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Communities from all over the Bay Area turn out for the API Heritage Celebration hosted by SEIU 1021 and 20+ labor and community organizations
On Saturday, May 15, 2021, over 20 local labor, API, and community organizations hosted an API Heritage Celebration on the steps of the historic Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland to honor and acknowledge the accomplishments, contributions, and expansive heritage of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.
Want to sharpen your skills as an organizer or get involved in our work helping workers form and join unions for the first time? NEMO is the program for you.
SEIU 1021 is an organizing union—that’s why we are building a new program called the New External Member Organizing program, or NEMO. The NEMO program creates opportunities for existing SEIU 1021 members to get involved in our community outreach and our efforts to help nonunion workers organize their workplaces and become members of SEIU 1021. It doesn’t require a huge time commitment and it’s easy to join.
Our Chapter elections have moved online!
This year, many of our SEIU 1021 Chapters will hold elections for Chapter Officer positions. This is a great opportunity to run for a leadership position in our union if you have exciting ideas of your own, or a chance to cast your ballot for the candidates you think are best to lead your Chapter forward through the challenges of COVID-19.
Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with Labor and Community Organizations
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and in celebration of our AAPI brothers and sisters, SEIU 1021 has joined forces with AAPI community organizations from across the Bay Area to co-host a community celebration on Saturday, May 15, 2021, at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland from 11 am – 1pm.
San Joaquin County Hospital workers enforce their contract and win over unilateral changes to working conditions and back pay
IT workers at San Joaquin County Hospital are celebrating their victory after winning a grievance that they filed against management for owed back pay and a unilateral change in working conditions.
Members initially brought their concerns to management but were shut down. After referencing their contract, it became clear that they’d need to collectively enforce the agreement using the grievance process.
SCUSD Classified workers held a heartfelt virtual vigil for the co-workers they lost to COVID-19
On Tuesday, April 20, classified workers, teachers, parents, faith leaders, and community members hosted a virtual vigil to acknowledge and honor those who have lost their lives and their loved ones to COVID-19, including their fellow SCUSD workers.
Port of Oakland Custodians Speak Out About the Understaffing Making the Airport Unsafe for Passengers and Workers
“What do we want? We want to be safe! What do we want? We want YOU safe!”
On Wednesday, April 14, dozens of custodians at Oakland International Airport held an informational picket to call out chronic understaffing that is leaving crucial sanitation work undone and creating unsafe conditions. The custodians picketed and hung a banner over 880 to call attention to the issues they have been facing for more than a year.
San Francisco Newsletter: April 2021
Welcome to the April issue of our monthly newsletter for SEIU 1021 members in San Francisco. You can read our March issue here, or keep reading below to see recaps of the big fights our members have taken on in the last month.
Localwide Treasurer Amos Eaton elected to SCERA Board, adding a third SEIU 1021 member to the retirement association’s leadership
Congratulations to Sonoma County members, including our localwide Treasurer Amos Eaton who handily won his campaign for election to the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association (SCERA) Board last week!
SEIU 1021 classified members overwhelmingly vote to reject Sacramento City Unified School District’s health and safety proposal, request prompt return to the bargaining table
Results poured in on Saturday, April 10 as SEIU 1021 members overwhelmingly voted down the latest health and safety proposal from Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD). 92% of voters rejected the deal, giving the bargaining team the authority to call a strike if the necessary provisions to safely re-open SCUSD schools aren’t offered.
At Santa Clara University, adjuncts and lecturers join the increasing wave of working people seeking to join together in a union, in the face of administrative opposition
On Friday, April 9, at 2 p.m., adjuncts and lecturers at Santa Clara University, joined by their supporters, led a march and rally on campus to demand respect as well as a free and fair union election.
Since 2017, non-tenure track faculty at SCU have worked together to form their union with SEIU 1021. Workers are organizing to address the unstable working conditions, inadequate pay, and inequitable and non-transparent decision-making at the university. These efforts have met constant resistance from the university’s administration.
