1021 NewsWire

We are living in a state of emergency. California's schools, colleges, and communities are suffering because of continued state budget cuts that also affect local public safety and health care services. In response, California educators, parents and students are fighting back with a grassroots campaign calling on lawmakers to resolve the state budget crisis now because our schools and communities can't take any more cuts and can't afford to wait any longer.

California has the eighth-largest economy in the world, but continues to shortchange our students of the education they need and deserve. K-12 and higher education funding has been cut by more than $20 billion the past three years alone. That's about $3,000 less per student. More than 30,000 educators and 10,000 education support professionals have lost their jobs, with the real threat of another 20,000 educators facing layoffs this year. Students face larger class sizes and more than a million students are losing five instructional days as districts struggle with budget shortfalls. College tuition has increased more than 200 percent.

This week, the California Teachers Association declares the Golden State a "state of emergency" with five days of rallies, legislator visits and other actions intended to bring a stop to the mass destruction of the state's public education system.

The "state of emergency" culminates on Friday, May 13, as we try to change the state's luck with regional rallies taking place simultaneously in five cities, including Sacramento (State Capitol Building) and San Francisco (Civic Center Plaza). Music and entertainment begins at 4:00 pm and the rallies at 5:00. SEIU 1021 members will be there.

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Twitter hashtag: #stateofemergency

Posted By: Randy Lyman on 5/9/2011 7:40:00 PM

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Posted By: Randy Lyman on 5/9/2011 7:37:00 PM

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In San Joaquin County, SEIU 1021 members are among the thousands of county workers who are calling on their leaders to adopt a more fiscally responsible budget to save vital public services. That means, in part, getting rid of the dozens of redundant management and executive positions and the perks that go along with them.

The Board of Supervisors recently approved a plan to consolidate and restructure departments, but there was no actual money saved, raising the question: If the county is serious about reform, why was their only public plan devoid of any cost savings?

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Posted By: Randy Lyman on 5/9/2011 7:02:00 PM

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"You owe us! You owe us!"

... reverberated throughout San Francisco's financial district this week, along Market Street and then in front of Wells Fargo's headquarters, where the giant bank held its stockholders meeting on May 3. Several hundred community activists and SEIU 1021 members set up an in-your-face picket line and rally to highlight Wells' fraudulent foreclosures, tax evasion and anti-worker, anti-immigrant policies.

They assembled at Justin Herman Plaza near the Ferry Building for a brief rally before marching noisily through downtown to their target. At the same time, a delegation of homeowners and clergy from the coalition, with legitimate proxy credentials, joined the 15th floor stockholders meeting to bring their objections to the bank's destructive if profitable practices directly to its power players.

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Posted By: Randy Lyman on 5/9/2011 5:53:00 PM

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Posted By: Randy Lyman on 4/27/2011 1:57:00 PM

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