As shrinking LA Courts prepare to lay off 329 employees next week, we're marching for justice.

Thousands of people depend on the LA County courts for fair justice. On Tuesday, March 16, the court is expected to lay off 329 employees - with hundreds more to follow unless the Legislature redirects funding to help California's busiest courts.

Now's the Time:
March for Justice

Wednesday, March 17
11:30 AM: Meet at Staney Most Courthouse steps and march
1:00 PM: Rally and Action at Ronald Reagan State Building, 300 S. Spring St.
Sign up to march with us!



View Larger Map

The following is the content of an email SEIU 721 President Bob Schoonover sent to community members after receiving a letter from Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich about the Glendale Health Center: 

Since Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich proposed privatizing the Glendale Health Center more than a year and a half ago, community leaders and organizations, elected officials in the Glendale area and Health Center staff have drawn attention to the flaws in Anotnovich's proposal and demonstrated how it will negatively affect the care of thousands of patients, many of whom are elderly.

Recently I received a letter from the Supervisor in which he finally addressed the concerns of Glendale Health Center staff. In the letter dated March 2, 2010 Antonovich wrote:

"I specifically stated that I would not support proceeding with this initiative unless the following conditions are met:

• The care provided must continue to be provided in a manner that recognizes the cultural and linguistic needs of the patient population
• Access to and the quality of care provided to those presently served by the Glendale Health Center must be maintained
• The transition must result in a minimal disruption of services to patients
• The transition of services to a private provider will not result in any layoffs of existing health center staff
• Any privatization must result in significant cost savings and the ongoing operation must be cost effective"

Does the Supervisor actually agree with health care providers and community leaders that his proposal will negatively impact health care for about 3,500 people?

According to the LA County Department of Health Services, the County plans to disrupt patient services at Glendale Health Center and distribute patients among three different clinics that are not necessarily in Glendale.

No single clinic the County is considering has the same language proficiency as Glendale Health Center and many patients at Glendale have already been moved from shuttered clinics in North Hollywood and Burbank. To transfer elderly patients to yet another facility means that many will fall through cracks, some will not be able to travel to a new clinic and others will give up.

The county has not demonstrated that the move to new operators will sustain "access to and quality of care" over time nor has is demonstrated that patients' critical relationships to their health care provider will not be severed.

It's time to end this chapter and recognize the quality care, efficiency and value of the current Glendale Health Center.

Who is the SUPER SOCIAL WORKER in your office?

March is National Social Workers Month. Social Workers in SEIU 721 will recognize and celebrate our contributions throughout Southern California.

We invite you to nominate the SUPER SOCIAL WORKER in your office. The person with the most nominations will be recognized at a special lunchtime meeting in March.

Download the form here.

Nominations are due Friday, March 5 or beofre the next social worker meeting in your area. Meeting schedule:

Mar. 2
LA County: Glendora DCFS, 12 noon - 1 p.m.

Mar. 3
LA County: Lakewood DCFS
LA County: Corporate DCFS

Mar. 4
LA County: Belvedere DCFS
LA County: Pasadena DCFS

Mar. 5
Super Social Worker Nominations DUE!

Mar. 9
LA County: Borax, 4th Floor, 12 noon -1 p.m.
Ventura: HSA Enchanted Way Simi (CFS), 11:30 - 1 p.m.

Mar. 10
LA County: Borax, 7th Floor, 12 noon - 1 p.m.
LA County: ERCP, 6th Floor, 5 - 6 p.m.
Ventura: HSA Vanguard Oxnard (CFS), 11:30 - 1 p.m. 

Mar. 11
LA County: Chatsworth DCFS, 12 noon - 1 p.m.
LA County: Covina Annex DCFS, 11:30 - 1 p.m.
Ventura: HSA Partridge Ventura (Adults), 11:30 - 1 p.m.

Mar. 16
LA County: Vermont Corridor DCFS, 11 - 12:30 p.m.
LA County: Burbank IHSS, 9:30 a.m.
LA County: Hawthorne IHSS, 11:30 a.m.
Riverside: 10769 Hole Ave., 11:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Ventura: HSA Telephone Rd. (IHSS), 11:30 - 1 p.m.

Mar. 17
LA County: West LA DCFS, 12 noon - 1 p.m.
LA County: Compton DCFS, 12 noon - 1 p.m.
Riverside: 11070 Magnolia Ave., 11:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Mar. 18
LA County: Chatsworth IHSS, 11:30 a.m.
LA County: Palmdale DCFS, 12 noon - 1 p.m.
LA County: Pomona DCFS, 11:30 - 1 p.m.
LA County: Pasadena DCFS, 12 noon - 1 p.m.
Ventura: HSA Telephone Rd., (CFS), 11:30 - 1 p.m.

Mar. 22
Riverside: 505 Buena Vista, Corona (APS 3rd Floor), 11:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Mar. 23
LA County: Lancaster IHSS, 11 - 12 noon
Riverside: 1400 Minthorn St., Lake Elsinore (CPS 2nd Floor), 11:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Mar. 24
LA County: Borax Office, 12 noon - 1:30 p.m.
Riverside, 10281 Kidd St. (CPS 2nd Floor), 11:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Mar. 25
LA County: Torrance DCFS, 12 noon - 1 p.m.
Riverside, 23119 Cottonwood, Moreno Valley (CPS), 11:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Mar. 29
Riverside: 901 Ramsey St.,
Banning: 11:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Mar. 30
Riverside: 27464 Commerce Center Dr., Temecula, 11:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Above: The elected American Red Cross Union Committee. From L-R, Monica Marquez, Jesse Salgado, Angie Rodriguez, Therese Mendoza, Shawn Maloney, Sylvia Bailey, Gloria Garcia, Ann Sparks.

