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San Francisco Social Services Employees Union Records
larc.ms.0415  
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Founding Documents 1 1962-1968

Arrangement

Arranged as received.

Scope and Contents

SSEU-produced materials related to the founding of SSEU, including the constitution and by-laws, proposed amendments to the constitution, SSEU employee handbooks, and articles on organizing social welfare worker unions in the United States. Also includes two reports written by SSEU members: The Case Against Case-Aides. Building a Caste System in the Welfare Department prepared by Burt Alpert and Peter Krynski (Carton 1, folder 3); and Progressive Labor Party's Goals of Organizing in the Social Services Department by Peter Krynski (Carton 1, folder 3).
carton 1, folder 1

Constitution and bylaws 1962-1966

carton 1, folder 2

Member handbooks, contracts, and guidelines 1965-1968

carton 1, folder 3

Welfare handbooks and reports 1967-1968

 

Administration, Communication, and Organizing Files 2 1965-2002

Arrangement

Arranged as received. The bulk of the records from 1965 to 2002 are arranged in chronological order. Remaining records are arranged by subject.

Scope and Contents

Comprises records created in the day-to-day running of the SSEU, including bulletins, flyers, press releases, and newsletters that provided regular updates to members on issues such as caseloads, salary negotiations, management-employee relations, suspensions, transfers and firings, SSEU elections, and grievance hearings. The bulk of the correspondence comprises Department of Social Services (DSS) inter-office memos dealing with departmental policies and procedures, and responding to worker grievances over suspensions and transfers, disagreements with supervisors, and general work conditions. Many of these memos are from Ronald H. Born in his role as General Manager for the DSS. Other correspondence is between the San Francisco Social Services Commission, the San Francisco Department of Social Services, and representatives of SSEU, in particular, Bruce Alpert, Stewart Serman, and Roger Altman, all one-time presidents of SSEU, as well as Peter Krynski, Grievance Coordinator. Meeting minutes, agendas, and notes were primarily generated from Social Services Commission meetings, SSEU Executive Committee meetings, SSEU Negotiating Committee meetings, and general membership meetings. Carton 3, folders 7-10 contain records related to welfare workers based at San Francisco General Hospital. The SSEU maintained records related to specific topics, such as the implementation by the DSS of the Old Age Security (OAS) conversion, a separation of services that resulted in eligibility workers being hired to determine a patient's eligibility for cash and social services, a task previously under the domain of professional social workers (Carton 5, folders 4-7). Also well documented are the efforts by the SSEU to update departmental policies and procedures, in particular the way grievance communications are handled between the SSEU and the DSS. Carton 5, folders 8-10 contains records of individual grievance cases. SSEU-produced reports include A Study in Harassment: The Peter Krynski Case (Carton 1, folder 13); the 965 Report comprising articles submitted by employees at 965 Mission (Carton 1, folders 25-26); and The Civil Service Scene: How You Get Left Out (Carton 2, folders 1-7), a series of articles covering topics such as sick leave, grievance procedures, employee representation, and salaries.

Conditions Governing Access

Contains material restricted to protect the privacy of living individuals and to ensure confidential employment and personnel information. The following folders include restricted material: Carton 1, folder 1, closed until October 31, 2038 [redacted copy open for research]; Carton 4, folder 1, closed permanently [redacted copy open for research]; Carton 4, folder 7, closed until July 1, 2057; and Carton 4, folder 15, closed until March 31, 2070.
carton 1, folder 4-26, carton 2, folder 1-24

1965-1970

carton 3, folder 1-26

1971-1976

carton 4, folder 1-8

1977-1989

carton 4, folder 9-23

1990-2002

carton 5, folder 1-2

Procedures and policies 1966-2006

carton 5, folder 3

Welfare rights organizations 1967-1973

carton 5, folder 4-7

Social workers separation of services 1967-1975

carton 5, folder 8-10

Grievances and complaints 1971-2010

 

Publications 3

Arrangement

Arranged in chronological order.

Scope and Contents

Comprises SSEU-produced publications, the bulk of which consists of newsletters distributed to members. Includes The Rag Times, a mimeographed leaflet produced by workers in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, and Dialog, a larger monthly publication that ran from 1966 through 1975.
carton 5, folder 11

Publications related to welfare work 1962-1967

carton 5, folder 12

Organizing: the art of self-defense in middle-class occupations by Burt Alpert 1974

carton 5, folder 13-15

The Rag Times 1974-1975

carton 5, folder 16-21, box 1, folder 1-6

Dialog 1966-1975