The fight against the forces that want to incapacitate and muzzle our labor movement is happening right here in our own backyard of Riverside County.
To date, we have filed 19 unfair practices charges against the County for their bad-faith bargaining efforts, including harassment and surveillance of workers, and for the County’s refusal to provide critical information on the County’s financial dealings.
Make no mistake, what’s happening in Riverside County is a microcosm of the vicious attacks on public employees to silence our voices and take away everything that we have fought for. But it’s been proven time and time again that when we fight, we win.
That’s why hundreds of SEIU 721 members from throughout Southern California stood in solidarity at the picket line with the thousands who participated in the historic two-day labor strike, including the powerful march and takeover of the County Board of Supervisors. We know all too well that this is the new reality for public employees, and that an attack on Riverside County employees is an attack on every single worker who flies the SEIU flag.
The stakes are only getting higher and your brothers and sisters in Riverside County will be counting on you to lend support as they escalate their efforts. The County has shown no mercy in trying to go after workers for exercising their union rights, and has still refused to return to the bargaining table. The fight is only going to intensify in the coming days and weeks.
Now more than ever we need to stand up together to protect everything that we have fought for and to collectively tell the anti-union forces—not in our backyard! We’re in this together!
Stay tuned for the next steps and follow the real-time Raise Up Riverside County updates and news.