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SEIU 1021 welcomes Oakland’s next mayor, Sheng Thao
Wednesday, November 23, SEIU 1021 joined many Oakland residents at City Hall to welcome Sheng Thao as Oakland’s next mayor. Thao is a longtime friend of working people, having served on Oakland City Council for District 4 since 2018 and as City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan’s chief of staff before that.
Low-wage and part-time workers win big with Berkeley’s Fair Work Week Ordinance
On Monday, November 21, 2022, the Berkeley City Council passed an ordinance from Vice Mayor Kate Harrison and the Labor Commission to protect and compensate low-wage and part-time workers at some of Berkeley’s largest employers. The Fair Work Week Ordinance reduces the mental and physical strain of last-minute schedule changes and extreme back-to-back shifts. It requires covered employers to offer part-time workers additional hours before hiring new part-time staff.
SEIU 1021 members help elect Sheng Thao as the next Mayor of Oakland
The dust has settled, and Sheng Thao will be the next Mayor of Oakland. From the moment she announced her candidacy, SEIU 1021 members have been on the front lines doing the work to talk to voters and support her candidacy.
If you’ve been to an SEIU 1021 rally, protest, or picket line in Oakland in recent years, there’s a good chance you saw Sheng Thao there too, standing with us.
SEIU 1021 Lavender Solidarity Committee Stands in Solidarity with LGBTQ Community of Colorado Springs
Club Q, one of only two LGBTQ nightclubs in Colorado Springs, was known as a safe space where members of the local LGBTQ community could let loose and be themselves while dancing the night away. Saturday, in a devastating echo of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy of 2016, that safety was shattered by yet another heavily armed young man with a history of making bomb threats. Five beautiful, promising lives were violently stolen, at least 17 others injured, and irreparable trauma was inflicted upon everyone who was at Club Q that night and all of their loved ones.
An SEIU member wins elected office in Solano County
SEIU 1021 was proud to endorse Suisun City Councilmember, Solano Land Trust Project Manager, and longtime community advocate Wanda Williams for Solano County Supervisor. We know she’d work just as hard for our members in Solano County as their next County Supervisor—because she was an SEIU member, too!
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.
Mendocino County workers plead with Board of Supervisors and CEO to prioritize public services
The County CEO and Board continue to claim ignorance about the budget as services and workers suffer
Rain and cold can’t stop Mendocino County workers from taking a stand for public services.
With each week that goes by, more Mendocino County employees resign to work for neighboring counties or for other organizations. In Family and Children’s Services, the vacancy rate is already over 40 percent and climbing, with at least six more employees jumping ship in October alone. And that is not just inconvenient for the staff who remain: It’s dangerous and could even cost lives.
Solano County workers win strong new agreement to staff up county services and invest in workers
On Wednesday, October 19, hundreds of Solano County workers rallied outside the Solano County Government Center to denounce the county administration’s mismanagement of services, highlighting the need for improvements. It was the latest in a series of escalating actions by County workers, who gave speeches on how understaffing of vital worksites on the last day of their contract. Solano County workers have demanded all along that county management show that they value workers’ contributions to this community’s well-being, safety, and future.
When an SEIU 1021 member becomes an elected official: Interview with Sol Jobrack, Stockton City Council Member, District 1
It is often said that we, as public-sector workers, elect our bosses. Having pro-labor candidates run for and win public office is vital, particularly when it comes time for contract negotiations. Who sits across from us at the bargaining table can dramatically change the dynamics of our contract. That is why when someone sitting across from the bargaining team not only has a pro-labor platform but is a union member; it makes all the difference.
SEIU 1021 members say “NO!” to big business trying to buy elections
In Oakland’s mayoral election, voters face a stark set of choices. Unfortunately, big businesses, especially coal businesses, are trying to make those choices less clear by putting huge amounts of money into the election.
SEIU 1021 members get inspired and energized at the Education Industry Summit
Attendees heard from SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, CA Labor Federation Chief Officer Lorena Gonzalez, and others
Inspiring speeches from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher were just a couple of the highlights of this year’s SEIU 1021 Education Industry Summit held this past Saturday, October 29, in Vacaville.
Mendocino County workers take CEO and Board of Supervisors to task over continued inaction
The County's inaction on its staffing crisis paints a picture of incompetence or indifference to the needs of its most vulnerable.
Mendocino County workers once again rallied and flooded the Board of Supervisors meeting last Tuesday, October 18, as county administration continues to claim ignorance about its budget — despite abundant evidence that its finances are healthy – and pays lip service to its workers while refusing to address the staffing crisis that is driving more and more of them away.
SEIU 1021: It’s time to get out the vote
Over the last several years, we have seen attacks on workers’ rights across the country. The victories we secure on the streets and at the bargaining table are directly linked to the ballot box. The gains we make are under siege by management teams, often elected public officials, trying to use our country’s economic and public health crises as reasons to take away our hard-earned wages and benefits.
Workers rally to staff up Alameda County!
Across Alameda County on Friday, 10/21, SEIU 1021 workers took a unity break at 10:21 a.m. to show their solidarity. One of their issues is a staffing crisis that has more than 2,300 county positions unfilled according to the county’s own numbers. As the need for Medi-Cal, CalWORKS, CalFresh, and other services skyrockets and Alameda County’s headcount dwindles, SEIU 1021 workers are united in telling the County Board of Supervisors: “It’s time to staff up Alameda County!”
SEIU 1021 joins families of police shooting victims to call on Interim DA Brooke Jenkins to prosecute SFPD officers who killed their loved ones
On Thursday, October 20th at 10 am, SEIU 1021 members joined the families of police shooting victims Keita O’Neil, Sean Moore, and Luis Gongora Pat at a press conference and rally outside District Attorney Brooke Jenkin’s office. The families of the three victims urged Jenkins to commit to prosecuting the officers, citing civil lawsuits and settlements awarded to the families, as well as independent investigations and disciplinary actions.
East Bay members hit the streets to win for working families
With so many candidates and initiatives on every ballot, sitting down to vote can feel overwhelming. However, our votes are important tools for making our jobs and our communities better. To help make voting simpler, SEIU 1021’s endorsements are listed here and our volunteer opportunities are here.
North Central VP Akbar Bibb on what’s at stake for the region in the Nov. 8 election
Leading up to the November 8 general election, we’re sitting down with SEIU 1021 member leaders across Northern California to talk about what’s at stake for workers like us whose employers are (or are funded in large part by) elected leaders.
This week, we’re talking to North Central Regional Vice President Akbar Bibb about what is top of mind for him as the general election approaches and with many bargaining units in the midst of contentious contract negotiations.
It’s time to make a plan to vote!
Ballots are landing, and Election Day is less than a month away.
With a vital midterm election coming up, SEIU 1021 members have an important opportunity to elect their own bosses, by voting for pro-worker candidates and initiatives. Ballots are already landing in mailboxes now, and it’s every union member’s responsibility to make a plan to vote: filling out the ballot and returning it by mail or by dropping it off in an official drop box. (Find a drop box near you by clicking here.)
Solano County members continue to build momentum with strike school
Four hundred union members, including SEIU 1021, IFTPE Local 21 and now IOUE Stationary Engineers Local 39, came together last Thursday evening at the Joseph Nelson Community Center in Suisun City for strike school.
SEIU Workers Help Secure an Extension of Essential COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 152 to extend COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave to essential workers until December 31, 2022. COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave was previously set to expire on September 30 2022, leaving workers with only the state-mandated three paid sick days as the state faces the possibility of fall and winter surges of the highly transmissible virus.