Search: 2022

On June 30, 2021, a new slate of SEIU Local 1000 leadership took office, and a new era in our union’s history began with a commitment to a transparency and a focus on contract enforcement and full and fair treatment for each of the 100,000 employees we represent.

As we enter 2022, SEIU Local 1000 members have the opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments over the last year by our Human Rights committees. By highlighting the diversity of the workers we represent, our committees help members take ownership of the issues that impact them and their communities. As part of the December 2021 Board of Directors (BOD) meeting, our committees met to provide fellow members with insight into their respective missions, encourage involvement, and allow interested listeners a peek into the fishbowl of everyday affairs.

In the wee dawn of the morning, on a cold and frigid day, I bundled up in layers and layers of clothing. I knew this day was going to be chilling; chilling in the knowing that I will soon be on the island, Alcatraz Island.

This was Indigenous Peoples Day – Eagle staffs, elders, and children; singers, dancers, and prayers; medicine and fire burning and all around the water flowing – this gathering is the way many indigenous people across Turtle Island came to gather and celebrate.

A beautiful way to meet the new morning sun is through Sunrise Ceremony. We feel embraced by the Star Nation while listening to elders reminding us of stories of colonization, loss of our lands, culture, language, and children. I could only bow my head and feel the overwhelming sadness of the sacrifices, horrors, and misdeed suffered by so many indigenous people. I could remember the stories of my grandparents, elders, aunties, uncles, and my mom. Grief still stricken me. As I look toward the star nation, the chilling winds pass through me, I hear the waters crashing, the birds calling out, I then see a spark of the sun rising.