Facing an unprecedented safety and staffing crisis, healthcare workers around Northern California fight back
Long before COVID-19, SEIU 1021 healthcare workers were there for vulnerable patients in our communities—often despite a lack of adequate staffing and other dangerous working conditions. Now that we’re a full year into the worst global health emergency in over a century, many of our healthcare members find themselves working through crisis-level conditions.
SEIU 1021 takes the lead in reimagining public safety by spearheading Oakland’s MACRO program and creating good, union jobs to respond to mental health emergencies
Public safety has many faces. To protect our community and improve conditions for our friends, family, and neighbors who are experiencing mental health issues, Oakland has taken a bold step by creating a new emergency response unit called the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO). This unit will be made up of civilians with medical and mental health training, and these civilians will be SEIU 1021 members.
Hundreds rally to #SaveMills in the wake of a shocking announcement that the doors of the historical women’s college will be shuttered
On March 17, 2021, the Mills College Board of Trustees announced its intention to dismantle the historic women’s college and replace it as an undefined “Institute” on a breakneck two-year timeline. As part of this shocking decision, the school said they would stop granting four-year degrees to students.
A statement from SEIU 1021 Joseph Bryant Condemning Anti-Asian Racism and the Recent Targeted Shootings in Atlanta
“This week, our country saw yet another incident of violence against people of color, as a young man murdered 8 people in Atlanta, including six Asian women in their place of work. While the details of this violence are still coming into focus, make no mistake, these killings did not occur in a vacuum. They took place within the larger context of hatred and violence aimed at members of the API community occurring all across the United States.
San Francisco Newsletter: March 2021
Welcome to the March issue of our new recurring monthly newsletter for SEIU 1021 members in San Francisco. You can read our most recent issue here, or keep reading below to see recaps of the big fights our members have taken on in the last month.
If you have a workplace issue you or your colleagues are dealing with and you’d like help and support from our union, don’t forget that in addition to reaching out to your steward or labor representative, you can also contact the SEIU 1021 Member Resource Center at 1-877-687-1021.
Oakland Airport Custodians Bring Their Safety and Staffing Demands Straight to the Boss
“Know one thing: Custodians are essential!”
Custodians are standing together to demand an end to understaffing and improved safety in the workplace at Oakland’s International Airport.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, cleaning high-traffic areas absolutely cannot be compromised on, but understaffing is making that impossible at the airport. As Jo’Ell Thompson, a custodian at the Oakland Airport for ten years, said, “We are cleaning contaminated areas, where people who are known to be infected have been, but we’re understaffed and unable to keep the airport properly cleaned.”
The SFUSD Board of Education Rafities the Tentative Agreements Between the Unions of SFUSD and the School District
In a special meeting on Tuesday, February 23, the SFUSD Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the tentative agreements between the school district and SEIU 1021, IFPTE Local 21, and IUOE Local 39 for safely returning to in-person learning. This moment marks a momentous gain in the movement to safely reopen schools for students and workers in SFUSD and lays the groundwork for similar agreements that are sure to come in other school districts across the Bay Area.
The Movement to Safely Re-Open Schools Progresses Forward with Vaccination Rollouts and Tentative Reopening Agreements
As the debate around returning to in-person learning in schools rages on, SEIU 1021 members and chapter leaders have been on the ground working with educators and communities in San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento to ensure our members and their families are protected.
The work we helped lead with the Unions of SFUSD led to a tentative agreement with the school district for baseline health and safety standards for students, educators, and families around sanitizing, PPE, testing, ventilation, and the current hot button topic — vaccinations.
San Francisco Newsletter: February 2021
Welcome to the February issue of our new recurring monthly newsletter for SEIU 1021 members in San Francisco. You can read our most recent issue here, or keep reading below to see recaps of the big fights our members have taken on in the last month.
You’ll also find updates on ongoing campaigns around the city and stories celebrating some of our union’s most recent victories.