Local 21 Oakland Settles with the City!

After six months of difficult bargaining, and more than fifty all-day bargaining sessions, Local 21 and Oakland City negotiators have reached a Tentative Agreement with the City on a new two-year contract covering Local 21-represented Oakland members.

The Tentative Agreement must be approved by Local 21 Oakland members and the City Council to be finalized and take effect. Local 21 staff and bargaining team leaders will be available to answer questions and explain the tentative agreement prior to voting. Link to the Tentative Agreement Summary and a schedule of Member Ratification Meetings and Voting Locations for review.

The Tentative Agreement includes salary increases, which equate to an 8% salary increase at the end of the two-year term of the agreement. There will be a 4% increase, retroactive to July 1, 2015, followed by a second 4% raise on January 14, 2017. The new agreement expires on June 30, 2017.

Read more on the Oakland Settlement and view TAs here.

Local 21 Bids Farewell to Lead Representative Vickie Carson

After over nine years of service, lead Local 21 representative Vickie Carson will be moving on to a new chapter in her career. Members at the Oakland Council on Monday bid her farewell with a parting gift in her honor. Vickie will surely be missed around here!

Bob Britton's Labor Day Homily of Hope

Bob Britton, recently retired from Local 21, led a special Unitarian Church event on Labor Day and delivered the following speech about “hope” for the labor movement, especially being led by the steady growth in the public sector labor movement by unions like Local 21. The following is an edited excerpt from Bob’s homily.

“It’s Not our Father’s Labor Movement”
There is no chance for justice if there is no hope.

The continuous drumbeat we hear is that there is no hope for organized labor. The unions of today are dead. People don’t want or need labor unions.

Some believe Labor unions are concerned only with the narrow group they represent and they have not adapted to our new multi-cultural world.

This is not true today. Labor unions of today are about hope.

Read Bob Britton's Labor Day Homily of Hope here.

San Leandro Member Patrick Grajeda Pushes for Continued Investment in Public Infrastructure

City of San Leandro employees represented by Local 21 are well on their way to a new contract. A key part of the negotiations is Local 21 bargaining team member Patrick Grajeda, who has played an instrumental role in solidifying three Tentative Agreements so far.

“I am very confident that we will settle,” Grajeda said. “The economic times have changed. The city is considering that we haven’t had significant raises in over 8 years. If we hold the line in solidarity we'll get a fair contract.”

The former Local 21 chapter president and sixteen-year resident of San Leandro, Grajeda remains active in his community as well.

“I think that it’s good to be involved. If you’re not going to educate yourself on what’s happening, you’re going to be in the dark on some things,” he said.

A key issue right now he is working on is the Measure HH, a proposed extension of Measure Z beyond 2018, an initiative seeking to continue investing in the City’s public infrastructure based on sales tax revenues. He presently sits on the HH Oversight Committee.

On July 7, 2015, the San Leandro City Council voted unanimously to place Measure HH on the November 4th election ballot. Measure HH extends Measure Z, San Leandro's local sales tax approved by voters in 2010, at the half-cent rate for thirty years. Measure Z currently expires in early 2018 if Measure Z is not extended by Measure HH, the City would need to plan for $4 million to $5 million in reductions to existing programs and services.

Read the full interview here.

Labor Mural Graces Contra Costa County Office

Going back to the Works Project Administration era, a WPA-style labor mural designed by two-person artist team graces one wall at the Local 21’s Martinez office. The artists have previously been commissioned to paint murals on businesses and historical sites for the City of Hayward and other places.

Free Sweatshirts for Local 21 Members!

This super summer heat won’t last forever! Pick up a free sweatshirt before the cold sets in and show off your Local 21 pride all winter long. Sweatshirts are available in limited sizes (L-3XL) and on a first-come, first-serve basis. While we won’t be mailing any sweatshirts out, you can pick one up during office hours at Local 21’s San Francisco office, 1182 Market St. Suite 425. If you are based in the South or East Bay and would like to pick up your sweatshirt in the San Jose, Oakland, or Martinez offices, please call or email Kristan: 415-864-2100, kkarinen@ifpte21.org. In your email, please include your name, preferred size(s), and the office where you would like to pick up your sweatshirt.

To make sure we have enough for everyone interested, we are asking members to take only one sweatshirt. For questions, please call our main office at 415-864-2100.

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