Did you know we are about to enter bargaining this spring? The one-year contract that we ratified in late August 2009 will expire June 30, 2010.

Online bargaining surveys are available here.

The survey information will be tabulated and will help guide bargaining this year. Take 20 minutes to fill out the survey asking what bargaining priorities are most important to you.

"As a public service worker, a bargaining team member, a Riverside County resident, a wife and a mother, I'm committed to making this County a better place to live and work. But it starts with you and me filling out a bargaining survey."
Wendy Thomas, Riverside County Communications Supervisor 

 

Click here for the Riverside County Bargaining Survey.   

At a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, March 2, members in the Desert will talk face-to-face with candidates running for Riverside County Supervisor in District 4. This is a chance to meet and select a candidate to endorse that will stand up for public services.

Supervisor John Benoit and Gary Jeandron will attend the March 2 Town Hall. The Fourth District is the largest in Riverside County, spanning Palm Springs to Blythe.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
6 p.m. - 8 p.m. 
Rancho Las Palmas Resort
41-000 Bob Hope Drive
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270

RSVP online by clicking here.

About the Candidates

John Benoit
John J. Benoit was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Nov. 4, 2009 to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, replacing the late Roy Wilson in representing the County's 4th District. Benoit was previously elected to the California State Assembly and the State Senate.

Gary Jeandron
For more than three decades, Gary Jeandron served professionally with the Palm Springs Police Department. He started as a Records Clerk and became Chief of Police 29 years later in 2002. He retired from the Department in 2008. He also served on the Palm Springs Unified School Board of Directors.

Reserve your spot for the town hall by clicking here.

Inland Region members say uniting resources is the answer at Vision Conference.

Inland Region members and elected officials came together Jan. 30 to SEIU Local 721's first annual Vision Conference to address the most difficult issue impacting our community - the economy. The message is clear.

Solutions to drive our economy forward involve a multi-faceted approach, requiring the united resources of cities and counties across the Inland Region, along with the membership support of thousands of SEIU 721 members. 

To view a picture slideshow, click here.  

"We need everybody at the table including unions," said Hemet Councilmember C. Robin Reeser Lowe, who is also the League of California Cities president. 

More than 50 elected officials and dignitaries from all corners of the Inland Region joined about 350 SEIU members at the Moreno Valley Conference Center. Elected officials included Riverside County Board Supervisors Marion Ashley, John Tavaglione, Jeff Stone and John Benoit.

Other attendees included Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner Stanley Sniff , Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco, Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge and economist John Husing, who specializes in Southern California's Inland Region economy.   

One of the greatest obstacles local governments face is keeping the state from raiding local government funds that are necessary to provide critical services to our most vulnerable communities, elected officials said. 

To send a strong message to Sacramento and Washington, D.C., members and elected officials proposed initiatives to form a delegation with the League of California Cities, local governments, school boards and members of SEIU Local 721. 

SEIU 721 members are committed to pursuing the solutions discussed at the conference as a way to reenergize the Inland economy and ensure services to the community.

Despite the challenges ahead, SEIU 721 member Wendy Thomas said she is hopeful that the event will lead to positive benefits for the Inland Region.     

"We're coming together as one to find solutions during these difficult times," she said. "This is a critical moment, as we work hard to serve the millions of residents living in the Inland Region."

 

 

 

On Jan. 30, SEIU 721 members will gather with elected officials from across the Inland Region to tackle some of the greatest challenges facing our community. Here is a preview of the panels and speakers. Click here to reserve your spot. Spots are filling up fast!

January 30, 2010
8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Moreno Valley Conference and Recreation Center
14075 Frederick St., Moreno Valley 92552
RSVP here!
 

Panel: The Economy and Solutions
Amid financial peril, great opportunities exist to aid the Inland area's ailing economy by supporting fiscal responsibility, efficiencies and job creation, which will ensure stability and growth in a region devastated by foreclosures and job unemployment. Key solutions to helping the economy include implementing efficiencies in local government, building a business-based infrastructure and engaging in bond reform. Panelists will discuss the current state of the economy and strategies to overcome the current economic crisis.

Scheduled Panelists:
• Dr. John Husing, economist specializing in Southern California's Inland Economy.  
• Chuck Washington, City of Temecula councilman.
• Catherine Eide Nelson, SEIU Local 721 executive board member and public service worker.
• Rose Mayes, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County.
 
Panel: Politics in the Crisis
In a region with many divergent interests, the economic crisis is a moment to unite in a common goal to help our community. Establishing partnerships with elected leaders, business groups, outreach organizations and labor is a critical component to creating opportunity out of crisis. The current political challenges require a reinvented collaborative effort based in transparency and integrity. Panelists will discuss ways to partner politically in order to benefit the public.

