To our union siblings:

As you may have heard, 25 of our members recently received layoff notices, along with many others from Local 21 and some unrepresented workers. We have been fighting against these cuts for months, and we’re not going to stop fighting. As President Antoinette Blue says, “The administration’s failure to manage the budget isn’t something that should be landing on the backs of city workers and community members. Knowing how mid- and top-heavy the organization is, does it make sense for the city administrator to have three assistants when they are laying off members of public works who directly serve the community? Looking at the range of positions throughout the city that have gotten layoff notices, it’s clear the impact to the community was not considered. We are going to continue to fight to make sure Oakland residents receive the services they deserve.”

We are using every option available to us, including exploring legal challenges to the City’s apparent failure to follow seniority lists and civil service rules. We’re going to make sure the City finds every dollar that’s coming to it. We’re going to find executive positions for them to cut, and we’re not going to stop until our contract and the civil service rules have been followed.

This is a bad situation for our members and the public, and it’s important for us to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s why we have a three-point political plan to fix Oakland’s budget, so that our future is brighter than today: 

1. Elect Barbara Lee as our next Mayor
2. Elect Kara Murray-Badal as our next Councilmember for District 2
3. Pass the half-cent sales tax to better fund City jobs and prevent future layoffs that hurt City workers and deprive residents of services