East Bay Organizing Committee was the principal organization directing activity related to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) “Fight for $15” unionization and minimum wage campaign in Oakland, California. It received its principal financial support from the national SEIU. The organization is currently defunct; it and the other “worker organizing committees” associated with the campaign folded into the SEIU National Fast Food Workers Union.
The national SEIU has given at least $306,303 to the East Bay Organizing Committee. 1
Activism
On May 15, 2014, the East Bay Organizing Committee helped organize a demonstration billed as a fast-food worker “strike” in Oakland as part of a worldwide campaign to demand a higher wage. The protest was done to coincide with a wave of SEIU-backed demonstrations in 33 countries and 150 cities in the United States. 2
The organization led another demonstration on September 4, 2014. 3
In December 2014, East Bay Organizing Committee participated in a Milpitas, California demonstration demanding that Walmart raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour. 4
In May 2015, the East Bay Organizing Committee organized a May Day march against police. Oakland police called it one of the most destructive marches in recent history for the city. Shonda Roberts, an EBOC organizer, said she did not know who had participated in looting and said that the looters were not associated with EBOC. A Hyundai dealership where more than 50 new cars were vandalized, some beyond repair, suffered the most damage. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf (D) said of the march: “A very small group of people with rocks in their pockets and malice in their hearts disturbed what was otherwise a very positive day in Oakland.” 5
On September 22, 2016, EBOC was among organization that organized a rally for rent control and other housing regulations that included a banner drop that read, #RenterPower, and expressing opposition to evictions and rising rent costs. 6
In 2017, the EBOC became a member of Bay Resistance, a coalition of California progressive and radical-left groups that is a project of San Francisco Rising Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization. 7
Associations with SEIU
East Bay Organizing Committee was heavily subsidized by the national SEIU labor union as part of the Fight for $15 campaign. The national SEIU gave at least $306,303 to the East Bay Organizing Committee until it folded alongside other “workers organizing committees” into the SEIU National Fast Food Workers Union. 8
References
- East Bay Organizing Committee. Union Facts. Accessed July 23, 2020. https://www.unionfacts.com/payeeDetail/Service_Employees/1478934
- “Fast-Food Workers In Oakland Walk Off Jobs, Want Higher Pay, Right To Unionize.” KPX CBS San Francisco.
May 15, 2014. Accessed July 23, 2020. https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/05/15/fast-food-workers-in-oakland-walk-off-jobs-want-higher-pay-right-to-unionize-burger-king-wendys-kfc-jack-in-the-box-carls-jr-taco-bell-dominos-pizza/
- Swindell, Bill. “Sonoma Company Makes Big Investment in Taco Bell.” The Press Democrat. October 16, 2014. Accessed July 23, 2020. https://legacy.pressdemocrat.com/business/2984673-181/sonoma-company-makes-big-investment
- Black, Bill. “Walmart Workers: When We Fight, We win!” People’s World. December 8, 2014. Accessed July 23, 2020. https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/walmart-workers-when-we-fight-we-win/
- “Oakland Businesses Clean Up After Destructive March.” KGO ABC 7 News. May 3, 2015. Accessed July 23, 2020. https://abc7news.com/port-of-oakland-may-day-protests-city-fight/694033/
- Labor Solidarity Committee. “Renters National Day of Action – Rally at OGP.” Occupy Oakland. September 16, 2016. Accessed July 23, 2020. https://occupyoakland.org/event/renters-national-day-action-rally-ogp/
- “May 1st General Strike.” No Coal in Oakland. May 1, 2017. Accessed July 23, 2020. https://nocoalinoakland.info/event/may-1st-general-strike/
- East Bay Organizing Committee. Union Facts. Accessed July 23, 2020. https://www.unionfacts.com/payeeDetail/Service_Employees/1478934