Scheduled panelists:
• John Tavaglione, Riverside County Board of Supervisor for District 2 and member of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) Executive Committee.
• C. Robin Reeser Lowe, City of Hemet councilwoman and president of the California League of Cities. 
• Steve Robbins, general manager-chief engineer of the Coachella Valley Water District.
• Frank Corral, City of Riverside public service worker. 

Panel: Uniting to Protect Our Families
The protection of our social safety net faces great challenges to our most vulnerable populations from children to seniors. Social workers, community leaders and outreach experts agree that the delivery of services under strained economic resources makes it more difficult to deliver services to our neediest communities. Panelists will discuss ways to unite resources to protect our families, children and seniors during this difficult time.

Scheduled panelists:
• Dom Betro, president/CEO of Family Service Association of Riverside and former City of Riverside councilman.
• Kevin Luke, Riverside County Children's Social Worker.
• Harry Freedman, executive director of First 5 Riverside.
• Fourth panelist to be determined.

The 2010 Vision Conference on Jan. 30 is a gathering of members like you: strong, innovative and committed to a brighter future.

"My vision is for SEIU to be a beacon for other unions and their members to look toward. Our determination to seek out equality and fairness for our members will set the example that stimulates other unions to ride our coattails."
Mark Grays, ICU Registered Nurse, Riverside County Regional Medical Center

"My vision is to have a union that better communicates with members, employers and the community through member involvement, which will develop a more productive, stronger and positive union presence in the workplace and community."
Tim Burke, Lead Water Distribution Operator, City of Hemet

A Look Back at 2009 

As we enter a new year, let's not forget about the victories we achieved last year. Here's a look back at the Inland Area's best moments of 2009. Let the countdown begin: 

Recently, members in Riverside County received a mailing from the "SEIU National Industry Pension Fund" (NIPF) that stated it had reached a "critical status" because of the poor economic climate. It then went into detail about the steps that the SEIU NIPF is taking to return to a strong status.
Please note important points of clarification regarding the true status of your secure retirement pension.

• The first fact is that YOUR RETIREMENT IS SECURE. SEIU NIPF is NOT your primary pension. It is merely a small supplement to your CalPERS retirement, the formula of which remains 3% @ 60, and which is safe and guaranteed.

Union bargaining team members reached a tentative agreement Monday afternoon that helps ensure Superior Court services are provided to Riverside County's more than 2 million residents.

The agreement helps maintain the current level of services provided by nearly 200 SEIU 721 members working as court reporters, family law mediators, research attorneys, pre-trial services staff and supervisors in Riverside County's Superior Court of California. 

"Court employees can continue providing the high level services that Riverside residents rely on. The decision to extend our contract for 22 months was based on the economic times we're experiencing and understanding that a legislative budget needs to be in place before court employees return to the bargaining table."

Toni O'Neill - Supervising Court Reporter and Bargaining Team Member

To learn more about the Tentative Agreement, click here.

SEIU 721 Members Generated Million-Dollar Ideas. What's the Holdup?
 
Earlier this year, SEIU 721 workers partnered with the late Supervisor Roy Wilson to support efficiency initiatives to make our Riverside County government work faster, smarter and better. Workers identified more than 80 cost saving recommendations, but none have been implemented thus far.
 
Pressing for Change
Now, Riverside County workers are continuing to press for implementation of these critical cost saving measures through a committee comprised of SEIU 721 members and county officials. The group will develop a strategy to incorporate the cost saving recommendations across departments.

"SEIU 721 workers came up with golden ideas that are valued to save millions.  That savings can go toward protecting the public services that our community so desperately needs." 
Rick Gay, Accounting Tech

 

Some of the top ideas:

• Changing electricity usage

• Implementing alternative work schedules

• Limiting contractors     

Much work remains, but when these measures are implemented, the county will save millions, strengthening the quality of public services in Riverside County.

By Wendy Thomas
Communications Supervisor

Part of our mission as SEIU 721 workers is to partner with county employees across all departments and unions as well as our local community groups. This year, I wanted SEIU 721 to make a big splash at the Riverside Sheriff's Family Picnic held in late September. And we did!

We held an SEIU 721 informational booth for our brothers and sisters in the Sheriff's Department to learn about what we do and why it's so important for unions to partner with public safety as we strive to serve our communities in Riverside County.

During a very hot Saturday, more than 1,000 members of the Sheriff's Department and their families had the opportunity to learn about the critical services that more than 200 SEIU 721 members in the Department provide such as dispatchers, forensics, coroner's, courts and corrections.

SEIU 721 members also provide a large network of other crucial support to the law enforcement family in the form of social workers, nurses and doctors.

A big purple thanks to Sheriff-Coroner Stan Sniff for inviting SEIU 721 to participate in such a great family event that links together public services and public safety.