HOW FIGHTING FOR ALL WORKING FAMILIES PAID OFF BIG TIME FOR SEIU 721 MEMBERS

A year ago, we knew Southern California workers’ backs were against the wall and our union would face some of the toughest fights in our history. At our member summit last November, we decided going it alone with old tactics wouldn’t work. Instead, we focused on building alliances with other unions, community groups, and clergy.

We led the Fight for $15 with our members, fast food workers, and other workers around the region and won a game-changing victory — a $15 hourly minimum wage for every worker in the City of L.A. We followed up by passing $15 an hour for workers in L.A. County shortly after.

The alliances we built through Fight for $15 and our Fix L.A. coalition of community and faith-based groups paid off for workers again and again in 2015. Bucking the national trend, we helped elect pro-worker allies in federal, state and local races.

Obamacare created an unprecedented amount of new work for DPSS workers. We fought for and won new funding for better staffing, but there’s more to do. We went to Sacramento and helped pass new laws to protect our work. We organized thousands of new workers in government and private colleges. And proving that you can do well by doing good, our allies helped us beat back concessions, and we won good new contracts in the City of L.A., L.A. County, and several other communities.

Bob Schoonover
President, SEIU Local 721