Alameda County – BHCS
Alameda County BHCS Notice of Elections
(Updated Dec. 27, 2023 with corrected meeting date.)
Per SEIU Local 1021 Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Chapter Bylaws, notice is hereby given of Chapter Officer Elections for the ALCO Behavioral Health Care Chapter for the purpose of electing new Chapter Executive Board Members to be completed by February 13, 2024. The Chapter Election Committee members for the election are: Jonah Hall, Deborah Perry.
Nominations for the Officer seats listed below will open on December 27, 2023 and will be accepted until January 27, 2024.
Alameda County members win a new contract after long fight
On Wednesday, April 26, Alameda County workers made it official and voted to ratify their new contract, with 95% YES votes. This followed a lengthy bargaining campaign that started in July of 2022 with the election of a bargaining team and featured near-constant countywide actions, from rallies and marches and unity breaks to petitions, packing the Board of Supervisors meetings to make public comment, and spreading their message with billboards and bus ads.
The Votes Are In! With More than 95% Voting YES, WE HAVE RATIFIED OUR TENTATIVE AGREEMENT!
On Wednesday, April 26, after a week of countywide voting, SEIU 1021 members and staff counted the votes: members voted overwhelmingly to ratify our Tentative Agreement!
Because of our members’ solidarity and willingness to show up and speak up across the county, we were able to win this strong new contract.
UPDATED Tentative Agreement Info Sessions AND FULL VOTE SCHEDULE
In-person worksite and remote sessions by Zoom both available
If you have questions about the historic Tentative Agreement your
elected bargaining team has signed with County management, come
to one of our info sessions! We have Zoom sessions scheduled
between April 11 and April 18, and a full slate of in-person
sessions at worksites across the county as well. Keep an eye
on seiu1021.org/alaco for updates on the in-person
sessions.
You can click the links below to RSVP for a Zoom schedule that
works for you. Each two-hour Zoom meeting will consist of two
one-hour sessions, so you can attend at a time that works for
you.
Tentative Agreement Summary
Between SEIU Local 1021 and Alameda County -- UPDATED April 19
NOTE: The detailed email update that was sent to Alameda County work email addresses incorrectly identified the email as being from “SEIU 1021 Alameda County BHCS Chapter”. This was an error: The email was from SEIU Local 1021. We apologize for the error.
Late in the night on Thursday, March 30, after a massive informational picket outside the Board of Supervisors, your elected bargaining team came to a comprehensive Tentative Agreement (TA) with Alameda County.
We Have a Tentative Agreement!
After Our Massive Info Picket, Late On Thursday Night, Our Elected Bargaining Team Signed a TA with Alameda County!
It took months of bargaining, and multiple actions all across the County, but we now have a TA with Alameda County!
This agreement addresses our core issues and will allow us to recruit, to retain, and to Staff Up Alameda County. Look out for more details via email and on seiu1021.org/alaco.
The three-year contract includes:
Info Picket: Noon on Thursday, March 30, 1221 Oak St., Oakland
To Win a Fair Contract, We Have To Act NOW
We’ve been bargaining with Alameda County for months, and have met with them dozens of times.
We’ve made progress and signed some Tentative Agreements (TAs) that will improve working conditions across the county, but management is still not making acceptable offers on our most important issues.
RSVP for Our Info Picket on Thursday, March 30!
Noon - 1 p.m., 1221 Oak St., Oakland
On Thursday, March 30, SEIU 1021 members will be rallying at 1221 Oak St. in Oakland to fight for a contract that staffs up Alameda County NOW!
Rally at noon to show the community that we’re united and we won’t back down. RSVP below!
We will be running buses from multiple locations. Reserve your seat or let us know that you don’t need a ride.
When We Fight, We WIN!
On Tuesday, March 14, more than 100 of us marched on the Board of Supervisors and demanded they fix Alameda County’s staffing crisis. The following Thursday, we signed some big Tentative Agreements and management improved their healthcare proposal.
New Tentative Agreements
- Holidays: We kept Lincon’s Birthday!
- Improved sick leave, with better review and more days for sick family members
We are still working on wages, longevity, telework, and more!
