SEIU 1021

 Our 2020 Endorsements and Important Ballot Measures

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This election is unlike any other. 1021 fights to make sure our voices are heard at the ballot box so that we can win on policies that benefit workers and our communities. This year, we have an added obligation to vote for candidates who will protect workers through a pandemic and for ballot measures that fund essential services through this economic crisis.

It is our duty as union members to stand up for our fellow workers and neighbors for workers’ justice. We do that by voting.

SEIU 1021 members have done the research on the measures and interviewed the candidates. Our recommended positions and candidates will help us protect our paychecks, recover from COVID-19, fight for racial equity, and improve conditions for all workers, including those in the gig economy. Your ballot will be mailed to you beginning on October 5. As you fill out your ballot, please check out seiu1021.org/endorsements to see what your co-workers have decided to support.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have a solid plan for our workers, ensuring that they get the family support and PPE they need, and strengthening safety standards for workplaces. They know that our environment and economy are in a crisis that’s as urgent as COVID-19, and they are the right choices to lead us from the White House.

Statewide, there are perhaps no more important initiatives than these:

YES on Prop 15: Schools and Communities First - this will close a loophole in commercial property tax, so big business will pay its fair share and our schools and local governments will get the support they need. For us as working people and union members to keep up and get ahead, this absolutely must pass: vote YES on Prop 15.

NO on Prop 22: For some years now, app-based “gig economy” companies have broken California’s labor laws, and refused to treat their workers like employees. This hurts us all, by eroding wages, working conditions, and worker power across the board, and it hurts the workers who are mis-classified as “contractors” instead of being treated like the employees they are, by denying them medical coverage, unemployment insurance, and other benefits. When big companies treat their workers badly and break the law, we need to stand up to them, and when they try to rewrite the law in their favor, we have to stop them. Vote NO on Prop 22.

Other important statewide ballot measures:

Prop 16: Opportunity for All: YES
This repeals Prop 209, opening the door for public employers and universities to use affirmative action policies to pursue greater diversity.

Prop 17: Restore Voting Rights for Parolees: YES
This would allow parolees to vote, an important step forward for a disenfranchised group of people, who are overwhelmingly poor and Black or brown.

Prop 18: Expanding Access to Voting for Young People: YES
This would allow people who will be 18 at the time of a general election to vote in the preceding primary elections when they are only 17.

Prop 20: Repealing Criminal Justice Reform: NO
This would expand prosecutorial discretion and allow them to pursue harsher sentences, leading to over-sentencing of nonviolent crimes and increased crowding in prisons.

Prop 21: Rent Control: YES
This would allow local jurisdictions to pass common-sense rent control that works for their area, protecting renters in our ongoing affordable housing crisis.

Prop 23: Protecting Dialysis Patients: YES
Protects dialysis patients by requiring clinics to have at least one physician present, to report patient infection data to the state, and get state approval to close a clinic. 

Prop 25: Ending Money Bail: YES
Senate Bill 10 already ended cash bail, but bail bond companies have put the law on the ballot, hoping to protect their profits. Money bail is unfair and penalizes low-income people, especially Black and brown people.

The entire ballot is important, so don’t forget to review seiu1021.org/endorsements for your local measures and candidates!