SEIU finds creative way to demand for pay raises

By Aldrich M. Tan

April 12, 2006

Members of Service Employees International Union Locals 790, 535 and SEIU United Health Care Workers had an unexpected present for the Board of Supervisors yesterday: buckets of colorful plastic Easter eggs containing slips of paper demanding for pay raises.

The union is requesting that the Board of Supervisors consider allocating a percentage of the budget surplus to the incomes of underpaid local service workers in the city, said Lawanna Preston, chief negotiator for SEIU Local 790.

The union collected over 2,000 messages from its members, Preston said.

"Each of these people represent thousands who come to work everyday, do their jobs and just go home," she said. "Please respect us for the contributions we have made to the city."

Dominic Garnett, parking control officer, said that the union is only asking for a reasonable wage for the services its members provide to the city.

"Parking officers have made $84.9 mil. for the city in parking citations but we also deal with ten times more animosity than those working in other districts," reported Garnett.

Emergency service salaries can be as low as $45,000 to $50,000 annually, said Ron Davis, a dispatcher for the local and county emergency center.

"We are losing bodies to other communities who need our services less than this city but pay more for it," Davis said.

####