From Riverside to Indio, Palm Springs to San Jacinto, Beaumont in-between and the County of Riverside, Public Service workers were honored at Council meetings during Public Service Recognition Week.
On April 15, we called on the Board of Supervisors to strengthen public services and end poverty wages. The wages working families are being paid are completely out of balance with what people need to survive.
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on June 17 to put the pension-killing initiative on the November ballot, after County Counsel, Leroy Smith found the initiative to be illegal.
SEIU Local 721 social workers spoke up at the Board of Supervisors meeting on May 20 to urge the Board to support children in Santa Barbara County by improving recruitment and retention of social workers to keep children safe.
We have dedicated our professional lives to keeping these most vulnerable children safe. But we are, as the Commission said, “overwhelmed by caseloads significantly above the national average” and forced to deal regularly with the problem of where to place endangered children when there is a “shortage of safe and appropriate foster homes.”
On Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, nearly 200 public service workers from the Riverside County Regional Medical Center packed three informational sessions to hear directly from Jeff Stone, Chairman of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. Thursday’s open forum Q&A sessions at the hospital were hosted by SEIU 721, but all hospital employees, regardless of union affiliation, were invited to attend this historic event due to the importance of the information being discussed.
Several hundred SEIU 721 Riverside County Supervisory Unit members in more than 30 classifications will receive over $1.6 million in wage increases due to negotiated contract language. The money will come as salary increases of up to 5.5%, many with retroactive pay back to Sept. 5, 2013. The Board of Supervisors approved the first round of salary corrections on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014.