Members of SEIU 1021 and other unions were thrilled to get a surprise opportunity to meet the new U.S. Senator from California, Laphonza Butler, last Wednesday, October 11. The former president of SEIU 2015 who was appointed to the seat left empty by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s passing came by the SEIU 1021 office in San Francisco for a meet-and-greet with labor leaders and activists.

“The labor movement helped to raise me,” said Senator Butler. ”The only difference between the caregivers represented by SEIU 2015 and my mom’s job as a CNA on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift is that she lived in Mississippi and didn’t have a union. It  meant my mother didn’t have health insurance consistently in her life until this labor movement fought to help pass the Affordable Care Act. 

“My values are impenetrable. What I believe in is clear and has always been clear. I believe in the value of workers, the dignity of work, the right to collectively bargain. That is and should never be questioned.”

“It’s with pride and a lot of respect that I honor you and I will say that history is happening right here,” SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford told Sen. Butler in response to her remarks. ”We are setting the bar for little girls and little boys to look on with pride and to know that no matter what the narrative is about color of skin, where you come from, who you love, they can do this. We’ve got this.”

Click here or on the video to above to hear Senator Butler’s remarks in full.