Government workers in Amador County, California have filed a formal request to decertify SEIU Local 1021 (their current union) so they can join a newly created independent union called the Amador County Employees Association, according to county records.
Amador County is located in the eastern part of California and borders Sacramento County, which is home to the state's capitol.
On September 21, the independent union submitted a letter to county officials that begins this way (see below for a full copy of the letter):
Last week, Amador County's top attorney recommended that the Board of Supervisors move forward with scheduling the decertification election. The effort to break away from from SEIU involves approximately 215 county workers, including technical, professional, clerical, blue collar and supervisory employees. It follows similar moves by SEIU members in San Diego, Los Angeles, Fresno, Marin and Kings Counties in California... not to mention efforts by government workers in places like Tempe, Arizona and Ontario, Canada.
So how is SEIU responding to the decert request by Amador County's workers? It looks like they're following standard operating procedures. As soon as workers requested the election, SEIU officials filed legal charges to try to block a vote. Stay tuned for developments!
Finally, here are copies of (1) a memo from the county counsel regarding the workers' request for an election and (2) the original letter from the independent union requesting the election.
SEIU Members in Amador County, CA Seek to Decertify SEIU October 2012
