SEIU Local 521

Quick Quiz:

State budget proposal shows (again) a need for new revenues

Gov. Brown’s budget proposal for 2012-13 calls for $10.3 billion in solutions to close a $9.2 billion budget deficit.
The solutions represent a roughly equal sharing of revenue increases (41 percent), expenditure reductions (46 percent), and others (13 percent).
The budget depends on passage of a November ballot initiative that temporarily (six years) raises taxes on the wealthy and reinstitutes a half-cent sales tax increase.
Read the quick budget overview here:
https://www.seiu521.org/2012/brown-releases-first-draft-of-budget

2012: The year we take back our courts!

Members from courts in four counties met Wednesday to start a campaign to take back our courts. The first order of business is passing a bill that would guarantee money meant for local courts actually makes it to local courts, instead of the out-of-control administrative office that has been siphoning money. We’ll start by lobbying our legislators with a trip to Sacramento on Jan. 24 and local visits to our legislators’ offices.
Keep up at our courts blog!
https://www.seiu521.org/category/blog/take-back-our-courts
Sign up for email and text updates to get the latest news from SEIU 521 Courts:
http://521.seiu.org/521courts

“Today’s meeting and communication/organization tools like it are simply mission critical components of any successful campaign to change our current financial management crisis. Not participating at some degree is intellectual anorexia. It’s ultimately fatal if not reversed. Get to meetings and get informed. Balance your diet with a nutritional lobby day in Sacramento, or call your legislator’s office and let them know you’re watching and you vote.” — Bill Ragland, Monterey County Courts

Fresno County continues to fight

In Fresno, members continue to fight for their right to bargain.
SEIU 521 has filed for a preliminary injunction with the state Public Employee Relations Board, after the county illegally imposed a 9 percent pay cut while members were still voting.
Read more here:
https://www.seiu521.org/cofresno

Santa Cruz County Sheriff seeks to outsource jobs

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff is targeting medical workers in the jails. About two years ago, the Sheriff absorbed county medical personnel into the Sheriff’s Department, promising job security from layoffs. Now, he wants to contract out their jobs.
Read more and take action:
https://www.seiu521.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Sheriff-Worksite-Flyer2.pdf

Caucuses contribute to Fresno’s neediest

The Women’s Caucus and Latino Caucus in Fresno decided to help those in need in their communities.
The Women’s Caucus donated 15 new pillows and blankets to the Marjoree Mason Shelter for Domestic Violence in Fresno.

“When people leave the domestic violence situation, many times they leave with nothing on their back. The Marjoree Mason Shelter gives people a new blanket and a new pillow. We wanted to help them with that, to make a difference in a small way,” said Jennifer Jensen, chair of the Women’s Caucus.

The Women’s Caucus also donated stationery to incarcerated youth in Fresno as a small way to help them rebuild their lives.
The Latino Caucus bought clothes and a toy for 10 children served by the Holy Cross Shelter.

Stay informed!

Visit your chapter web page frequently: https://www.seiu521.org
Click on the first tab “Go to My Workplace,” click on your region, then your chapter.
Sign up for text messages: https://www.seiu521.org/text
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/seiu521
Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/seiu521
Encourage your co-workers to sign up for email updates: http://521.seiu.org/signup

Reach your goals with a 2012 SEIU scholarship

Higher education can be expensive. To help members and their children fulfill their educational goals, SEIU International and Local 521 award yearly scholarships to attend accredited colleges, universities, and technical schools. Deadlines to apply are in March 2012. You must be a member to apply.
Read more information:
https://www.seiu521.org/scholarships
Not a 521 member? Apply for membership here:
https://www.seiu521.org/membership

Quick Quiz:

Monday is Martin Luther King Day. What issue was Dr. King supporting on the day he died in 1968?
A) Increased access to education
B) Support for striking sanitation workers
C) Women’s right to vote
D) Bringing troops home from Vietnam
The answer is B) Support for striking sanitation workers.
On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was shot and killed while was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had come to lead a peaceful march in support of striking sanitation workers. He was 39.