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Santa Clara County Chapter

This is the SEIU 521 Santa Clara County Chapter update webpage. On this page, you will find useful resources, including important chapter updates and membership meetings. On page #2 of this webpage, you will find documents related to our most recent contract negotiations. 

Union Contract (MOU) Budget Petition CalSAWS Updates Briefing on Child Welfare Upcoming Events

2024 Budget Petition: SEIU 521 Members Demand a Fair Budget that Puts Santa Clara County Communities and Workers First 

Santa Clara County management presented their recommended budget for fiscal year 2024-2025.  While we have seen worse in past years, this proposed budget would permanently eliminate hundreds of unfilled positions in jobs that are currently too short-staffed to meet the needs of the community we serve.   

SEIU 521 officers, chief stewards, and other leaders met with management and made our concerns known.  The Board of Supervisors will meet in June to vote on the budget.  It is critical that we raise our voices over how these unnecessary cuts will hurt the people of Santa Clara County. 

Instead of cutting key positions in departments like Behavioral Health, Social Services, Law and Justice, and the County Hospital System to name a few, the county should be: 

  • Investing the expected $200 million in FEMA funds owed to Santa Clara by the federal government. 
  • Using more realistic projections of actual income and expenditures.  The county routinely underestimates revenue and overestimates spending and ends up with “unexpected positive results “…last year we came in almost a billion dollars over budget. 
  • Exploring opportunities to generate more revenues at VMC by taking steps to make the Valley Health Plan a better option for other area employers.  (Employer coverage pays much higher rates than MediCAL or Medicare.) 

Click here to read SEIU 521’s analysis of the county’s recommended budget  

Commitment to Protect Workers and our Community 

It is crucial that we present a unified front to decision-makers.  Our collective strength and solidarity will be our most powerful tools.   

ADD YOUR VOICE and tell Santa Clara County Executive James Williams and the Board of Supervisors to put our community and workers first: https://www.seiu521.org/sccbudget

CalSAWS Updates

A lot has happened with the CalSAWS Innovation Committee in the last couple of months and we want to make sure you get all the information.

Before we dive into where we’re at, let’s start with a recap of the scope and purpose of the committee:

  • During contract negotiations, we negotiated a side letter to address workload and CalSAWS-related issues. Click here to read the side letter.
  • The CalSAWS Innovation Committee with SEIU and Santa Clara County management was formed
  • 10 EWs from across the county form the SEIU side of the committee
  • The committee is tasked with analyzing our current processes, researching other counties, and forming pilot programs to radically improve how we operate in DEBS for the better

We officially kicked off the CalSAWS Innovation Committee with a meeting with county management in February.  Since then we’ve divided into 4 workgroups, each tasked with a different mission:

  1. Bright Spots: This workgroup identifies and uplifts processes, protocols, and tools that currently work for everyone in a way that can be emulated across all of DEBS.
  2. Leveraging Technology: This group has really dived deep into the CalSAWS programs, what it can do, what it can’t do, and what it should do.  In addition, they uplift issues brought to them by workers so they can be directly addressed by CalSAWS and/or management.
  3. Data: This group looks at data related to benefits, CalSAWS, and staffing here in Santa Clara County and across the state.  
  4. Equitable and Sustainable Workloads: This is where most of the magic is happening!  This group has divided into Intake and Continuing groups and are using the information gathered from the other work groups to figure out what the future of DEBS could look like.

We’ve already been able to implement a few small wins, including:

  1. Won a 48-hour callback for CBS.  Originally we needed to call back within 24 hours.
  2. The technology group has been able to implement requests made from EWs and Clerical.  Keep an eye out for a Chewable Byte with more information.
  3. Chewable Bytes have been consolidated into a more easily searchable list.

We’ll also be doing a roadshow to the DEBS offices across the county to provide updates, get feedback, and eventually distribute copies of the new contract!  We’re still working on dates and locations but here’s what’s been scheduled so far!  All events are from 10AM to 1PM.

  1. May 29 – 1877 Senter Rd – Neptune Conference Room
  2. June 5 – North County – Jupiter Conference Room
  3. June 10 – 1877 Senter Rd – Neptune Conference Room
  4. June 12 – 1867 Senter Rd (TBD)
  5. June 18 – 1879 Senter Rd (TBD)
  6. June 26 –  South County (TBD)
  7. TBD 1919 Senter Rd

We’ll also be launching our CalSAWS Updates page by the end of this week. 

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the road shows!

Reach out to the committee by emailing CALSAWS@SEIU521.ORG.

Upcoming Chapter Events

SEIU 521 Online Steward Trainings – Click here for more info and to sign up.