For the last two years, workers at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU NorCal) have been carefully and deliberately coming together as working people, standing shoulder-to-shoulder to secure a voice at work through union representation. The last few months of their organizing campaign coincided with the beginning of pandemic shelter-in-place conditions. With such a strong base already established the pandemic shelter-in-place conditions did not slow down or deter their efforts in the slightest. 

We are very proud to announce that 77 workers at ACLU NorCal have voted overwhelmingly to join ESC Local 20 with 75% turnout and 98% voting Union Yes!

The new ACLU NorCal members are attorneys, organizers, researchers, communications specialists, fundraisers, and administrative professionals. Founded to protect workers’ rights in the 1934 San Francisco General Strike, ACLU NorCal continues today to protect all workers’ rights. ESC has partnered with ACLU NorCal in the past on workers’ rights issues and recently worked in a coalition to protect workers against illegal surveillance while on the job. 

ACLU NorCal workers are the latest nonprofit professionals to join ESC Local 20 in recent years. Legal Aid at Work, Centro Legal de la Raza, East Bay Community Law Center, and Legal Services for Children – San Francisco make up the remaining legal and community service nonprofit workers represented by ESC Local 20. These members are part of the fastest-growing industry in our local and in IFPTE nationwide, thanks to the great work of our sibling local NPEU, IFPTE Local 70. 

Please welcome these newest members of ESC Local 20. Organizing a union is never easy; organizing during a pandemic under a hostile National Labor Relations Board is uniquely challenging. Their success is a testament to their commitment to becoming a part of our union — A huge congratulations to all involved!

If you have a friend or family member who is a professional worker at a nonprofit, healthcare organization, or PG&E and who is considering forming a union, please contact ESC Organizer Jonathan Wright at jwright@nullifpte20.org.