SEIU 1021 members are speaking up to make a difference from Oakland to overseas, and everyone is invited to come play their part.

On Saturday, April 11, we’ll kick off our campaign to support Measure E in Oakland. This grassroots measure, the Oakland Public Safety, Cleanliness and Community Accountability Act, is designed to keep fire stations open, connect homeless people to the services they need, and fund solutions to illegal dumping.

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Measure E was put on the ballot by nearly 30,000 Oaklanders who want to see the City spend money on services that we all deserve. Join us from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting at Jack London Fire Station No. 2, 47 Clay Street in Oakland!

City of Oakland Chapter President Antoinette Blue said, “Please join our Oakland chapter in passing Measure E this June! We need your help to ensure that we fund essential services, avoid cuts and layoffs, and keep Oakland on the road to economic stabilization.”

Then, on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19, there will be two opportunities to get involved with the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo.

On April 18, SEIU 1021’s San Francisco Union Hall will host a Solidarity Panel and Fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All donations will go directly to the Palestine New Federation of Trade Unions. 

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Mari B. said, “I’m a Black library worker and rank-and-file member of SEIU 1021. I’m attending the April 18th BDS event with PNFTU as both an Oakland native and resident because I believe it is our duty as Oaklanders to engage in all direct actions that promote the power of the people and especially in cases of extreme and inhumane violence.

“As a Black woman who has been displaced through the gentrification of my historically Black neighborhood, I understand how your home can be taken from you without reason or resolve. Palestinians are experiencing displacement to the highest extent of brutality, in ways that I simply cannot imagine. It is our duty to disrupt this in as many ways as possible utilizing all of what lies at our feet. I encourage people to show up, to listen intently, to participate and meet other like-minded workers who do not want the results of their hard-earned labor to be used to fund genocide.”

Mark “Osta” Ostapiak said, “I am a rank and file member of SEIU 1021. One of the main demands of Palestinian organized labor is to honor their picket line–no labor for genocide! The genocide won’t end until international labor solidarity on this level is achieved, and U.S. working people won’t be free until Palestine is free!

“U.S. Labor has its work cut out for itself. It cannot afford to simply fight for its own interests at home, for each time the U.S. genocide machine funds Israel to slaughter Palestinians it is a tragedy for Palestinians and kneecaps U.S. labor, as countless billions of dollars are drained from the needs of working people here at home. I’m attending the PNFTU solidarity event to continue building the vital international connection that strengthens labor at home and provides vital support for our siblings in Palestine.”

Fabi J., another 1021 member, said, “We can only use our collective power through organized resistance and education. Our own exploitation funds this genocide. They take from our pockets to drop bombs over Palestine. We should be angry and we should be talking about it.

“I’m joining the event because oppressed people have the right to self defense and BDS provides us with a means of resisting imperialism. The only remedy is to organize and fight for the rights of Palestinians, workers, and oppressed people everywhere.”

Then, on Sunday the 19th, the People’s Arms Embargo will hold a mass meeting at 11 a.m. at the Islamic Cultural Center, 1433 Madison St., Oakland.

RSVP here

1021 retiree Arla S. E. said, “I am a Jewish retiree member of SEIU 1021, and worked as a medical social worker until I retired. I have visited Palestine several times over the years, including both the West Bank and Gaza. Among other things, I met with social workers and other workers when I was there, and observed first-hand how crucially important worker-to-worker solidarity is to the people of Palestine.

“I will attend the PNFTU solidarity event virtually, as I will be in New Mexico—and I do NOT want to miss this opportunity to stand with, learn from, and share with our labor siblings in Palestine and here at home. I am grateful for this deeply meaningful occasion to recognize that an injury to one is an injury to all, and to build international solidarity by fighting together for the rights, dignity, and self-determination of Palestinian workers, as well as workers in the US and around the world.”

Linda Ray serves as the vice president for the West Bay Retirees Chapter and previously served in many capacities, including SF Labor Council delegate; Community RN chapter president, secretary, and steward; RN bargaining committee member; the Peace and Solidarity Committee co-chair; and on the SEIU 790 Executive Board. She said, “Working people everywhere (and those of us lucky enough to retire) have the same concerns.  We are all brothers and sisters, including those in Palestine who have experienced occupation and expulsion from their lands by violence and genocide. The labor movement’s ethos is that we owe special solidarity to those experiencing the most repression. I plan to attend the upcoming gathering to offer my solidarity to the Palestine Free Trade Union Federation and hope you can join me.”