American Red Cross Contract Campaign Meeting Sunday, March 14 2010 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM SEIU 721 500 S Virgil Ave Los Angeles 90020 Click here to RSVP

Contract Negotiations between SEIU 721 members and the American Red Cross began March 4 and the elected union committee submitted a first proposal to management that contains items important to ARC workers such as: donor and blood safety; preserving or improving benefits, especially health insurance; and protecting our rights as union members of SEIU 721.

The union committee is comprised of ARC employees and their duty is to represent member interests in negotiations with management. Our goal is to win for all American Red Cross workers in Southern California, so support from all members during negotiations out at the mobile blood drives and donor centers is critical.  We can only win if we show our solidarity and remain united!
                    
We will have complete updates at our next union meeting, on Sunday March 14. Attendance to this meeting is very important! For more information, contact an ARC union steward, or call Adriel Peterson at 213.305.5749.

Click here to RSVP for the meeting

Staff at the Martin Luther King MACC, the clinic that currently occupies the hospital grounds, has been working to rebuild and reopen a fully functional hospital to serve the community.  King employees, along with health care workers at Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center, also have a plan to enahnce the quality of health care in South Los Angeles. That's why we were surprised to see a popular local blogger draw conclusions about the hospital and its staff in an article he published online.

But when SEIU 721 Executive Director John Tanner sat down with Bill Boyarsky, a regular contributor on laobserved.com, to talk about the future of health care in the area, he listened.

On March 4 and 5, our SEIU brothers and sisters at the California Faculty Association (CFA) will be joining a unified effort of education supporters from all segments of public education in California. They will hold rallies, demonstrations, teach-ins, and other types of events on every CSU campus and at other locations across the state. Our goal is to raise awareness about the crisis in public education and the need to fully fund our schools, colleges and universities.

We invite you to take part in these historic days of action:

Thursday, March 4, Los Angeles Regional Rally
Assemble at Pershing Square (5th & Hill) in downtown L.A. - 4 pm
March to the Governor's office (300 Spring St.) for 5 pm Rally.
For more information contact: Saira G. Soto at 213-368-8623
For information on other rallies, please visit CFA's website at
http://www.calfac.org/march4.html.

Friday March 5th, Los Angeles Kick-Off Rally for March to Sacramento
A coalition of labor, education, business and faith communities will hold a kick-off rally in Los Angeles to mark the beginning of the "March for California's Future." The march will begin in Bakersfield and end on April 21st in Sacramento with a rally in support of public schools, universities and other public services.
For more information, visit http://www.fight4cafuture.com/ or
call Marc Mitchell at (213) 738-8423

The Kick-off Rally begins at 10 am in Los Angeles at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church. Located at 4269 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles. MAP

After the rally a bus will take the first group of marchers to Bakersfield (location TBD). Join us or spread the word!

The media joined dozens of community members, nurses and Glendale residents at the community forum about the Glendale Health Center and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich's proposal to privatize the clinic Feb. 20.

Here's some of the coverage:

Health center may go private
Glendale News Press 
Nurses, union members and community activists attended a community forum Saturday to hear about the fate of Glendale Health Center, a mostly primary care facility with a staff capable of speaking six languages.

Forum Shines Spotlight on Plan to Privatize Glendale Health Center
Asbarez Armenian News
Bob Schoonover, President of SEIU Local 721--the union representing many of the health care workers at GHC--spoke at the forum about the shrouded nature of the privatization plan.

The Ararat Beez
By Senior Editor
The Armenian Youth Federation joined together with SEIU Local 721 to bring the issue directly before the community and into the public's awareness.

Horizon Television was also there. Watch the video:

Assemblyman Hector De La Torre knows about why functioning courts matter for LA businesses and families. "Government accountability means making sure that the public's interest is prioritized above everything else: essential court functions must be preserved," he wrote in an op-ed in the Daily News.

He called on the Administrative Office of the Courts to "reshuffle their priorities to keep the courthouse doors open with needed staff to serve the public." Read the full article below.

Open letter to LA court employees from SEIU 721 bargaining team leaders, AFSCME and CWA-CFI (interpreters).

Dear Court Employees,

For months LA Superior Court has warned that layoffs in the worsening economy could come as early as April. On Friday, February 19, the court formally started the process of implementing layoffs.

Representatives from AFSCME, SEIU 721 and CWA-CFI met for a discussion with LA Superior Court management about layoff procedures, including cascading, assignment transfers as well as a review of the layoff policy for impacted employees.

Court employees can access the final classification ranking list through the LA Court intranet.

This was the first of several meetings that will occur before any layoffs take place.

We are working to ensure contractors and working retirees are laid off before any permanent employees.

Our efforts continue to obtain additional funding to avoid as many layoffs as possible -- now and for the next fiscal year. Court employees are making phone calls and asking legislators to redirect funding for the expensive case management system to court operations.

We urge your continued participation in efforts by union members to stop the layoffs and closure of courts.

SEIU 721
Linda Mascorro, Legal Processing Unit
Pearl Romero, Supervisory Unit
Gaye Limon, Court Reporters

AFSCME
Gwendolyn Jones, Local 575
Mary Olenick, Local 910
Sharis R. Peters, Local 276
Karen Norwood, Local 3302

CWA-CFI
Eliza Chavez-Fraga, vice president