From the Desk of Local 1000 Board Chair Bill Hall
Despite the recent news predicting a $29 billion state budget deficit, we must focus on our strategic goals in 2023. We’ve set an ambitious plan to grow membership and deliver meaningful change in bargaining and for our Union. To do so, we’ll start 2023 by listening to our represented worker in town halls across the state. We will continue to ask the difficult questions: How do we connect effectively in a teleworking landscape? What do our workers want to invest in our Contract Campaign? And how do we best engage with our workers and labor allies to ensure we’re able to leverage strategic opportunities?
We have real work ahead of us, but I believe we can be successful if we work together.
- On January 7, 2023 your Local 1000 Board of Directors met for
the third time in a little over four weeks. The Special Board
meeting was called to decide the two disciplinary charges
concerning suspended President Richard Louis Brown. In a
decision that is final, ninety percent of your Board in
attendance upheld all recommendations from our independent
hearing officer to remove Brown from office.
- To focus on our Contract Campaign, we have brought on two
limited-term staff. I am happy to welcome Hannah Nyguen as
our Campaign Director. Hannah has valuable experience and
past success with the first contract for Colorado State Employees
and the Statewide California Child Care organizing. We have also
engaged Elizabeth Buchanan — an experienced union communications
expert — to focus on Contract Campaign communications work and
expand our current capabilities.
- Our Bargaining Team has established a plan to move forward
beginning with the Town Hall meetings — both in-person and
virtual — and a new Bargaining Survey. Leadership is encouraging
your participation, so please keep an eye out for more
announcements.
- Bargaining in a deficit cycle is not the only challenge we
face. As part of the state workforce we face other adversities as
well, beginning with the California Business Alliance’s plans to
move a ballot initiative that prevents the Legislature from
raising revenues or creating new funding streams that would fill
revenue shortfalls. Limiting the ways the Legislature can
address downward economic cycles makes it much more difficult to
address revenue downfalls, and ultimately can impact your wages
and benefits — as state worker salary funding games are viewed as
a quick and easy fix for budget holes. Meanwhile, on the federal
level, a pilot program to privatize Medicare is underway.
If Medicare is privatized the public will lose control and
accountability, and retirees will most likely receive less
service at an increased cost.
- We have established the members for our Committee on the
Future of Local 1000 and brought on Kurt Edelman as consultant to
work with and guide the team. The committee will examine
the governance structure of Local 1000 and conclude the committee
work at the end of June with recommendations to be considered for
adoption at the September Board Meeting.
Our new year’s resolutions — to grow our membership and our strength at the bargaining table — depend on you. We must work together to grow together. Let’s start now.
Thank you for your support,
William (Bill) Hall
Board Chair, SEIU Local 1000
bhall@seiu1000.org