Last summer, many national pundits wrote the American worker’s obituary. They said the union movement would die in a hail of lawsuits from the Koch Brothers and other anti-worker extremists that make it harder for workers to join unions.

But while others wrung their hands, we SEIU 721 members rolled up our sleeves. We organized and built community alliances which won us good contracts in L.A. City, L.A. County, the Inland Empire, and Tri-counties regions. We won huge, game-changing victories, like passing a $15 minimum wage in L.A. We also sweated the small stuff, like enhancing steward training and aggressively pursuing individual grievances.

This is how we were able to add 10,000 members and 2,200 COPE members. This is why 85 percent of the workers covered by our contracts are full members — one of the best ratios in the U.S. for a union like ours. When a worker says “why should I join SEIU 721?” We can say, “you can’t afford not to!”

Bob Schoonover, President