San Francisco city workers vote to ratify contract and avoid strike

San Francisco workers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1021 have voted to ratify three labor contracts with the city, averting a possible strike by thousands of city workers.

The SEIU Local 1021 union represents about 16,000 San Francisco city employees who work in a variety of roles, from nurses and parking attendants to station workers and librarians at Muni stations, according to a press release.

One of the contracts, which sets working conditions and wage standards for about 13,000 city employees under the SEIU Local 1021 union, calls for a $25 hourly minimum wage for all city employees, a 13 percent cost-of-living adjustment over three years and measures designed to prevent city services from being outsourced, the press release said.

When the treaty came to a vote in May, it received the support of 91% of voting members.

The other two contracts cover about 2,200 health department nurses and 700 SFMTA employees, SEIU spokeswoman Jennie Smith-Camejo said. The nurses and SFMTA employees in the union ratified their contracts last Wednesday and Friday with 86% and 95% of the vote, respectively.

Shortly before the agreement, 99.5 percent of nursing staff voted in favor of a strike. The new collective agreement will now avert this, the press release states.

Overall, 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 boost San Francisco city employee recruitment and retention.