RSVP today! Local 21’s next Delegate Assembly will be held on Saturday, June 22 at the Downtown Oakland Marriott.
This Assembly will examine a number of issues including recent bargaining trends, with a special focus on health care and strategies for protecting affordable health care, fighting against skyrocketing medical costs, and safeguarding retiree medical benefits. We will also have concurrent workshops on identifying and addressing bullying in the workplace, and Healthcare’s Burning Issues: Accountability, Transparency, and the Affordable Healthcare Act.
Special Guest Speaker Bhairavi Desai, Founder and Director of the 15,000 member NY Taxi Workers’ Alliance, will also join us. Desai led the fight for a fare increase in 2004 that resulted in the first raise for drivers since 1996; she won passage of a Bill of Rights that represents the first city regulations designed to protect drivers; and received a charter from the AFL-CIO. Next up on their union’s agenda is winning collective-bargaining rights and a fare increase that would help seed a health fund for the drivers. Desai is a graduate of Rutgers University where she received a degree in Women’s Studies. She has fought against violence against women, was part of the Cuba and El Salvador solidarity movements, and was part of Manavi, a New Jersey organization that helps South Asian women in need.
Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parkerwill also join us and deliver the Assembly’s opening welcome remarks. Parker holds a law degree from Harvard and has worked for the City of Oakland for more than 20 years. Before becoming City Attorney, she helped organize the city attorneys’ chapter to affiliate with Local 21. Parker won election to her post in 2012 with support from our union.
The Assembly is open to all Delegates and any interested members. Registration begins at 8:30am, and the program begins at 9am and will end at roughly 1pm. Lunch will be provided to those who RSVP by Friday, June 14.
