MEDIA ADVISORY: Solano County workers demand Board of Supervisors address severe staffing crisis affecting services and care for residents

ADVISORY for Tuesday, September 13, 2022

 

Press Contacts:

Zac Goldstein, ‭(510) 207-3773‬, zac.goldstein@seiu1021.org

Mike Richardson, ‭(917) 588-1878‬, mike.richardson@seiu1021.org

Luke Thibault, ‭(760) 534-9958‬, lthibault@ifpte21.org

 

Solano County workers demand Board of Supervisors address severe staffing crisis affecting services and care for residents

Coalition of county labor unions to confront the Board of Supervisors in their fight for the people and services Solano County deserves

 

(Fairfield, CA) — On Tuesday, September 13, 2022, at 9:30 am, County workers will confront the Solano County Board of Supervisors to condemn the mismanagement of services and care that harm the county’s tax-paying residents. Members of  SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Local 1021 and IFPTE (International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers) Local 21 will make public comments during the Solano County Board of Supervisors meeting, highlighting the vital need to improve county services and care.

 

Across Solano County, 440 job positions are unfilled, forcing county workers to do more with less. When understaffing is this severe, complete and timely services cannot be provided. In order to fully staff public services and provide high-quality care that county tax-paying residents expect, the Solano County Board of Supervisors must attract and retain qualified staff with fair and competitive wages.

 

Solano County workers demand that county management show that they value workers’ contributions to this community’s well-being, safety, and future by fairly settling contracts that expire in October 2022. See more at www.StaffUpSolano.org

 

What: “Staff Up Solano County” Public Comments at Solano County Board of Supervisors meeting.

 

When: Tuesday, September 13, 2022. Board meeting begins at 9:30 am. County workers will speak during public comment.

 

Where: Solano County Board of Supervisors chamber, 675 Texas St, Fairfield, CA 94533

 

Who: County workers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21.

 

Visuals: Union members in union t-shirts and apparel with signs, people giving speeches, and spokespeople available for interviews.

 

“Our coworkers are telling me how retention and recruitment are suffering across Solano County departments,” said Elizabeth Harrison, an SEIU Local 1021 and social worker working for the Solano County Health and Social Services Department, Older and Disabled Adult Services, in the In-Home Supportive Services program. “Surrounding counties and private industries are out-performing Solano with wages, benefits, and working conditions. The pool of applicants is drastically reduced, and good workers are leaving.

 

“Our department promotes and protects the agricultural industry, protects public health and the environment,” said David Jagdeo, an IFPTE Local 21 member and the Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Sealer of Weights and Measures. “The staffing shortages put a very concerning strain on our current staff level. It is time for the county to place staffing up as a top priority.”

###

 

The Service Employees International Union Local 1021 represents over 60,000 employees in local governments, non-profit agencies, health care programs, and schools throughout Northern California, including seven private colleges and numerous community colleges. SEIU Local 1021 is a diverse, member-driven organization with members who work to make our cities, schools, colleges, counties, and special districts safe and healthy places to live and raise our families.

 

The International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees Local 21 represents over 10,000 public workers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including nearly 300 professional and technical employees of Solano County.