By Blanca Gomez, MSW
LA County Children's Social Worker

Today is the 90th anniversary of women's right to vote. Like all gains made in the fight for civil rights over our history, the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote didn't come easily. 

Generations of outstanding women risked everything so that their daughters and granddaughters might exercise the freedom -- and accept the responsibility - that comes with a government of, by, and for the people. 

Ninety years later, the sisters and brothers of SEIU take seriously the responsibility to participate in our democracy, and we expect no less from those who would be our leaders. 

Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has demonstrated time and again that she doesn't think our democracy is worth the time it takes to mark a ballot. (You can learn more at the Sacramento Bee's website.)

We cannot trust our children's future and the future of our state in the hands of someone who has been so careless about them until she decided to become Governor.

We need leaders who are truly dedicated to rebuilding this great state. That's why I think a vote for Jerry Brown is a vote to Rebuild California.

By Tim Burke
City of Hemet Lead Water Distribution Operator and 9-Year Employee  

  Last year, I lost my home. After a year of negotiations with the bank, trying to lower the interest just a fraction, the bank closed the door on negotiations and rejected my application. 

This story is like the one workers in the City of Hemet are facing.

As the City of Hemet seeks $3.3 million in savings, SEIU 721 members have offered reasonable solutions to bridge the gap and ensure City leaders avoid cuts to public safety and closures of critical community hubs such as the Hemet Public Library, the Simpson Center and fire station.

• Employees have offered a 4 percent pay cut to reach the savings needed. This proposal exceeds the City's requested savings by $40,000.
• Workers recommend dozens of savings and revenue generating ideas such as a city-wide early retirement program and investigating wasteful and expensive contracts.

But the City of Hemet, like the bank that foreclosed on my home, is taking a closed-door approach to solving problems.

By Bob Schoonover
SEIU 721 President
&
Linda Dent
SEIU 721 Vice President

Over the past few days we've had the opportunity to meet and sit down with hundreds of public employees who are members of SEIU 721, from all parts of Southern California.
 
We talked about the new economic reality we're facing. We discussed how retirement security, wages, health benefits and even our jobs are at risk.
 

By Marlene Allen
LA County GAIN Services Supervisor

This article appeared on July 27 at the California Progress Report, an online journal of issues facing our state.

Last week I joined hundreds of other Californians -- college students, school employees, social workers and other community members in a march to Occidental Petroleum's offices in Los Angeles. We carried a simple message: closing a $1.2 billion tax loophole that giant oil companies take advantage of each year could save our schools and vital social services from deeper cuts.

Click here to see pictures from the march.

Debbie Dames, a retired employee of the City of Simi Valley, recently addressed the Little Hoover Commission in Sacramento about retirement pensions. The commission is studying the long-term health of current public employee pension programs.

Donna Meredith, who worked for LA County for almost 38 years as a senior cashier in the Registrar/Recorder Office before retiring in 2007, recently addressed the Little Hoover Commission in Sacramento about retirement pensions. The commission is studying the long-term health of current public employee pension programs.

By Reggie Jones Sawyer
LA City Asset Manager

Running as an SEIU 721 member for the 47th State Assembly district was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Though we didn't win, we can all hold our heads up high and be extremely proud of what we accomplished.
 

By Bob Schoonover
SEIU 721 President

In January we were facing a $600 million shortfall as projected by the CAO. Here in late May the ever-changing number seems to be about $100 million.

The City's adopted a budget with a bunch of holes in it. The city wants to fill those holes with 761 worker layoffs now, add 1,000 more later, and throw 26 furlough days on top of all that--or fill it with worker concessions.  

In meetings this spring with the CAO, Mayor's office, and City Council, union members and leaders have had one consistent message:  We won't take any steps backward, and we have a better solution. Last year we made a tremendous sacrifice, voting to put off our contract raises and give up hours to see our city through this crisis. That's hurt my family, and I know it's hurt yours too.

So when politicians talk about how we need to "step up" with concessions, that's why I told the Los Angeles Times two weeks ago, "We've already done that." That's why sanitation workers drove trash trucks with signs reading, "Don't give up on LA, Mr. Mayor"--because to me, that's what rejecting our sacrifice, cutting services and furloughing workers would mean.

By Judy Nicholson
Court Services Assistant III, Malibu Superior Court

The push for efficiency at LA County courts is the best thing that I have seen come out of the union yet. I am all for the cuts you have suggested plus...

