Newswire
Sacramento City Unified School District Transportation Workers Protest Unsafe Working Conditions and Short-Staffing That Endanger Health and Safety of Kids, Staff
The situation has reached a crisis point in recent weeks, with supervisors telling bus drivers who test positive to continue working and putting kids who have tested positive on school buses
As the Omicron variant has ripped through Sacramento, schools that have long been at a tipping point are in a full-fledged crisis. Nowhere have the effects of the latest COVID surge been more acutely felt than among SCUSD transportation workers. These workers were already short-staffed before Omicron hit and now find themselves required to work in conditions that put themselves, their families, the students they transport, and entire school communities at grave risk.
At the Asian Art Museum, members fight back against sexual harassment, transphobia, and bullying
Last year, an SEIU 1021 member, who is using the pseudonym Emily to talk about her experience, took a leave of absence from her job at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to address their struggle with gender dysphoria. The museum’s values and mission statement claim to prioritize respect, accessibility, and inspiring new ways of thinking by connecting diverse communities to Asian art. However, Emily, a transgender woman of color, was shamefully met with bullying and harassment by her manager Abby Chen.
Fast-food workers turn their eyes to the State Senate
AB 257 - the FAST Recovery Act moves forward
Coming off of last week’s worker-led legislative victory with the California State Assembly passing AB 257 – the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act - fast-food workers are ready to take the fight for workplace justice to the State Senate.
Fast-food workers celebrate as AB 257, the FAST Recovery Act, passes the State Assembly
In a huge victory for fast-food workers, the California State Assembly today passed the Fast Food Accountability and Standards (FAST) Recovery Act, AB 257. This victory coming out of the lower chamber of the California State Legislature would not have been possible without the fast-food workers putting their lives and livelihoods on the line by striking over three hundred times across California during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a Public Sector Worker, You May be Eligible for Student Loan Forgiveness!
Under a new policy from the Department of Education, if you work fulltime in the public sector (for a city, county, or other governmental organization or a non-profit that provides a designated public service, including early childhood education and public health), you may be eligible to have your federal student loans canceled. However, you must take action soon: the new policy states that you must apply before October 31, 2022.
San Joaquin County Public Works wins new boots
1021 Workers at the San Joaquin County Public Works Chapter know that a good pair of boots makes or breaks the job. The goal of the Department of Public Works is to provide quality service to the community and to enhance the public’s quality of life by protecting their investment in the County’s. As part of the bargaining process, the Public Works Chapter has continually fought for the highest-quality boots possible. Our members work in underground facilities, on roadways, across bridges, and in waste facilities.
San Joaquin County workers win hero pay
SEIU Local 1021 San Joaquin County Chapter workers have scored a significant victory, as the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted on January 11 to approve a one-time COVID-19 payment for qualifying employees, totaling up to $1,000 each. This victory would not have been possible if members had not organized to put pressure on the Board to acknowledge their ongoing commitment in the face of the pandemic.
Fast-food workers take to Sacramento to demand passage of the FAST Recovery Act
Fast-food workers and supporters gathered outside on the steps of the California state capital building in Sacramento to demand that California State Assemblymembers pass Assembly Bill 257 – the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, or the FAST Recovery Act.
Solano Courts workers vote overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract
Superior Court of Solano County workers have voted to ratify
their most recent agreement, after securing a number of
significant victories for members at the Court.
Included in the new contract are a 6% raise after ratification,
followed by a 3% raise in November of 2022. Members also won
vacation cash out language, new pay differentials for court
reporters that could go as high as 10% depending on the workers’
certification status, and more.
Solano Court worker Dreighton Palacios had this
to say:
From the bargaining table to the streets, San Francisco’s nonprofit workers are fighting for themselves and their clients
Nonprofit workers in San Francisco closed out 2021 with a bang, with big things happening at the Felton Institute and Tenderloin Housing Authority.
City of Hayward Workers Form a Bold Citywide Coalition and Win a Strong Contract for SEIU 1021 Members and Many Others
January 10, 2022: City of Hayward workers came into their latest contract campaign knowing things had to change. The City had allowed some workers to fall behind. In years past, management had even imposed onerous, unfair contract terms on its workforce—a move which was later reversed by a Public Employment Relations Board judge, but which showed clearly their lack of respect for and understanding of the City’s workers.
Holy Names University Adjuncts Secure Strong Tentative Agreement with 45% Raises
Members will vote on contract ratification later this month.
