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Why “Staff Up” is the theme of 2022 — and what it means for worker power
If you’ve been following the SEIU 1021 Newswire and/or social media accounts this year, you have undoubtedly noticed a common theme: From San Francisco to Mendocino County to Sacramento City schools, 1021 members are demanding their employers do more to alleviate severe staffing crises that are burning out workers and harming the public services they provide.
The unionization wave hits REI in Berkeley
As the summer season continues, so does a new heat wave of union organizing. The latest retail services corporation to feel the heat of workers fighting for a fair and just contract is Recreational Equipment, Inc., at its Berkeley location. More commonly known as REI, the company sells camping gear, hiking, climbing, cycling, water, running, fitness, snow, and travel equipment. The consumers’ cooperative operates 165 retail stores across 39 states.
Amplifying worker voices in politics: Alameda County COPE Forum
Sunday, March 20, 2022
On Sunday, March 20, from 3 p.m to 4 p.m., Alameda County’s Committee on Political Education (COPE) hosted a Zoom forum to talk about how and why they amplify worker voices in the political arena. Click the video above to watch a recording of the forum!
Presenters included:
San Francisco City College faculty and staff rally at City Hall, submit signatures to qualify measure to invest in education and workforce training for underserved students
The revenue measure to fund critical services and programming has twice the number of signatures required to appear on the November ballot.
Dozens of San Francisco City College (CCSF) staff, faculty, and community supporters gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall yesterday, celebrating their victory in gathering over twice as many signatures as needed to qualify a critical revenue measure for the November ballot.
Napa County workers march in downtown Napa to urge the board of supervisors to address the countywide vacancy problems
Hundreds of Napa County workers marched and rallied outside the Napa County administration building today, speaking out on the county worker staffing crisis. SEIU 1021 members attested to how understaffing — including of nurses in the Public Health Department, public health workers at Communicable Diseases, social workers at Child Protection Services and Comprehensive Services for Older Adults, and workers in the Mental Health Department – is hurting residents.
SEIU 1021 members in Alameda County win hero pay for county workers
After months of negotiations and member actions including rallies, purpling up on Tuesdays, sharing their stories with members of the board of supervisors, and more, SEIU 1021 members have signed an agreement with Alameda County to receive a one-time payment of $1,500 for county workers.
Mendocino County workers rally at board of supervisors, demand action to address staffing crisis
With vacancy rates as high as 67% in critical positions, the County cannot afford to lose another worker and needs desperately to recruit – but it is doing nothing to plug the drain.
About 80 Mendocino County workers flooded the board of supervisors meeting in a sea of purple this morning, protesting the county’s inaction in the face of a major staffing crisis.
Family and Children’s Services social workers: 40 percent vacancy rate. Mental health clinicians: 67 percent vacancy rate. Public health nurses: 29.6 percent vacancy rate. Department of Transportation road crews: 32 percent vacancy rate. Employment and family services eligibility workers: 20 percent vacancy rate.
Fast-food workers turn up the heat and continue the fight for a FAST Recovery
As the summer heat turns up, so does the fight to win fast-food worker justice. A vital part of ensuring California’s fast-food workers win the right to form a union, earn competitive wages, have substantial benefits, and get respect in the workplace is passing Assembly Bill 257 through the state senate.
Tenderloin Housing Clinic workers are poised to strike
For months, workers at San Francisco’s city-funded nonprofit Tenderloin Housing Clinic have been negotiating a new contract with management. Those negotiations have been contentious at times, leading members to vote overwhelmingly by over 99% to authorize their bargaining team to call for a strike, if necessary.
Working People in Oakland Picket for Good Union Jobs
On Thursday, June 30 a coalition of working people from three unions, IBEW, IFPTE Local 21, and SEIU Local 1021, rallied and picketed outside Oakland’s City Hall to call for an end to the understaffing crisis.
With help from SEIU 1021 clinic workers, another victory for SB 1014
SB 1014 will provide community clinic workers livable wages and a voice on the job.
Last Tuesday, June 28, marked another milestone for SB 1014, a bill that will ensure that community clinics have the necessary funding to improve patient care and raise clinic worker wages to at least $25/hour and make sure clinic workers have a stronger voice in making improvements and more training opportunities to further their careers.
Congratulations to SEIU 1021 President Joseph Bryant on his election as SEIU international executive vice president
Friday, June 24, in Chicago, SEIU 1021 President Joseph Bryant was unanimously elected by the SEIU International Executive Board to serve as executive vice president on President Mary Kay Henry’s leadership team.
Workers at Maryland Apple Store become the first to unionize in the United States
The wave of new organizing continues! Apple’s retail store workers at Maryland’s Towson Town Center sealed a historic win last week, becoming the only U.S. workers in the company’s 46 years to gain the right to labor representation. The final vote tally showed 65 of the store’s 112 eligible workers voted in favor of unionization and 33 against. The workers initially organized into a group called the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees before working with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union to reach victory.
From Oakland to Martinez, East Bay working people are on the march against understaffing!
Last Tuesday, June 21, SEIU 1021 members joined a nine-union coalition to rally outside Contra Costa County’s Board of Supervisors meeting to demand the supervisors take immediate action to fix a long-running understaffing crisis.
Santa Clara University adjuncts and lecturers win their union election in resounding victory!
Welcome to SEIU 1021!
In 2017, adjunct faculty and lecturers at Santa Clara University began organizing to form a union. On June 21, 2022, votes from their union election were counted — and they won big, with over 72% of the votes cast for the union in an election with impressive turnout.
The fight for worker power is the fight for LGBTQIA+ justice
The high-profile worker-organizing campaigns at Amazon, Starbucks, and most recently Apple signal a resurgence of the labor movement. Across the country, workers are rising up to fight back against unsafe workplace conditions, unfair labor practices, and a system that values profit over the health and wellbeing of its people. The reinvigorated movement is driven particularly by younger people, who are also carrying the torch of the fight for justice for LGBTQIA+ people.
Napa County workers speak out on staffing crisis at board of supervisors meeting
The County currently has a 20% vacancy rate that is decimating service delivery and fueling burnout
Dozens of Napa County workers gathered at the administration building this morning to speak out at the Napa County Board of Supervisors meeting about how understaffing in critical departments is hurting residents. Workers called on the county elected officials to commit to filling the hundreds of vacancies that are already budgeted for while using the county’s budget surplus to expand public services and invest in good-paying, permanent, county jobs that serve our residents.
With the June primary behind us, we look toward the general election in November and plan to support pro-worker candidates
The work of best representing our members takes place on a number of levels. There are contract negotiations, grievances, and sometimes even strikes. We have legal battles and fights to protect our rights in the courts. We organize new members into the union to protect the standards we set in bargaining and raise the bar for everyone. And then there is politics and the work we do at election time.
STRIKE: Fast-food workers statewide fight to win FAST Recovery Act
On Thursday, June 9, 2022, Fast-food workers across California served up an order or worker rights. From San Diego to Los Angeles and Oakland to Sacramento, fast-food workers walked off the job and into the streets. Their demand? Have California state senators pass Assembly Bill 257 – the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act, and have Governor Gavin Newsom sign it into law.
Hundreds of Union Members Will Rally for Contra Costa County Services
Join us on Tuesday, June 21 at noon!
Contra Costa County workers have dealt with an epidemic of understaffing for far too long. That’s why a huge union coalition of nine unions—representing more than 6,200 County workers—has rallied across the county’s worksites for weeks to call attention to the staffing crisis and force the Board of Supervisors to take action.