• The judges get water while the clerks have to join water clubs or bring water to work.
• Cut the hours that we answer the phone: have a phone system like Ventura Courts...the Malibu staff answers the phones from 8AM - 5PM. Even just a few hours would enable us to get more done. 
• Discontinue the amount of classes that we have to attend...they are mostly in downtown LA and many are repetitive and not necessary. If it pertains to our job that is different.  
• When an employee passes a test and is put on a list, don't expire the list until every single person on that list has been interviewed. I have sat on four lists only to have them expire due to court freezes, reclassification and what is now happening to the court.

Click on comment to add your own .

By John Tanner
SEIU 721 Executive Director

Note: This blog post ran as an op-ed in the Daily Journal, one of California's leading legal newspapers, on Tuesday, April 6.

There's a bona-fide budget crisis hitting California's courts and Los Angeles' packed courthouses. Courtrooms are already closed one day a month, and that has backed up cases and limited access to justice for small businesses, families and the public at large.

Over the next three years, as much as 30 percent of the Los Angeles Superior Court system could shut down unless the state's funding priorities shift.

That's the picture court employees and officials, law enforcement, family advocates and many judges have been painting for more than a year.
 
Now even the Judicial Council finally is saying what the rest of us have known. A report released March 30 by the state courts' governing body said without immediate help the cuts to local courts will be "staggering."

"Courts will require additional funding to be able to avoid significant reductions in operations, including potentially substantial staff reductions and furloughs over the next three years," the report states.
 
Just last month, the cash-strapped Los Angeles Superior Court laid off 329 employees, cut document-processing services and shut down services for the public like the traffic-citation call center that assisted 2,000 people each month. Revenue generating services such as traffic and civil cases have been compromised. Justice is further delayed for families, crime victims and the 100,000 people who use Los Angeles courts every day.

Court employees and officials are asking the Judicial Council immediately to free up money, cancel this layoff and restore services to the public. 

Bob Schoonover, who on Friday, March 26, was elected president of SEIU 721, writes about what he has learned in 30 years working for the City of Los Angeles.  

By Bob Schoonover
SEIU 721 President

The City of Los Angeles is spinning its wheels, threatening to lay off thousands of workers and shred neighborhood services like parks programs, street repair, animal control and tree trimming. City leaders' plan is to slash and burn, and they don't have a vision for how we can keep people working and services running. 

by Theresa Santos
Principal Accounting Systems Analyst, LA County

I've been a Los Angeles County employee for the last 21 years; a member of SEIU for 13 years, and a contributor to COPE. This was my first time lobbying for the union.

In early February, I went to Washington D.C. to join SEIU activist and LACERA Investment Board Chair Herman Santos (no relation) to advocate for jobs and Financial Regulatory Reform legislation. We met with SEIU International staff for a briefing and reviewed talking points and the schedule for the week.

By Rosie Martinez
LA County Public Health Nurse

Health care reform has touched people more directly than any other issue of the day

Today was a historic moment for the American people, with the passage of the health care reform bill, but for me it is a personal triumph. 

When the health care debate began my daughter and her family lacked health insurance. Even though she was a health care professional and worked regularly as a hospice nurse she lacked basic health insurance. Today there is hope for my daughter and the 32 million Americans without insurance who have an opportunity to benefit from this historic vote. 

Today she and her children will have the opportunity to have quality of care. Today is the beginning of a journey that has taken decades to accomplish. The real winners are ultimately the 32 million uninsured Americans and the millions more with employer health insurance that costs too much and doesn't cover enough. Now we'll have real protections if we lose our jobs or have serious illnesses. 

Our work on healthcare reform has not ended with this historic vote, but we will continue to make sure our mantra for the future is HEALTH CARE FOR ALL.

By Georkeshia Campbell
Intermediate Typist-Clerk, Olive View Medical Center

In news articles about retirement there is often a lot of misinformation. SEIU members have been sending letters to the editor in order to correct the record and get the real facts out.

For example, a Daily News article, "Costly pensions under fire," misrepresented the facts. The average public retirement in California is about $24,000 a year.

Here's a letter that SEIU 721 member Georkeshia Campbell recently sent to the Daily News.


Dear Editor:

I was disappointed to read the article "Costly pensions under fire" (March 6). The article misrepresents the facts and it's unclear exactly what public employees you are targeting.

I work at Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar and I am a Los Angeles County employee.  Our emergency room is busy treating people from all walks of life and we strive every day to patch people up and make sure they're healthy.

Part of our compensation is a retirement plan. The average retirement in the state in $24,000 a year, which is close to what I will receive. I contribute to my retirement in each pay check and I do not receive Social Security from my County job.

I understand the temptation to lump everything together and assume the worst, but attention to the facts and details is critical to understanding this complicated subject and your readers deserve the facts, not rhetoric from politicians seeking election.

Sincerely,
Georkeshia Campbell