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Union Membership Strength = Real Results

Click here to fill out our membership card and recommit to your union!

By recommitting to SEIU 521, you help build a single, strong, unified contract that safeguards our healthcare, strengthens our bargaining power, and delivers gains for everyone. United, our membership wins better outcomes; divided, we risk giving management the upper hand.

Every member who recommits sends a clear message: our membership is strongest when we stand together by supporting our one contract vision. A one-contract vision is the strongest weapon our membership has against management. When every member stands under a single, unified agreement, we present a consolidated front that management cannot ignore. Fragmentation, by contrast, weakens our position—different units or members negotiating separately can be played against each other, reducing our leverage and leaving critical benefits at risk.

Our union siblings in Utilities have spoken about their frustrations, as well as what Utility workers will need on this next contract. Our strategy heading into the next union contract must address the unique aspects of their jobs and support them in winning what they need.  To meet the many challenges we face, we discussed a radical new bargaining strategy at the General Membership Meeting. Our preliminary goals for the next negotiations are as follows. Your participation and voice as a member is important to continue refining this plan and also ensuring we have the union power to actually accomplish these goals.  

Contract Strategy Goals 

With a One Contract-Vision: Click here to become a member and strengthen healthcare for the long term!

• Healthcare and benefits are fully protected, because no individual unit is left isolated or vulnerable.
• Bargaining power is maximized, allowing us to win stronger raises, better working conditions, and improved protections for everyone.
• Gains are shared across the entire membership, ensuring fairness and equity rather than letting some units benefit at the expense of others.

Simply put, unity under one contract is not just symbolic—it is practical. It amplifies our voice, strengthens our negotiating power, and ensures that every member’s interests are defended. Dividing our contract or our membership only hands management an advantage. 

Facts and Figures about our One-Contract Vision

Across SEIU 521 jurisdictions, higher overall membership participation consistently leads to:

• Lower monthly healthcare costs and often expansion of plan options.
• Higher employer contributions (several SEIU 521 bargaining units have 100% premium coverage)
• Less cost-shifting onto workers’ healthcare, retirement, and additional benefit packages.

Proof that SEIU 521 Membership Win Stronger Healthcare at Excellent Rates | SEIU 521 Units with Higher Overall  Membership Consistently Secure:

Across SEIU 521 jurisdictions, higher union membership consistently correlates and is strongly associated with stronger contracts, better healthcare coverage, higher wages and retirement, and lower out-of-pocket costs. 

• Clear, achievable healthcare standards: employer-paid premiums at or near 95–100%, which SEIU 521 members who commit to their union have successfully secured.
• Access to top-tier plans like PERS Platinum, Kaiser PPO, HMO, and Blue Shield Access+, Anthem PPO/HMO
• Predictable costs for families, individuals, and dependents instead of sudden premium spikes. 
• A more powerful response to public financial exigency or emergency circumstances, if the city for example tried to impose benefit changes during a crisis.

• City of Salinas
  • PERS Platinum plan coverage with employee-only premiums as low as $47/month, Employee + 1 as low as $90/month
  • Employee contributions for Family coverage are capped at $120/month.
  • High membership rates across utility and blue collar units add to the group leverage where the city bargains for group healthcare and group retirement plans.

• City of Santa Cruz
  • The city covers 95% of premiums for employee and family
  • Access to PERS Platinum and Blue Shield Access+
  • Family, Dependent and Employee only plans as low as
    • “Cafeteria Plan”, employees may enroll in the following optional benefits and elect to pay premiums on a pre-tax basis:
      • Medical Reimbursement Account (MRA)
      • Dependent Care Reimbursement Account (DCAP)
      • Cancer and Critical Illness Protection Insurance
      • Accident Protection Insurance
      • Additional Life Insurance
      • Long Term Care Insurance

• Santa Clara Office of Education
  • Units with 78–92% membership
  • $0–$147 monthly premiums
  • Multiple plan options with minimal cost sharing 

• City of Redwood City 
  • CalPERS Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum; Kaiser, Anthem (HMO, PPO, EPO)  
  • 95%premium covered by employer for E/E+Family
    • “Cafeteria Plan”, employees may enroll in the following optional benefits and elect to pay premiums on a pre-tax basis:
      • Flexible Spending Account
      • Accident Protection Insurance
      • Additional Life Insurance
      • Long Term Care Insurance

• Utilities Management and Professional Association of Palo Alto (UMPAPA)
  • Employee Only: City contribution cap: $871/month
    • Kaiser: $1,168.86 premium – employee pays $297.86/month
    • PERS Gold: $1,120.58 premium – employee pays $249.58/month
  • Employee + One: City contribution cap: $1,742/month
    • Kaiser: $2,337.72 premium – employee pays $595.72/month
    • PERS Gold: $2,241.16 premium – employee pays $499.16/month
  • Employee + Family: City contribution cap: $2,260/month
    • Kaiser: $3,039.04 premium – employee pays $779.04/month
    • PERS Gold: $2,913.51 premium – employee pays $653.51/month

SEIU 521 City of Palo Alto Specialized Jobs, Shared Power

• One of our goals moving forward is to secure separate market comparables for Utilities and Palo Alto Water Quality Control Plant. 
  • Healthcare, however, is not a utilities-only issue is a collective fight, and recommitting to SEIU 521 gives utility workers:
    • More leverage to win apprenticeships and staffing changes.
    • More leverage to win strong MOU language and market comparables.
    • More leverage to win on healthcare and budget negotiations.
  • Palo Alto utilities are already favorably positioned in the market study, and with strong organization, it is achievable to win the same list of comparables while remaining united on healthcare and citywide economic issues.

Higher Membership Data Tells the Next Phase for SEIU 521 City of Palo Alto | What SEIU 521 City of Palo Alto Already Won:

• SEIU 521 Palo Alto workers have consistently won market adjustments to 75% of Market Median. This is a rare achievement among public employers. Our last contract also included pre-tax premium payment options and compensation increases intended to offset rising healthcare costs.
• To build on the amazing gains we’ve made, we must head into our next contract united.Together we can win improvements in our healthcare, wages, and department-specific issues. 

Representation improves when utilities organize inside the union

• Every improvement we’ve seen came from union pressure on the city.
• Walking away from the current contract means starting over. Let’s build from what we have together as one strong union. 
• Healthcare is negotiated as a group benefit, not an individual one. Smaller pools of workers allow the city to cost-shift onto smaller groups with less economic leverage. 
• When membership is lower, management feels safe pushing costs onto workers. That dynamic shows up clearly in the healthcare outcomes across comparable cities.

Recommit to Your Union! Join as a member now!

• Join your union
• Talk to your coworkers about why membership matters and spread the word about our campaign:
• Show up to union meetings and bargaining updates
  • Signing the recommitment card will:
    • Prevent management from playing groups against each other. Healthcare and wages work best when it’s bargained wall-to-wall, even as other contract sections evolve to reflect different work.
    • Protect and strengthen our fight for power to secure budget commitments for the short and long term.