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GUSD workers reached a Tentative Agreement with the District to protect workers and students
When workers at Geyserville Unified School District (GUSD) received news that schools would reopen in April of 2021 for in-person learning, members and chapter leaders immediately began negotiating a health and safety plan with the District that would protect students, workers, and educators.
SEIU members across the state sent over 13,000 letters to lawmakers advocating for Courts workers
Recently, SEIU 1021 members in the North Coast region joined hundreds of SEIU members working in Superior courts across California in a letter-writing drive to draw attention to the budget, pay, and staffing challenges facing court reporters and clerks. COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on our already-strained Superior Courts.
City of Oakland Workers Hit the Streets to Talk to Their Neighbors and Make a Difference
On Saturday, June 6, SEIU 1021 members joined community members in the Refund Oakland coalition to knock on doors and talk to their neighbors about a city budget that invests in our residents, our working families, and our frontline workers. This partnership between union members and community members has driven a change at City Hall in Oakland, as a newly elected City Council has pushed back against Mayor Libby Schaaf’s austerity budgets.
After a Years-Long Fight, Legislative Aides in the City of Berkeley Win a Good Union Contract
In 2019, Legislative Aides in the City of Berkeley, who work with the Mayor and members of the City Council to serve the public, joined SEIU 1021. On May 14, 2021, they won their first tentative agreement.
Tenderloin Housing Clinic members are on a roll and just won a huge retro pay agreement
Claiming they didn’t have the financial flexibility any longer, management at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic (THC) shamefully cut off hazard pay in July of 2020, even as our members continued to serve clients amidst the pandemic. THC members decided to fight back.
By Holding Firm and Not Backing Down to the Mayor, City of Oakland Workers Win a Contract Extension with No Concessions
On May 18, the elected Bargaining Team for the SEIU 1021 City of Oakland chapter signed a tenatative agreement with the City. The agreement extends the chapter’s existing contract for a year, with no concessions or takeaways, and adds an across-the-board 3% raise for all members, effective the first full pay period in July of this year.
SEIU 1021 Member Power Sprouts Up Across Oakland’s Billboards and Airwaves
City of Oakland Members Show Solidarity with a Union Coalition
If you’ve been out and about in Oakland recently, you’ve probably seen them: the faces of firefighters, sanitation workers, and other union members looking out on the streets, accompanying powerful messages: “Invest in our town,” “Let’s build back better in Oakland,” and “Fund frontline city workers.” You may also have seen those workers speaking out for a better, stronger Oakland on TV, saying “Oakland has the wealth to weather the storm, invest in good jobs, and become a world-class city.”
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.