SEIU1021 Leaders "Ludwig Did Not Have To Die" STOP Privatization & Zero Covid NOW!

SEIU1021 Leaders "Ludwig Did Not Have To Die" STOP Privatization Zero Covid NOW! & Union Democracy

SEIU 1021 San Francisco leader of SF General Hospital chapter president Brenda Barros and Community Health Centers vice chair Cheryl Thorton spoke out about the death of member Ludwig Leota who had serious health vulnerabilities but was coerced back to work from working remotely. Despite protests from Cheryl Thornton, the SEIU 1021 staff refused to stop this coercion by DPH bosses and did not even bother to attend his funeral when he passed away.

They also discuss the lack of cleaners and other PPE including N95 masks and a mass protocol for testing by the City and
County of San Francisco. They also discussed use of the pandemic to outsource and privatize public worker jobs to "non-profits" and other privately run agencies such as Healthcare 360 which the city funds and they do the same work as public workers at 30 to 40% less
pay without the pensions and benefits.

The city which has a hiring freeze is bringing in temps doing the same work without the conditions and benefits of public workers. This is creating a two tier union busting system according to these SEIU Local union leaders.

They also report on the attack on union democracy and the scheme to appoint union officers by the President Joseph Bryant without an election and also refusing to replace members to the union bargaining committee by elections.

This event was held also to call for Zero Covid which would crush the virus instead of allowing it to continue unabated. The SEIU which represents more than 750,000 workers in California has refused to demand full PPE, N95 masks and a Zero Covid policy from Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democratic legislature which has a super majority and a $31 billion dollars budget surplus. The program has hears directly from SEIU 1021 member Ludwig Leota who talks about his health condition and his personal fear about being forced leave his remote work and returning to the Homeless shelter where he knew he would be contaminated and die from Covid.

This press conference was held at the SF SEIU offices in San Francisco on Jan 8, 2022 and was sponsored by the United Front Committee For A Labor Party.

WorkWeek

Additional media:

Ludwig Did Not Have to Die, Covid, Privatization & Union Democracy In SEIU 1021
https://youtu.be/5uFqcQlFVJA

SF City Workers Issues With SEIU 1021 Negotiating Committee Member John Wadsworth
https://youtu.be/EBNcMrhS5Lc

https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio

Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.labormedia.net