By Rebecca King Morrow, RN PHN, Member of SEIU 1021
March 25, 2010
The current attack on city workers is more than the result of an economic downturn. The attack is mean spirited, unfair and just plain nasty.
The real financial challenges of our times are hard to escape. We all know someone who has lost a job and/or a home due to the economic down turn. Federal bailouts and cash for clunkers, successful or not, were attempts to deal with real economic problems.
San Francisco is not exempt from the financial challenges affecting the entire nation. However, the new blame game directed at unionized city workers is unprecedented. San Francisco has a proud labor history and the current attacks are inconsistent with our past and detrimental to our future working relationship with the city.
During tough financial times, the city comes to labor and asks/demands help in closing budget gaps. SEIU 1021 has stepped up to the plate and has given back millions of dollars. Miscellaneous SEIU1021 members voted to give up pay for 10 holidays. We reached agreement in recession bargaining at both the SEIU 1021 Registered Nurses and the SEIU 1021 Miscellaneous Employees tables last year.
We gave back in good faith and our goal was to save both city jobs, but equally important, city services. The City came back and rewarded our SEIU 1021 members for their sacrifices by directing 80 percent of the layoffs to our union alone.
When services are threatened with cuts, San Franciscans come to City Hall and testify at the Board of Supervisors. The public speaks about how they value and benefit from critical health services, libraries, parks and recreation centers.
I have a drawer full of handwritten thank you notes clients have sent me over the years. The public does value the services we provide. It is the anti-labor business community that knows an opportunistic mayor will use this time of economic challenges as the right time to launch an attack on city workers.
17,474 city workers now sit and wait to see if their job is one of the jobs that will be “saved” by yet another “giveback.” Sadly, it is mostly unrecognized that these blows to city workers disproportionately injure the lowest paid union members.
Some of us with other options have in the past, and will in the future, walk away and never look back at this employer. Others will never abandon their role as “public servants” and the city knows this and takes advantage of our good will. Still others are desperate for a job, any job at all…
The Hunger Site
March 26, 2010 at 5:38 am
27,000 city employees for 750,000 residents. That’s one city worker for every 28 residents. You don’t think that is too many? The city is in desperate financial straits. City retirement age should be 62, with discounted benefits for early retirement. Too many high-priced politicos in city hall. Too many political “advocates” getting city funds. Too many work rules causing the city to hire more workers than they really need. I don’t blame unions – they are trying to get the best deal for themselves. What we don’t have is leadership – someone to say “no” once in a while.
March 25, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Although I am not a city employee, I work for a nonprofit that contracts with the city’s Health and Human Services Agency. The security guards tell me that many of these HSA employees, whose work is literally on the front lines of human suffering, have to be asked to leave the building when it closes at 8:00 p.m. They’re already putting in 50 to 60 hour weeks for 40 hours pay. To cut their “official” hours to 37.5 and reclassify them as “part-time” adds insult to injury. The only reason I would vote for Gavin as Lt. Gov. would be to get him the hell away from San Francisco.
March 25, 2010 at 7:30 pm
If a union can’t strike than what’s the point of having a union? Though I’m hardly a labor expert, I think that it would serve the rank-and-file workers well to organize themselves and re-frame the debate independently of the union management, regardless of how well you think they represent your interests. Bottom line: negotiations = concessions. And, as far as I can tell, the only thing a union like yours is doing is negotiating itself into oblivion piece-by-piece.
March 25, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Unionized city workers cannot strike…all have to sign a no strike agreement at time of hire.
As a 23 year city employee and union member i have benefited from some good contracts, but our union has ALWAYS stepped up to the plate with concessions and give backs when times have been bad-especially the last 8 or so years. But alas this is never acknowledged by the Mayor or anywhere in the press for that matter.
March 25, 2010 at 11:47 am
If the union is so upset about mistreatment, than why don’t they fucking strike for once in their lives. All I hear about are negotiations, negotiations, negotiations and more concessions.