From the Desk of Local 1000 Board Chair Bill Hall
I’m pleased to report progress on a number of strategic initiatives to advance our membership and to build the strength of our Union, along with leadership discussions focused on the responsible management of members’ dues.
Membership
- This week we have been focused on developing an overall
vision for our SEIU Local 1000 member recruitment program and the
role of our new Strategic Campaign Department in our efforts to
expand our work.
- We met with our Strategic Campaign Department with a large
group, including the Statewide officers, our International
support staff, and Local 1000 staff from the New Member
Orientation Program, Contracts, Communications, and the URC. Our
discussions focused on defining the issues. Strategic discussions
focused on how we will approach the limited and poor-quality
information on new hires provided by the State to Local 1000.
- Additionally, we discussed how we move forward with enforcement of AB119, a bill signed by Gavin Newsom in 2017, which requires public employers like the State to provide union representatives access to new employees during their orientations.
Strategic Campaigns
- In the last few weeks, we have received many questions about
the Wednesday Organizing Outreach Program. Ahjamu Umi, our
longtime organizer, is now assigned as staff with our Strategic
Campaigns Department, which will coordinate our member outreach
and organizing goals.
- To support this new work, we are taking and reviewing applications for organizers in the Sacramento area, a total of 6. We will be building the program beginning in July with members on union leave focusing on new member organizing. We have had discussions this week with several members who will be off full time to oversee the Member Organizing Program.
Communications
- I attended a Communications meeting on Wednesday evening,
focusing on how we can continue to deepen our engagement with our
membership in various ways.
- We discussed future programs and messaging, videos and interviews with members across the state and a timeline to continue our Reddit “Ask Me Anything” interviews.
Leadership
- This week we met to discuss rules surrounding the use of our
funds and rules surrounding their spending. Our intent is
grounded in ensuring the responsible use of our members’
dues.
- As part of these discussions, our Executive Committee worked on establishing rules and policies relating to the accountable use of union leave.
Thank you for your support.
William (Bill) Hall
Board Chair, SEIU Local 1000
bhall@seiu1000.org