Archives: Updates
-
City of Berkeley Workers Vote to Authorize Strike
CITY OF BERKELEY WORKERS VOTE TO AUTHORIZE STRIKEWorkers are prepared to strike after being denied a fair contract for monthsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BERKELEY, CA – The membership of Community Services Unit and Part-time Recreation Leaders Association (CSU/PTRLA) Chapter of Berkeley SEIU 1021 have voted overwhelmingly at 93% to authorize a strike if necessary to secure…
-
2024 CSU/PTRLA Strike Vote
STRIKE VOTE 10/18 | 10/21 | 10/22 | 10/23 The CSU/PTRLA bargaining team has been attempting to negotiate a successor agreement in good faith with the City for nearly seven months. But City management is not interested in a fair contract. The City has repeatedly rejected important proposals and offered cost of living adjustments that…
-
CSU/PTRLA on Strike! History Made Today 🪧
Today the CSU/PTRLA Berkeley Day Camp workers joined together and led an unfair labor practice strike! Workers say the City has refused to bargain in good faith over pressing recruitment and staff retention issues impacting beloved summer and sports camps across the City of Berkeley. This is the first strike in Berkeley SEIU 1021’s history,…
-
PRESS ADVISORY: CITY OF BERKELEY RECREATION WORKERS PLAN UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE STRIKE
Berkeley Day Camp Workers to picket over staff recruitment and retention crisis BERKELEY, CA – Berkeley Day Camp workers will lead an unfair labor practice strike starting August 8, 2024. Workers say the City has refused to bargain in good faith over pressing recruitment and staff retention issues impacting beloved summer and sports camps across…
-
Bargaining Update: 250 Workers Flood Council Meeting; Mayor Expresses Commitment to Open Bargaining and Indexed Wages
Through historic rallies, strike schools, and hundreds of calls, it appears that you have compelled the City to the bargaining table. Wednesday night, the Mayor expressed commitment to open bargaining and indexed wages—a direct result of your action. At Tuesday’s Council Rally, your overwhelming presence forced the fire marshal to turn people away, and caused…
-
City Manager gets $600K to leave, what do workers need to stay?
In case you missed it: the Council just gave the City Manager a $600,000 severance package! Also, it looks like her resignation was not exactly voluntary. Backroom deals are good for management, but not workers. Our sibling chapter just reached a tentative agreement for COLAs that do not keep of with past or future inflation:…
-
Bargaining Update: City Threatens Impasse Before We Even Start! 🤡
Happy Friday, SEIU 1021 CSU/PTRLA! Bargaining began yesterday! Your bargaining team was at the table in solidarity with you, your co-workers, and Local One. Here’s how it went: Recap: In the morning, the City did not allow Local One to engage in open bargaining. Local One did share your joint proposed ground rules and received…
-
City to Pay 10% Interest Penalty in PEPRA Settlement Agreement ⚖️
As a union City of Berkeley worker, I am concerned about the health and welfare of my co-workers. The purpose of this message is to provide resources to keep my co-workers safe and well-informed about Covid. This is critically important because we are in the middle of another Covid wave, both locally and nationally. I…
-
Mismanagement of Public Works and Loss of Confidence in City Management
To: Members of the Berkeley City Council From: Berkeley Public Employees Union, AFSCME Local One and Berkeley SEIU 1021 CSU/PTRLA Re: Mismanagement of Public Works and Loss of Confidence in City Management Our members in Public Works joined the City because they trusted that the Department, as overseen by Council, would continue to uphold progressive…
-
City to Finally Compensate Essential Workers?
As a union City of Berkeley worker, I am concerned about the health and welfare of my co-workers. The purpose of this message is to provide resources to keep my co-workers safe and well-informed about Covid. This is critically important because we are in the middle of another Covid wave, both locally and nationally. I…
-
Request for Immediate Action on PEPRA Ramp-Down
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council, We are writing to demand fair and just compensation for City Management’s undue delay in implementing the PEPRA ramp-down for all City workers.During an interview with the City’s CalPERS agent, we learned that CalPERS could have implemented the change within 2 or 3 days of receiving the approved motion…
-
Statement on behalf of Part-Time City of Berkeley Public Library Workers
Statement on behalf of Part-Time City of Berkeley, Public Library Workers We are the library’s part-time workers who are actively seeking to be made whole by recovering back pay for health insurance benefits. We are the library’s part-time workers who are negatively affected by the cap enforced in response to workers seeking back pay. We…
-
Latest City of Berkeley COVID-19 Wave
Since we last wrote to you in August some two weeks ago, the City Manager disclosed at least 16 more City of Berkeley employees have gotten COVID. This does not include additional cases in the Library bringing the ostensible total to 19. By some miracle, City Management claims that all but three got it outside…
-
Shelter from the (Covid) Storm
As a union City of Berkeley worker, I am concerned about the health and welfare of my co-workers. The purpose of this message is to provide resources to keep my co-workers safe and well-informed about Covid. This is critically important because we are in the middle of another Covid wave, both locally and nationally. I…
-
With Friends Like ERMA – Who Needs Enemies? Check Your Paystubs!
Today is payday, the perfect time to check your paystubs! With a pay increase this month and step increases for many, there is no better time to make sure you are getting paid what the City promised you – the money YOU earned. In the past month we have heard from many of you about…
-
Berkeley City Auditor’s Damning Report Confirms That Only Worker Solidarity Can Save the City
The Berkeley Auditor recently released a damning report highlighting City Management’s utter failure to respect, retain, protect, and pay you. The data in the report is a welcome validation of workers’ lived experience, but stops short of stating plainly what we know to be true: City Management is complicit in undermining its workers, and in…
-
Management Targets Berkeley Workers with Surveillance; Bad Faith Bargaining; Boss Wants to End Your COVID Leave; REI Union Solidarity Opportunity
A deeply disturbing, anti-worker City Management proposal surfaced late last week. It would have allowed management to use security cameras maintained by the Berkeley Police Department and Public Works across the City to spy on you at work and document your “misconduct.” Your co-workers organized and spoke out against the measure last night leading the…
-
RSVP for the Holiday Your Government/Boss Doesn’t Want You to Know About: Berkeley CSU/PTRLA International Workers’ Day Lunch & Social Picnic (Free Food!) | May 1, 12pm @ MLK Civic Center Park
May first is International Workers’ day, a commemoration of the 1886 Chicago Haymarket Affair, the holiday that the U.S. government, City Management, and the union bureaucracy don’t want you to celebrate. On that day in 1886, workers went on strike as part of the broader struggle for the 8-hour work day. The Chicago police, working…
-
Meet Your New Union Officers; How to Get Involved Through Upcoming Events
Now that our union election is complete, we want to introduce you to the new Berkeley SEIU 1021 Community Services Unit and Part Time Recreation Leaders Association (CSU/PTRLA) officer team and share with you how to get involved in your union! What are union officers? Officers in many traditional union chapters are elected “leaders” who…
-
Response Required: COVID Safety Survey; Invite to Friday’s Bargaining
In February we wrote to you that your boss, despite all evidence, is pretending that the pandemic and all related impacts are over. We also said: “Solidarity means empathy and resolve on behalf of your coworkers even when you don’t share their risks or situation. What are you and your coworkers going to do about…