County of Ventura SEIU 721 members fought hard this past contract campaign to win Joint Labor Management committee language. JLM’s are a vital tool to allow members to voice concerns.
But for months, County management has refused to allow SEIU 721 members to participate fully in the JLM process – a direct threat to our collective voice and union power.
We showed up to the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, March 28th to urge the Board to honor our contract language and to welcome member feedback during these meetings.
“We need to activate the Joint Labor Management language to its full intent.” said Jamie Williams, Steward and SEIU 721 bargaining team member.
“Members must have a voice in the agreed to JLM meetings.” Spoke Felipa Lopez, bargaining team member. “That’s the whole purpose of the JLM’s, to voice concerns and to help find solutions, together.”
We also heard from SEIU 721 Chief of Staff Gilda Valdez who read a letter from SEIU 721 President David Green.
“We are disappointed and deeply frustrated that County management would make such a blatant attempt to silence the collective voice of essential frontline workers.”
We collected hundreds of petition signatures from members across the County to support a strong member voice in the JLM meetings. At the same time, members engaged in Purple Up actions across the county, donning stickers that read “Don’t Silence Our Voices.”
We’re not done fighting for full participation in these Joint Labor Management meetings, and we will not stop until member voices are heard.