Hundreds of County Workers Plan to March to Board of Supervisors in Protest of Short-Staffed Public Services

Workers will flood the streets to call on the Board to #StaffUpContraCosta and invest in the vital services our County depends on

MARTINEZ, Calif., April 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- County workers are urging the Board of Supervisors to address Contra Costa's staffing crisis, as hundreds of workers plan to march to the Board of Supervisors on April 26, during the regularly scheduled Board meeting. The march will include workers who staff our public hospital, clinics, COVID test sites, as well as workers who maintain our streets, safeguard our environment, and keep our libraries and courts open. A rally outside of the County Administration Building will feature speeches from frontline and essential workers, as well as a speech by Lorena Gonzalez, former State Assemblywoman (San Diego) and the incoming Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation.

What: "Staff Up Contra Costa!" March & Rally

When: Tuesday, April 26, 2022

• March begins at 11:30am
• Rally begins at 12pm

Where: Departing from 1 Ferry St., Martinez and marching to 1024 Escobar St., Martinez.

Who: Lorena Gonzalez, Contra Costa County Employees, and community allies. Unions include: SEIU Local 1021, IFPTE Local 21, Deputy District Attorneys Association, Western Council of Engineers, AFSCME Local 1, AFSCME Local 512, AFSCME Local 2700, Contra Costa Defender Association, and Teamsters 856, Contra Costa County Labor Council. The nine unions rallying together represent 6,200 county employees, and more than 2/3 of the county's total workforce.

Visuals: Hundreds of union members in union t-shirts and apparel with banners and signs, people giving speeches, marching and chanting, and spokespeople available for interviews.

BACKGROUND
In Contra Costa County, there are nearly 2,000 county job positions unfilled. With 1116 unfilled positions, the majority of vacancies are in the Health Services department. One of the departments hardest hit by vacancies is also tasked with addressing some of our county's most pressing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vacancies have an undeniable impact on the quality and speedy delivery of services from County departments. For further background, see StaffUpContraCosta.org

"We see in many cases, in the public sector in particular, individuals have one job but they're actually doing the job of two or multiple people," said Lorena Gonzalez, former CA Assemblywoman (San Diego) and incoming Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation. "One person's job should not be the job of two people and that's what we're seeing throughout Contra Costa County. Rather than being adequately staffed in public services in emergency situations, the government contracted work out that could've and should've been done by public sector workers had leaders built a workforce that could sustain tough times like a pandemic."

The Contra Costa Labor Council is the local body of the AFL-CIO. Over 85 unions are affiliated with the CCLC, representing more than 80,000 union members and their families. The mission of the Contra Costa Labor Council is to improve the lives of workers, their families, and our community – to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to the nation.

SOURCE IFPTE Local 21; SEIU 1021