SF city workers vote to ratify contract, avoiding strike
San Francisco workers represented by the labor union Service Employees International Union Local 1021 voted to ratify three labor contracts with the city, averting a potential strike involving thousands of city workers.
SEIU Local 1021 represents approximately 16,000 San Francisco city employees working in numerous capacities, from registered nurses and parking control officers to Muni station agents and librarians, according to a press release from the union.
One of the contracts -- which lays out working conditions and pay standards for approximately 13,000 city workers under SEIU Local 1021 -- establishes a $25 minimum hourly wage for all city workers, a 13% cost of living adjustment over three years and efforts to prevent city services from being contracted out to third parties, according to the press release.
When put to the vote in May, the contract garnered the support of 91% of voting members.
The two other contracts cover about 2,200 registered nurses in the Department of Public Health and 700 SFMTA workers, SEIU spokesperson Jennie Smith-Camejo said. The registered nurses and SFMTA workers in the labor union ratified their contracts last Wednesday and Friday with 86% and 95% of the vote, respectively.
Shortly before reaching an agreement, registered nurses had voted by 99.5% to strike. Their new contract will avert it, according to the press release.
In all, more than 90% of SEIU Local 1021 workers in San Francisco voted to ratify their contracts with the city, Smith-Camejo said. She added that the new contracts will promote the recruitment and retention of San Francisco city employees.