1515 Clay St
Oakland, CA 94612
USA
SEIU Local 1000 employees are holding informational pickets in San Francisco and Oakland. We are looking for physical support and solidarity from our local labor and community groups at both of these events as we strive to uphold union labor in public service.
We are State employees represented by SEIU Local 1000, standing along with our brothers and sisters of IUOE Local 3, State division, who have turned down insulting offers from Cal HR on behalf of Governor Brown that disrespects and devalues the important work that we do for our great state of California. We are toll collectors, janitors, legal secretaries, public utility regulators, bank auditors and planners providing valuable services to our communities and our fellow Californians. We work to protect our beautiful coastline, marshes, and various other habitats for endangered and other species; we are teachers who provide education to the students of our schools for the blind and the deaf; we monitor traffic and dispatch emergency aid 24 hours around the clock; and we provide services and care to those with acute medical and psychiatric needs.
It is only right and just for us to expect fair compensation during our current contract bargaining as Governor Brown touts the strength of California’s great economic recovery from the recent recession.
Especially in light of the fact that State employees experienced forced furloughs that compromised our ability to provide for our families during that recession and in some cases continue to plague those of us who live and work in high cost regions such as the San Francisco Bay Area. Don’t think for a second that State employees escaped evictions, displacement and homelessness. For thousands of us who work for the State in the Bay Area, living here is not a lifestyle choice – we were born and raised here and this is our home – the only home many of us have known.
But for others, being displaced to areas such as Tracy, Manteca, Stockton, Merced, Elk Grove, Patterson, Jackson – was a vital choice for affordable housing for those families. Those commutes add to the gas emissions Governor Brown wants to reduce but his poor salary structure and his disparaging proposed salary increase leaves us angry and resentful.
Thank you!
Reba Maestas
Jobsite Steward
Caltrans District 4