SEIU Local 1000 Holding Capitol Rally on 8.27 to Stand Up Against Contract
Violations and the Closure of the Lassen County Correctional Center

Press release

SACRAMENTO, CA (August 23, 2021) – This Friday, August 27, on the west lawn of the State Capitol, the represented employees of SEIU Local 1000 will stand strong against the Governor’s efforts to ignore and violate their hard-earned contract rights.

At issue is California Governor Gavin Newsom’s late-July unilateral mandate for vaccinations or biweekly COVID testing for all state employees—a change in working conditions that can’t happen without a meet-and-confer with union representatives to negotiate over the impacts of such a change.

Local 1000 workers are also protesting the planned closure of the California Correctional Center in Susanville. The prison’s closure will throw hundreds of families into economic crisis and have a devastating impact on Lassen County.

“This is not about taking a position on the vaccine,” said SEIU Local 1000 President Richard Louis Brown. “We believe in a safe and healthy workplace, but we believe equally in our contract rights, and our contract has been violated by the Governor and CalHR. You can’t change working conditions without consulting us, and no state employee should lose a job while we have a signed contract.”

The rally is scheduled from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. In addition to Brown, speakers will include Anica Walls, SEIU Local 1000 Vice President for Organizing/Representation; Jack Dean, President, DLC 792; and employees from the California Correctional Center. Also slated to speak are elected representatives from Susanville and Lassen County and a former CCC warden.

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