Vote SMMCEA Starting September 28
Ballots will be mailed to you at home starting on September 28 so check your mailbox and get ready to vote for SMMCEA.
Ballots are due back to California's Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) no later than 5 PM on October 28. They must be received by that time (not postmarked) in order to be counted. No late ballots will be accepted.
We strongly recommend mailing your completed ballot back as soon as possible and no later than October 21 to ensure that it arrives in time to be counted.
If you have not received your ballot by October 7, please call (916) 322-3198 or email perbquestions@perb.ca.gov to request a replacement from PERB. Please note that replacement ballot requests will only be accepted between 12:01 AM and 11:59 PM on October 7.
It is time for a positive change
It is time for a positive change - the Santa Monica Malibu Classified Employees Association (SMMCEA) would give us a powerful voice, focused solely on classified employees' needs and free from the control of SEIU Local 99 and its interests. SEIU Local 99 takes your dues and does not fulfill its obligations. SMMCEA will offer better union representation at a fraction of the cost. It is time for a change, it is time for our own independent union.
As an independent union, the Santa Monica Malibu Classified Employees Association (SMMCEA) will be the most effective advocate for what our classified employees want and need.
Our members have been representing the SMMUSD classified employees for years and know how to work for our employees better than SEIU Local 99 ever will.
Stay in the Know
Please share your contact information to stay informed with important updates, help brainstorm solutions and get ready to be fully supported by a union that shows up for their people and cares for all.
Your participation is crucial to success!
SEIU Local 99
Your current union
Santa Monica Malibu Classified Employees Association
Takes 1.5% of your salary for membership dues, most of which goes directly to the SEIU headquarters in Washington DC, and into politics, lobbying, and SEIU Local 99 employee salaries.
Lower membership dues (1.2%) but offering real, quality representation and accessibility, with office hours, trainings, site visits, weekly union updates, and general membership meetings that foster engagement in our classified employee community.
Corporate, impersonal union model that treats all of us as just a number and lacks respect and knowledge of our contract and district processes.
Directly responsive to the real-time needs of classified employees when it comes to discipline, grievances, and contract negotiations because we take care of our own!
Silences members who have different opinions and doesn’t value us beyond being source for union dues.
We are on the front lines advocating for our people, because we are connected.
Unresponsive to our needs and counterproductive in contract negotiations with the district. Always changes the narrative to their benefit.
Treats our classified employees as individuals because we have a lifelong relationships with one another and care about doing the right thing for each other.
Controlled by SEIU National and does not have the interests of SMMUSD classified employees at heart.
Independently controlled by our own local leaders rather than top-down control from a national affiliate.
Your voice matters.
Your choice matters.
We need a better choice for our union:
Santa Monica Malibu Classified Employees Association is the answer.
The election is scheduled from Monday, September 28 to Wednesday, October 28 at 5 PM.
Ballots will be mailed to you at home beginning on September 28.
If you do not receive your ballot by October 7, please call (916) 322-3198 or email perbquestions@perb.ca.gov to request a replacement. Please note replacement ballot requests will only be accepted between 12:01 AM and 11:59 PM on October 7.
All regular classified employees currently represented by SEIU Local 99 who were employed by SMMUSD as of August 24, 2026 are eligible to vote in this election. You do not have to be a dues-paying member of SEIU Local 99 to participate in this election.
If you have not received your ballot by October 7, please call (916) 322-3198 or email perbquestions@perb.ca.gov to request a replacement. Please note that replacement ballot requests will only be accepted between 12:01 AM and 11:59 PM on October 7.
We recommend mailing your completed ballot back to PERB no later than October 21.
Ballots must be received (not postmarked) by PERB by 5 PM on October 28 in order to be counted. No late ballots will be accepted.
Yes, ballots are confidential. Your name will not be on the ballot. Only a number will appear on the ballot so no one will know how you voted.
Under the status quo doctrine, the existing terms of the contract, as they apply to employees’ wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits, must remain the same until SMMUSD and SMMCEA negotiate a new contract. This means that SMMUSD must honor the terms of the existing contract after the contract expires and before a new contract is signed between SMMUSD and SMMCEA. The status quo doctrine is well established in California law. (see, e.g., California State Employees' Assn. v. Pub. Emp. Rels. Bd., 51 Cal. App. 4th 923, 59 Cal. Rptr. 2d 488 (1996);El Camino Healthcare District, El Camino Hospital, and Silicon Valley Medical Development, LLC, (PERB Decision No. 2868-M, 2023); County of Kern,(PERB Decision No. 2615-M, 2018)).
Stay in the Know
Please share your contact information to stay informed with important updates, help brainstorm solutions and get ready to be fully supported by a union that shows up for their people and cares for all.
Your participation is crucial to success!