SEIU 1021 members who are adjunct faculty at Holy Names University (HNU) got some good news for the holidays late last month, when their bargaining team reached a strong tentative agreement with university administration after a year and a half of contract negotiations.
The tentative agreement (TA), which adjuncts will vote on later this month, includes 45% raises over the next two and a half years, including a 15% raise starting this month, as well as a host of other improvements adjuncts had identified as priorities for the new contract.
Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District Workers Finally Win a Strong New Contract
The workers of Contra Costra County’s Mosquito and Vector Control District recently voted unanimously to ratify their hard-won new contract, bringing a long campaign to an end. The new three-year contract includes a 1.5% raise and $1,600 signing bonus in the first year, with raises in the second and third years based on the published Consumer Price Index, with a 1% minimum and 4% maximum, to keep these workers from falling behind. The unit’s seasonal aides also received an additional $3 per hour.
SEIU Local 1021 remembers all those who suffered under COVID-19
Dec. 28, 2021: As we enter the third year of the pandemic, the lives and livelihoods of SEIU 1021 members continue to be threatened by the COVID-19 crisis. While the bosses fought to cut corners, SEIU 1021 members stood in solidarity with one another, braving the frontlines of the pandemic as essential workers.
SEIU 1021 Members Bring Holiday Cheer to Needy Families at This Year’s Toy Drive
Dec. 27, 2021: This year has been challenging for everyone. When SEIU 1021 members see community members having tough times, they know it’s time to roll up their sleeves and get to work, and that’s just what they did in 2021’s community toy drive.
“There’s Nowhere to Live Here”
SEIU 1021 Mendocino County chapters release report addressing Mendocino County’s housing crisis causes, offering recommendations
Dec. 20, 2021: “I can think of a half a dozen employees that the County has offered jobs to here on the coast, but they had to turn down the offer, because they couldn’t find anywhere to live,” reported one Mendocino County employee in a survey. “The average apartment rents for about $1200 to $1300 per month. The rental agency requires your income to be three times the rent. I make around $35 per hour, and I can’t even afford that. How is someone who makes minimum wage or is a single parent supposed to find a place to live?” laments another survey respondent.
Gig workers with We Drive Progress set up Support Hub at San Francisco ghost kitchen
In conjunction with app-based drivers across Los Angeles, Brussels, and cities across nine different countries, and amid an international swell of worker protests, workers with We Drive Progress (WDP) set up Support Hubs in San Francisco, including at a popular South of Market ghost kitchen. Ghost kitchens are food preparation and cooking facilities set up to prepare delivery-only meals that are often utilized by food-ordering and delivery apps, including Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, Grubhub, Club Feast, and more.
California College of the Arts Staff Vote by 97% to Authorize a Strike
CCA administration has spent the 2 years since they formed their union stalling, delaying, and violating federal labor law, and union members have had enough.
Dec. 13, 2021: In what would be the first strike at a private arts college since 2012–and the latest in a number of strikes in colleges and universities–California College of the Arts (CCA) staff voted by 97% this week to authorize their contract negotiating team to call a strike if administration does not put an immediate stop to violations of labor law and bargain in good faith.
Sonoma County Chapter President Jana Blunt Is Kicking A$$ for the Working Class
Now She’ll Have an Award That Says So.
Dec. 14, 2021:
Folks who know SEIU 1021 Sonoma County Chapter President Jana Blunt and are familiar with her work with the union agree: She is an amazing leader who gets s*%t done. Her fierce, persistent, and creative organizing and advocacy was crucial in successfully saving 45+ County workers’ jobs in less than a year and, most recently, winning hazard pay for all County employees for their work and sacrifice throughout the pandemic. And she is still fighting hard for an equitable countywide telework policy.
California College of the Arts Staff Set to Hold Strike Vote 12/7 and 12/8
After 2 years of CCA administration slow-walking contract negotiations and violating labor law, staff still don't have a contract--and they're ready to take more drastic action.
Dec. 6, 2021: More than two years after forming their union with SEIU 1021, joining adjunct faculty in the California College of the Arts (CCA) chapter, staff at CCA still don’t have a first contract. And it’s certainly not for lack of effort on the part of the 1021 bargaining team, who have been making proposals addressing the critical needs identified in their bargaining survey since fall of 2019, including living wages based on the cost of living in the Bay Area; wage transparency with yearly increases; career ladders for advancement; and job security.