An Open Letter to our represented employees from your Board Chair, Bill Hall

Next week, your Board of Directors will be voting on changes to our union governance. These changes resulted from a review of our past structural issues and the work done by a committee created by your board to examine how we can better govern ourselves.  The committee is named The Committee on the Future of Local 1000.

With changes and improvements on the horizon, I believe it’s important that our represented employees have an opportunity to fully understand the scope of the work and the truth about the opportunities ahead.

The 21-member Committee—each of them member-elected union leaders— was formed through a board-approved process. Each elected officer and myself had a place on the committee along with our nine bargaining unit chairs. The remainder of the committee was chosen by myself, Vice President/Secretary-Treasurer David Jimenez, Vice President for Bargaining Irene Green, and Anica Walls Vice President for Organizing/Representation. 

Why now? Our current governance structure of a strong president in control of everything, with limited accountability, did not deliver the results our 96,000 represented employees demanded. These changes needed to be completed by our September 2023 Board meeting so we can be prepared for the upcoming Local 1000 leadership elections in 2024.

The Committee met at least five times, beginning in March of this year, with additional work in between meetings. Each Committee member was able to fully participate, led by professional facilitators from outside Local 1000. The Committee as a whole worked with honesty and integrity, discussing, debating, and voting on every recommendation they would deliver to the entire Local 1000 Board for consideration and adoption. 

From the beginning, each of the 21 members pledged respect and honesty in their work and that they each would support the recommendations included in the final report.

Each Committee member put in over one hundred hours of work to develop the recommendations. The focus and goal was to create a structure that reduced infighting while creating clearly defined roles and responsibilities reshaping our governance for better accountability and responsible use of your union dues.

Your DLC presidents and bargaining chairs have had the report since August 25. This was to allow them the opportunity to read, review, and meet and discuss their findings with the state workers they represent.

It is imperative that Local 1000 change and improve to meet the expectations and needs of the people we represent. If Local 1000 does not evolve to meet the needs of the workers we represent, the union will become completely irreverent. The result would be devastating for the workforce we represent. This work has been in process for over a year. The report and the recommendations it puts forth are a pathway to a brighter future for Local 1000.

I hope you’ll take the time to read the full report from the Committee on the Future of Local 1000, which you can find here.

Thank you for reading this update and for your support.

William (Bill) Hall
Board Chair, SEIU Local 1000
bhall@seiu1000.org