SEIU General Chapter Meeting

January 9, 2020

a. Welcome and introductions given.

b. Approval of October’s minutes. Dave Granlich motioned for approval of the minutes. Elizabeth Rapheal seconded it with spelling correction for Tiesha’s name There were no minutes taken for the November meeting and the secretary was not there. And there was no meeting held in December.

c. Cheryl Lott and Tiesha Anderson were not able to make it to the meeting

2. We have a guess speaker tonight. Gabriel Holland from Alameda Labor Council. He is speaking on the Schools and Communities First petition. He is asking for out help in getting signatures to get this petition on the ballot. If this petition passed it could be a big game changer for Alameda County. This petition closed a loophole in Prop 13 that exempts big business from paying their fair share of property tax. This is a state wide initiative, but the money would stay in the local governments. 40% of the money raised would go to the schools and the rest would go to community programs. For Alameda County this could raise 500 million dollars annually. We were given ballots to take and get signatures. We have to make sure they are filled out correctly. Otherwise they can’t be counted. The deadline to turn these in is March 13.

3. COPE/ACERA update given by Pete Albert. COPE: ( committee on political education) meets on the last the last Friday of the month. There are 3 seats in the BOS up for election this year. The committee is endorsing Nate Miley and Keith Carson for re-election. They are both the incumbents. The committee is endorsing Bob Weickowski for Scott Haggarty’s seat. He will not be running this year. On January 11 at 10 am there is a kick off campaign for Care For Our Kids. It will be held at 921 Washington St. Oakland. This will help expand child care for Alameda County, ensure that Children’s Hospital Pediatric Trauma Center stays open and fully staffed, attract high quality educators, and help to create access to early pediatric health care for kids in Alameda County. ACERA: We recently had elections for the retirement board. George Wood won. There was a question recently by a couple of members who noticed that employer contributions went down. ACERA is considered a Defined Benefit pension plan. This means the amount of contributions made on our behalf by the employer and ourselves do not determine our benefits. Under a BD system the employer is obligated to pay you the benefit that you have earned based on a formula, not based on the amount of contributions. This is a promised benefit that the employer is required to you pay.

4. Presidents Update. Tina had attended a training several months ago called “ A Collective Response to Workplace Division and Oppression”. It was held out in Fairfield. She asked in the training could be held down here in Oakland. The training department has offered the class here in Oakland. We need to get enough people signed up to have the class happen. So please register for the class. The class will be held on January 30th from 5:30 – 7:30 at 100 Oak St. Call the Member Services number at 1-877-687-1021. The Local held a Diversity Party on December 20th at the Asian Cultural Center. The location had gotten changed from Lake Merritt. The reservation had fallen through, and at the last minute a new location was arranged. It was well attended by members from the different chapters. If you have new employees in your office make sure to introduce your self and find out if they have attended the NEO (new employee orientation). Let them know what it means to be a union member. The NEO’s are held every other week. There is a Woman’s March happening on January 18, 2020 from 10am to 4pm. It will be at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland.

5. Training’s: There is a Basic Steward Training to be held on Jan 14 from 5:30 to 8pm at 100 Oak St. An Intermediate Steward Training will be held on February 25 from 5:30 to 8pm at 100 Oak St. A Collective Response to Workplace Division and Oppression will be held on January 30th from 5:30 to 7:30pm at 100 Oak St.

6. New Business: Follow up regarding Chief Shop Steward. We currently have no Chief Shop Steward.

7. Old Business: The Public Health Nurses have been going through a reorganization. The Meet and Confer meetings were completed on 1/9/2020 after more than a year and a half at the table. The Union will be talking with the affected members. Management has agreed to give them release time to hear them out. The Public Health Dept. will be moving to Creekside this year. Date to be determined still.

8. Staff Updates: Blake Huntsman. There are a couple of grievances happening. One is for age discrimination. The next interviews for these members will be happening on Monday January 12th. In the Sheriff department there was a shift bid for members. The Glen Dyer Jail had closed and all staff went over to Santa Rita to work. The Sheriff Techs had been asking to have trainings. A training committee has been formed and its working good. New MOU’s will be coming out soon. The BOS has finished their reading and approved.

9. Added item. Tonight we will swear in Brandy Anderson as a new Shop Steward. Tina asked Brandy to stand and raise her right hand and read the Shop Stewards Oath.

The next meeting will be held on February 13 at 6pm. Tina will not be available to lead the meeting. Vice President Tiesha Anderson will lead the meeting.

In attendance Blake Huntsman, Christine Lake, Brandy Anderson, Elizabeth Rapheal, Susan Lumpkin, Tina Tapia, Agnes Wu, Dave Granlich, Pete Albert, Yeon Park, Bridget Mooney, Celina GuerraMartinez, Guiseppe Elio, Eric Leung.