Surviving a RIF: What You Need to Know…

HRS – Workforce and Organization Development is partnering with Personnel Commission, Employee Benefits Unit, EASE and Business Advisory Services (Unemployment Insurance) to offer a new workshop designed to answer many of the questions that come with the unsettling prospect of a RIF (Reduction-In-Force). 

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A Matter of Priorities

California is facing a record-breaking budget shortfall and legislators need to make some tough decisions about how to move the state forward. Some decisions though, shouldn’t be that tough.

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A Common Sense State Budget

Striking a Fair Balance between Spending Cuts and Taxes
The governor’s proposed budget will destroy the California we know. It will deprive millions of Californians the basic health care, home care, education, and other services that out children, seniors, and people with disabilities need to survive. It will leave hundreds of thousands unemployed, driving up our state’s unemployment rate by more than two percent, putting even more pressure on services, and driving California further into recession.

Click here to read more about SEIU's proposed solutions: "Taking a Balanced Approach: Responsible Revenue Options"

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SEIU Local 99 Sues Governor Schwarzenegger

After the Governor threatened to cut another $3.6 billion from our kids' classrooms, SEIU Local 99 and the California Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit to force the state to repay schools almost $12 billion in funding required under voter-approved Proposition 98.

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Special Election Results Avoid Severe Set-Back

SEIU members and voters across the state decisively rejected a spending cap.
On May 19, 2009, California voters rejected Proposition 1A, a spending cap that would have crippled California’s public services for years into the future. Voters have consistently indicated that they do not support cuts to education, higher education, health care, home care, and other social services, and we need our Governor and legislators to understand this and offer real solutions and real leadership.

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Voters Reject Prop. 1A

On May 19, 2009, California voters rejected Prop. 1A, a state ballot initiative that would have:

• Locked away 3% of revenue every year from vital public services and put it in a so-called “Rainy Day” fund, the largest in the nation
• Prevented restoration of cuts in good years
• Prevented funding of baseline services.  The California Budget Project says 1A would have resulted in $16 billion less in 2010, locking in already underfunded service levels.

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We Elected Our Bosses!

On March 3, voters went to the polls to elect LAUSD School Board Members and members of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees. These are the key leaders with whom we'll be negotiating our contracts. And they'll make decisions that will impact the quality of our schools.

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I already have health insurance.

Why should I care about Obama’s plan for quality, affordable health care?

One of the main reasons we care about fixing our broken health care system is that we can’t get our economy back on track if we don’t solve our health care crisis. But there are many other reasons why quality, affordable health care is important:

• Some of our Local 99 brothers and sisters still don't have any health coverage. With new legislation helping our employers control costs, health coverage will be available to all of us.
  
• Even those of us who have fought for and won health coverage in our contracts have seen some of our benefits slipping away. For example, many LAUSD employees were forced to bargain hard this year to keep our health coverage. We joined with the other seven unions to increase our strength at the bargaining table. And while we were able to hang on to all of our coverage this time, there’s always our next contract to worry about. As costs skyrocket, it becomes too tempting for the District to try to take away some of our benefits.

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I’m already a union member.

Why should I care about passage of the Employee Free Choice Act?

As Local 99 members, we're already part of a union. And many of us work for employers that recognize our right to organize. Some of us, however, had to fight difficult battles to form our union. And just ask any one of us on Local 99’s Member Organizing Committee to learn about workers struggling right now to join us and be a part of Local 99.

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Union Made: The Middle Class

When union membership has been high in the U.S., the Middle Class has thrived. Families were able to have some of the nicer things in life—like owning their home, taking family vacations, getting a new car every few years—with only one breadwinner. Now, with union membership declining since the 1970s, the Middle Class is shrinking, even with everyone working.

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Local 99 MPOs Help Bring Change

Hundreds of us volunteered thousands of hours to help elect Barack Obama as our 44th President. In 2048, with grandchildren and great-grandchildren gathered around our rocking chairs, we’ll tell the story of how we were a part of history in the fall of 2008, campaigning for an advocate of working families on every Main Street across America — and the country’s first African American President.

Five of us gave all of our time this past election season, serving as Member Political Organizers (MPOs) both locally and in New Mexico. Here are their stories…

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SEIU and the California Budget: No More Cuts and Gimmicks!

February 11, 2009
Statement of Courtni Pugh, Executive Director, SEIU California State Council, following reports of a budget agreement between the Governor and legislative leaders

SEIU Calls on Legislators to Explain the Budget “Deal” to their Constituents

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We Made a Difference!

The election of Barack Obama as our 44th President is a victory for working people. SEIU Local 99 members took action like never before to make a real difference in this election.

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Why Participate in Political Action?

Dorothy Lockhart

You can’t just say (politicians) aren’t going to do anything. We have to do something. And once we get them in there, we have to make sure they do what they say. If they see strength in numbers, they will do what we need them to do. Remember, we are the union.

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