Getting Ready to Get Out the Vote!
This summer, our Democracy Schools have been an awesome success, empowering SEIU 2015 members to engage in the upcoming election season. With seven sessions held across the state, these gatherings fostered hope, enthusiasm, and a renewed commitment to our democratic process. I encourage all of you to get involved in this election and make your voice heard. Click here to let us know you’re interested!
Last week, I was honored to serve as a delegate and represent our union at the Democratic National Convention. One of the many highlights was hearing SEIU President April Verrett explain why we’re all in for Vice President Kamala Harris. Click here to watch April’s speech.
Kamala Harris has a long and strong record of fighting for working families, including home care and child care workers. She’s taken steps to make these services more accessible and affordable, championed regulations to hold nursing home operators accountable, and even spent a day with an Alameda County IHSS worker to understand the challenges firsthand.
The Harris/Walz ticket is running on a vision of strengthening democracy, protecting reproductive freedom, and ensuring that every person has the opportunity to thrive.
Click here to see SEIU 2015’s ballot recommendations!
Vote for care champions up and down your ballot—we can only win improved standards in our caregiving professions with the county supervisors and state and national legislators who stand with us to improve access to care and make care jobs good jobs!
Ensuring Nursing Home Jobs are Good Jobs
We’re mobilizing across California to ensure that state nursing home quality incentives are invested in you – the workers at the center of delivering quality care.
In 2023, we used our political power to pass AB 186 to fund nursing home accountability programs. One of these programs is called the Workforce & Quality Incentive Program – WQIP for short. WQIP allocates taxpayer dollars to skilled nursing facilities that meet quality standards.
YOU are at the heart of quality in our nursing homes. So a good portion of these WQIP funds need to go to YOU! To make sure this happens, SEIU 2015 nursing home workers across California are taking action:
- Nursing home workers from Rockport/Brius facilities held a press conference in front of the company’s LA headquarters to kick off two days of pickets.
- Santa Fe Healthcare Center workers planned a picket, which got the employer’s attention. We hope to reach an agreement there soon.
- At Fresno Post-Acute Care Center, workers rallied to demand progress at the bargaining table.
- In other nursing home news, facilities like LA Rehab, Artesia, and Bel Vista ratified their union contracts this month for better benefits and safer staffing.
Ensuring IHSS Jobs are Good Jobs
I’m happy to report that Yuba County IHSS providers recently voted to ratify a new contract that includes a pathway to $19.86 by 2027. We continue our contract campaigns in Fresno, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tulare, and Ventura Counties.
And stay tuned for contract negotiations to start soon in Shasta, Lake, Solano, Yolo, Alameda, and Los Angeles Counties, where providers are currently forming their bargaining committees.
In Solidarity,
Arnulfo De La Cruz
SEIU 2015 President