Following several weeks of City of Hemet worker testimonies on how proposed layoffs and cuts will affect working families and the need to respect the collective bargaining process, the Hemet City Council approved a budget that calls for elimination of positions and more cuts.
With the primary over, COPE will be hosting a couple of more town halls to give SEIU 721 members the opportunity to hear from candidates in the previously “unendorsed” races.
SEIU Local 721 members made endorsements in 86 campaigns covering six southern California Counties.
SEIU Local 721 social workers spoke up at the Board of Supervisors meeting on May 20 to urge the Board to support children in Santa Barbara County by improving recruitment and retention of social workers to keep children safe.
The SEIU 721 bargaining team and Palm Springs management have held several productive bargaining sessions over the past two weeks. The last session was held on Tuesday, May 20. SEIU 721 researchers produced a deep financial report on the City’s finances and the bargaining team is analyzing those findings.
In record numbers, Riverside County members voted to elect two Bargaining Teams that will have the opportunity to negotiate for contract improvements on two important topics – retiree medical benefits and job parity fairness.
A union wide push for pay equity and fairness, SEIU 721 members have won a major victory that will provide members with increases in FLEX benefits and up to 8% more in pay over the next two years.
After a lengthy legal process which lasted almost five years, PERB has ruled Riverside County violated the rights of SEIU 721 members when it declared impasse in 2009 and denied step increases to several hundred members. These workers are owed thousands of dollars in back pay and interest penalties.
Reflecting on the past and moving toward the future, negotiations between SEIU 721 Palm Springs General Unit and city management began on Wednesday, April 15, 2014, with the union acknowledging the retirement of SEIU negotiator Mark Reid’s years of service and having optimism for this year’s bargaining.