As Alameda County’s staffing crisis continues, county workers march on the Board of Supervisors to demand a solution
To protest Alameda County administration’s failure to act urgently to fill its 2,611 vacant positions – nearly 25% of the entire County workforce – more than 100 County workers marched on the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, March 14, at noon. Workers from SEIU 1021, IFPTE Local 21, and IBT 856 all took the chambers, chanting “Staff up! Alameda County!” for several minutes before workers delivered powerful testimony to the board.
Our Solidarity Is Getting Results
Now It’s Time to Turn Up the Heat!
After our massive rally on Lincoln’s Birthday, the County has improved their proposals on a number of issues, including wages, bilingual pay, and shift differentials.
However, they still want to raise healthcare costs, and their wage proposals still leave Alameda County wages behind other comparable jurisdictions, which will mean our recruitment and retention problems will continue. Plus, even after seeing hundreds of people rally, they still want to eliminate Lincoln’s birthday as a holiday!
Hundreds of Alameda County workers and community members picket to say “STAFF UP NOW!”
On Monday, February 13, hundreds of Alameda County workers and community members rallied at Lake Merritt Amphitheater to protest the county’s nearly 25% vacancy rate, with 2,611 unfilled positions.
The rally started with a moment of silence for Richard Valle, a longtime champion of labor and progressive causes across the East Bay, who recently passed away. The workers planted flags to represent the 2,611 vacancies, and marched to 1221 Oak St. to deliver a letter demanding the Board of Supervisors solve the staffing crisis.
Your Elected Bargaining Team NEEDS YOUR HELP
SEIU Local 1021 Union Update, January, 2023
SEIU 1021’s elected bargaining team continues to make good progress at the bargaining table, with another four tentative agreements (TAs) signed last Thursday, January 26.
Thursday’s new TAs included improvements to bereavement leave and personal leave, an increased uniform allowance, and new flex schedule language
Contract Action Team Meeting
Tuesday, January 24, 6 p.m. -- Join by Zoom or Phone!
A Contract Action Team (or CAT) helps our union win by:
Year-End Bargaining Update
Where We Are Now
As we head into the holiday season, your elected SEIU 1021 bargaining team wants to provide you a comprehensive update on contract negotiations.
The last bargaining session before the holiday took place on December 20th. We will meet again with management on January 5th. We want everyone to have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday break with friends and family because when we resume negotiations in 2023, we are going to have to fight for a fair contract that helps County workers and residents.
Is Alameda County Serious?
After two months of bargaining, they still aren’t listening to workers’ concerns.
SEIU 1021’s bargaining team has met more than a dozen times with Alameda County management, and only on Thursday, December 1, did the County bother to put any wages at all on the table, more than two months after we passed a wage proposal.
Their opening three-year wage offer is lower than the 8.6% nationwide Consumer Price Index for 2022.
Is the County serious with this proposal?
The rest of the County’s offers aren’t much better:
We’re Making Progress, But We Need YOU!
Our elected bargaining team continues to make progress at the bargaining table, but we’re still waiting for the County to respond to all of our major proposals around wages, including cost of living adjustments to keep up with the 8.9% increase in the Consumer Price Index, longevity pay, bilingual premiums, telework, caseloads, vacation sellback, and safety.
Alameda County Workers Say: It’s Time to Staff Up!
On Tuesday, November 1, more than a hundred Alameda County members came out to rally in front of the Board of Supervisors. We let them know that we have a staffing crisis in Alameda County that needs to be solved now.
The day before that, the elected bargaining team passed our final proposals. They include common-sense solutions for improving recruitment and retention, fair wage increases to keep our members ahead of the 8.6% increase in the consumer price index the County itself reported, and much more.
County Workers Say: It’s Time to Staff Up!
On Tuesday, November 1, more than a hundred Alameda County members came out to rally in front of the Board of Supervisors to let them know that we have a staffing crisis in Alameda County that needs to be solved now!
The day before that, our elected bargaining team passed our final proposals, including common-sense solutions for improving recruitment and retention, fair wage increases to keep our members ahead of the 8.6% increase in the consumer price index the County itself reported.