the boot allowance to $400 for a number of classifications, but that is still pending a closed session of the Board on June 15.
We’ve ratified our MTA Service Critical agreement!
Last week, SEIU 1021 members working for the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency voted overwhelmingly by 96% to ratify our next contract.
Along with City & County workers, who ratified their new agreement the week before, we won a 10% wage increase through a months-long #StaffUpSF campaign in partnership with other city unions. This new agreement includes significant progress on the priorities identified by members and will help recruit and retain staff to make our public services strong.
OUSD members of SEIU 1021 go to Sacramento to advocate for 2 critical education bills
AB 1912 and 1614 would protect schools from predatory loans and closures that disproportionately harm communities of color
Members of SEIU 1021’s Oakland Unified School District chapter headed to Sacramento last Tuesday, May 17, along with members of Oakland Education Association, community allies, and union members from other school districts, including Vallejo, Inglewood, and South Monterey County. They had a very specific mission: advocating for state assemblymembers to support Assembly Bills 1912 and 1614.
“Where will our patients go?” Members vow to do everything possible to save Laguna Honda Hospital
Laguna Honda Hospital is San Francisco’s primary long-term care facility. The hospital provides San Franciscans with a complete continuum of care, including skilled nursing, rehabilitation, AIDS care, dementia services, hospice and acute care, as well as an adult day health care center and a senior nutrition program. It’s a remarkably unique facility, unlike virtually any other long-term care facility in the United States.
Mullissa Willette wins CalPERS Board of Administration race
In a win for workers across California, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) Board of Administration adds another working-class voice to its ranks. Mullissa Willette, a tax exemption investigator for the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office and the First Vice-President of SEIU Local 521, won the Special Public Agency Member Election with 7,972 votes, or 62.15 percent of the vote. The new term of office begins immediately upon certification of the official election results by the Secretary of State and will expire on January 15, 2027.
Adjunct faculty at Santa Clara University win unprecedented union election agreement with SEIU 1021
They have been organizing their union since 2017.
On Friday, April 22, 2022, adjunct faculty members and lecturers at Santa Clara University (SCU) filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), requesting a formal election process to create a union with SEIU 1021 at SCU. The adjuncts and lecturers have been organizing their union since 2017.
June 7, 2022 Endorsements
Let’s elect pro-labor candidates and pass measures that help our communities!
To protect our rights, improve our working conditions and quality of life, and better our communities, the candidates we elect and the ballot measures we pass–or reject–matter. That’s especially true when it comes to local and state races. The 2022 statewide and midterm elections are our opportunity to showcase worker power at the ballot box. We have made significant progress over the last two years. Now, we must build upon our advancements.
We know that the fight for economic, racial, environmental, and immigrant justice is one that we cannot sit out. That is why we, as a union, actively participate in the political process. Across Northern California, we will vote for our endorsed candidates and ballot measures and mobilize our communities to vote to achieve the kind of justice we deserve.
We organize good trouble on the streets, in our workplaces, and now at the ballot box.
We urge members to participate in phone banking, canvassing, and other outreach initiatives to help us elect candidates who will fight for us and pass measures that will benefit workers across Northern California.
Click the links below to see what candidates and measures SEIU 1021 members have endorsed for the June 7, 2022 election, and see our upcoming volunteer opportunities here:
Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District classified staff ratify strong contract
They will be seeing big improvements to wages and longevity pay, as well as one-time stipends
Last week, SEIU 1021 members at Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District (CRPUSD) voted on a tentative agreement (TA) reached with the district after they participated in a six-day sympathy strike with the teachers of Rohnert Park Cotati Educators Association (RPCEA) in March.