Last month, SEIU 721 and its coalition partners in Fix L.A. locked in an agreement with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to fill 5,000 newly created city jobs through a groundbreaking hiring and training program targeted to underrepresented L.A. residents.
Workers scored two huge victories this month: The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to their basic union rights and the California Legislature adopted a $15 minimum wage for all workers. As the old saying goes, “sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you are good.”
In 2015, we demonstrated that with the right planning and fearless execution we can make big things happen for workers. If you’re already a member, take a moment to celebrate our union’s accomplishments. If you’re a new member, welcome to the most dynamic and fastest-growing public employee union in America.
Today, our union is gripped by sorrow in the wake of the tragedy in San Bernardino. In what has become a weekly occurrence, a mass shooting has claimed the lives of innocent Americans and injured many more. This attack is particularly close to home. Of the 14 people killed on December 2nd, 10 were SEIU 721 members. Of the 22 injured, 15 were members of our union.
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.
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.
Last month, SEIU 721 scored a major ballot box victory — electing candidates to two powerful pension boards that, while largely unknown to the general public, are vitally important to the retirement security of 721 members.
We’re four months into contract negotiations with LA County and county negotiators have yet to present a fair proposal to county workers. Enough is enough—in August, we’re going to bring the heat.
It’s no surprise a lot of public workers dread budget time. Hiding behind jargon and buried under euphemisms like “budget optimization,” “realignment,” and “paradigm shift” is the same old story: politicians and managers want frontline public workers to do more with less. They want them to help the most vulnerable in our communities and they want them to do it with smaller budgets, fewer workers, bigger caseloads and heavier workloads.
After years of hard work, Los Angeles workers finally got the raise they deserved and I’m proud that our union played a lead role in delivering it. Thanks in large part to the efforts of SEIU 721 members and staff and a broad coalition of community groups, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 on June 10th to raise the City’s minimum wage in phases from the current $9 an hour to $15 an hour by the year 2020.