Newswire
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.
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.
Clinic workers score big victory as SB 1014 clears state senate
The California state senate passed the bill to increase funding and workers' voice on the job after a successful lobby day SEIU 1021 members took part in
Last Monday, May 23, community clinic workers — including SEIU 1021 members, members of other locals, and unorganized workers from around the state — flooded Sacramento. They spoke with state lawmakers about the importance of community clinics, which care for one out of six Californians and provide both general and specialized care to vulnerable populations. They also shared how chronic underfunding, combined with the stresses of the pandemic, have led to burnout and short-staffing and have harmed patient care.
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.
Old bosses, new organizing
The labor movement sees a resurgent, militant push to organize big tech, big coffee, and big food
May 16, 2022: A sleeping working-class giant is awakening from its slumber. In more ways than one, the labor movement is striking back by taking on new organizing opportunities against some old foes. Nearly half a million workers went on strike in 2018 and 2019, the most significant numbers in three decades. The militancy continues with workers fighting for the right to form a union, win higher wages, and secure better benefits. The result: a strike wave and a rising tide of worker power taking down the most challenging foes.
We’re going to fight like hell to save Laguna Honda Hospital
Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), who provide the vast majority of our funding, have conducted site visits and an investigation into a number of on-site infractions. As a result, the hospital is required to implement a Closure and Patient Transfer and Relocation Plan while we all continue to work towards recertification.
SEIU 1021 members at John George Psychiatric Hospital say: “NOT ONE MORE ASSAULT”
John George Psychiatric Hospital is Alameda County’s only emergency mental health care facility, where patients experiencing mental health issues can be treated. Unfortunately, understaffing and mismanagement have put John George in a crisis situation, in which nearly 250 assaults have taken place recently, with patients and workers alike the victims of violence.
The vote is in—SF Citywide members have voted overwhelming by 96% to accept our tentative agreement with the City!
On April 18, we reached a tentative agreement with the City and County of San Francisco for our next Citywide contract. The 10% wage increase we won is the largest two-year wage increase that San Francisco workers have ever received.
The Leaked Roe v. Wade Opinion Must Be Our Call to Action
By Theresa Rutherford, SEIU 1021 Vice President for San Francisco and Certified Nursing Assistant
I wish I could say I was shocked by this week’s news of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. I am a lot of things: I am angry, I am upset, I am heartbroken, I am afraid, I am outraged—but I am not shocked.