Environmental Committee Turns Out at Sacramento Earth Day Event
On Sunday April 24, 2022, the SEIU Local 1000 Environmental Committee participated in the Sacramento Earth Day event at Southside Park, Sacramento. Sacramento Earth Day is the largest Earth Day celebration in the region, providing people with the knowledge and means to take care of our planet. The theme this year was In This Together. The event was free and thousands of attendees were expected throughout the day.
The purpose of the SEIU Local 1000 Environmental Committee is to provide a roadmap for our members to proactively lead the cause of environmental justice and activism within our communities, across California, and around the world.
Local 1000 members Thomas Gonzales (DMV), Mae Fopiano (DMV), Nicholas Gonzales (DCA), Ryan Shepard (HCD), Rickey Darosa (CalRecycle), Quinn Jones-Hylton (CDCR), Richard Haynes (DMV), and Trena Davis (DMV) all volunteered.
Our goal in participating in the Sacramento Earth Day was to
drive member engagement, develop non-member outreach, and
facilitate community Involvement. Specifically, this event
provided the committee the opportunity to:
- Educate everyone involved on how SEIU Local 1000 is involved
in environmental and other justice movements.
- Provide a vehicle for Local 1000 members to participate in
environmental and other justice movements. It also served as a
means to engage members on other issues such as the upcoming
bargaining campaign and to familiarize members with the benefits
of strong union membership.
- Reach out to non-member state employees represented by Local
1000 and encourage them to participate in environmental and other
justice movements by joining the union. It also was an
opportunity to engage non-members on the benefits of strong union
membership, not only as it concerns the environment but also good
wages, benefits, and pensions through a good contract.
- Provide a vehicle for committee members and member event
volunteers to grow in their leadership by helping to organize and
implement this event.
- Build relationships with regional environmental organizations and reach out to the public to advocate the need to consider workers in all their environmental work and policies.
The event also provided us with the opportunity to engage members in building their leadership by interacting with members, non-members, and the general Local 1000 community. The volunteers were a mix of seasoned Job Stewards and recent hires. All of the volunteers expressed a positive attitude that their Union was involved in environmental justice.
Over 30 individuals who came to the booth identified themselves as Local 1000 members. The volunteer members asked each of them to sign in and handed out Union t-shirts and other swag. Our volunteers also invited members who visited the booth to get more involved with their Union.
Our volunteers also had several opportunities to engage non-member represented workers on the value of union membership, and several responded by saying they would reconsider becoming a union member.
This marked the 12th year the SEIU Local 1000 Environmental Committee has been involved with the Sacramento Earth Day event. As a result, we have an outstanding reputation with the event organizers, Environmental Council of Sacramento, and other environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club. Volunteer members leveraged this by interacting with the event organizers and other organizations involved.