What is the salary like at SEIU?

SEIU has a great work life balance, at least in the research department. I want to emphasize that experiences vary greatly depending on departments, but research is nice. I have a supportive manager. We work hybrid with 2 days in the office. Also, many positions (except managerial positions) are covered by the staff union and we enjoy generous benefits, a pension after 5 years, excellent healthcare, dental, and vision insurance that covers pretty much everything, and staff union leadership that fights very hard to defend its members against unfair treatment. We have guaranteed step increases every year as well. Coworkers are all very friendly, helpful, and an amiable bunch. Generally it's racially diverse.

The pay could be better for DC's cost of living, but still very good compared to jobs in nonprofit sectors. While SEIU is diverse, I know Black coworkers have expressed dissatisfaction with lack of retention efforts for Black workers, though we're in the process of trying to create better racial justice initiatives, so TBD.

SEIU members are some of the most passionate and enthusiastic members in the world. You work with people who share your passion for organized labor and have the ability to make a big difference in peoples' lives.

The pay is low compared to other unions. SEIU often hires on 3-6 month long contracts and will just keep renewing your contract instead of hiring you full time.

Good pay, good coworkers, strong staff union

Long hours, overworked, bad management

Excellent mission. Great pay and benefits.

We are in a time of change.

Good benefits and pay. You are able to do this work regardless of if you have a degree or not. The training is great and the job is very important.

Long hours and hard assignments.

An amount of paid sick days and paid vacation days to give conservatives night terrors

I didn't fit in at SEIU, and that's a really positive thing, because I feel like I narrowly avoided joining a high-control group. The jobs are all-encompassing, working long hours, including nights and weekends, and being contacted by colleagues for non-urgent matters on weekends, at a wage that turns out to be very low once you do the math of how much you're working. If SEIU members were subjected to these same conditions, SEIU would be holding rallies and protests. The amount of work that was piled on to me when I started was unconscionable. Often, the amount of work that staff were expected to do meant that the work product was very, very poor, and we publicly embarrassed ourselves on more than a few occasions. One of my colleagues told me that there was some angst about me, that the higher-ups were talking about how exceptional my work was and it was irritating my peers who had been there longer. That positive feedback never made it back to me, and I think that was on purpose, to keep me on a treadmill of working harder and trying to please everyone. SEIU was by far the most sexist job I've ever had, where I was constantly subjected to sexist comments, mansplaining, and microaggressions. I was expected to perform high-level work, while being treated like a waitress. Overall, I noticed that women staffers did most of the heavy lifting, and men showed up to meetings late and underprepared and then dominated the meetings. We harped constantly about how hard life was for the working poor, but when I started to hit the point of burnout, people acted like it was a personal responsibility issue. (I was not given a reduction in my workload) When I started to set some healthy boundaries with my boss around my availability on weekends, I was swiftly "frozen out." I thought I wanted to build a career in the labor movement, and I returned to the for-profit sector for a less sexist work environment. I am the only socialist I know who does not support big labor unions.

foot in the door right after college

low pay and lots of driving

Decent pay, if you make it past probation period there is good perks.

Training is lacking, the call volume is so high that you barely have time to learn anything. You will be on the phone all day. Pretty toxic environment as well where you feel like you can’t take sick days since it’s so understaffed. If you asked the supervisor any question regarding help, she was very reluctant to do so, almost like she was too bothered to help,

mission aligned, true believers, excellent health benefits

bureaucratic, lower pay, slow advancement

Flexible with work life balance, team collaboration, great leader

Pay was lower than market, but the flexiblity made it worth it