Every election season some members question why SEIU Local 1000 gets involved in politics. Elected state leaders have a direct impact on the wages and working conditions of state employees. And Local 1000 members have had a direct impact on elections. The answer is simple: politics matter to every state worker. Take the governor's race, one candidate has promised to cut 40,000 state workers and another has vowed to "curb public employee union power once and for all."
"We have the opportunity to elect our bosses - the governor and the Legislature - and we need to use this opportunity elect leaders who support state services and the workers who provide them," Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker said. "No one knows state government better than our members. It's our responsibility to elect leaders who will help us improve the operations of the state."
Take the election of Alyson Huber, for example. Huber won Assembly District 10 by only 474 votes in 2008, after Local 1000 members canvassed the suburbs of Sacramento for weeks on her behalf.
Politically motivated furloughs
The governor sets the budget and appoints the top officials in charge of most agencies where we work, as well as the head of the Department of Personnel Administration, which negotiates our contract. For our contract to take effect, the Legislature must pass a bill that is then signed by the governor.
"If we have learned anything over the past two years, it is the importance of electing a governor and legislators who value us and believe in the services we provide," said Dianne Bradford of San Diego, a nursing home inspector for the Department of Health Care Services "Furloughs were an unnecessary political decision that harmed tens of thousands of us."
"When election time comes in June and November, do we want to see more officials like Gov. Schwarzenegger, who tried to cut our wages down to the federal minimum of $6.55 an hour and illegally imposed three furlough days?" asked Miguel Cordova, a Department of Education employee. "Or do we support candidates like Jerry Brown, John Chiang and Bill Lockyer, who each have refused to implement furloughs in their departments? "
Fight future cuts
Bradford and Cordova are among the many Local 1000 members who volunteer time to elect public officials who support state services.
"It's up to us to be politically active," said Robyn Herrera, an orientation and mobility specialist at Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona. "Some people don't see the direct link - but if you don't stand up and voice your opinion, it's as if you don't have one. One person really can make a difference."
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Originally published at SEIU Local 1000's website here.
