As an SEIU 721 member, you’re a part of a family that can’t be ignored when we raise our collective voice. Whether it’s at the bargaining table or the worksite, when we stick together we can move mountains.
Our unity has produced unprecedented results in the City of Santa Paula, where SEIU 721 members won 15% raises over the life their new three-year contract.
The news was especially bright for City of Santa Paula water workers, who for years have been working for significantly less than their counterparts in other jurisdictions. Their tenacity at the bargaining table delivered their first inequity adjustments in years – with some members winning additional salary increases of up to 21%.
“After nearly a decade of effort on and off the bargaining table we finally made significant progress. The work isn’t done yet, but we can rest assured that our efforts weren’t in vain,” J. Francisco Ramirez-Almazan, Water Operator II (above).
This is what unions do. We work together at the bargaining table and advocate for livable wages, good benefits, and safe workplaces. When both new and experienced workers are paid fair wages, it is easier to recruit and retain the talented and dedicated public workers our communities depend on.
Victories like these prove just how important it is that we continue to fight to keep our union strong. The greedy billionaires behind the “Right to Work” (for less) attacks on working families would love nothing more than to do away with good union jobs and dismantle the public sector altogether. They think that they can trick us into giving up our benefits, our retirement, our workplace protections, and even our right to unionize at all. But we have a solution: we’re sticking together and staying union strong!