In case you missed it....news from around the International and SEIU Locals 521, 1000, 2001, 1199, SEIU Healthcare IL, CIR and District 1199.

• In an op-ed on The Hill yesterday, SEIU President Andy Stern and the Rev. Dr. George Cummings, Founding Pastor of the Imani Community Church in Oakland, California, remind us that reform must be affordable for working families.

• Chris Cillizza from Washington Post's The Fix tweeted this yesterday:

  Service Employees International Union -- major labor player -- also prepping an ad buy in Massachusetts Senate special...

  He was right! We were...check out the new ad here.

• Today, the CEOs of America's largest banks are here in Washington, DC to testify for the first hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC). We're live blogging from the hearing.
  
  

  *Also: ten questions the Commission should ask the Wall Street CEOs at today's hearing.

• The credibility of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a voice for American business has hit an all-time low. SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger writes about it in a Huffington Post piece yesterday, "The Year the US Chamber Became a Joke, And Why We're Not Laughing." More in Change to Win's report.

• Lorain, OH librarian & SEIU District 1199 member Cheri Campbell has shared her perspective on the Rust Belt economy with NPR.
• SEIU Local 521 home care workers vote on tentative agreement with Santa Clara County.
• CT Governor Rell wants to make further cuts to public services and ask workers to come back to the bargaining table for more givebacks. In the meantime, tens of thousands of state residents have been unable to file their electronic or phone unemployment claims. Gov. Rell's response? Too little, too late.
• CIR/SEIU's Dr. Toni Lewis & 1199SEIU President George Gresham speak at a forum to address health disparities among NYC's most vulnerable populations.
• SEIU Healthcare Illinois is urging people across the state to participate in the Responsible Budget Coalition's statewide call-in day today, to tell lawmakers to stop damaging cuts.
• CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to replace furloughs with a pay cut and an increase in mandatory pension contributions for state workers amounts to an illegal permanent 10 percent pay cut. SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker responds to the budget proposal.
• Following a vote to recognize the CIR chapter at Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, CA, 116 interns and residents are about to begin negotiating their first contract.

What are you doing for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Monday, January 18th) this year? We'd love to know how SEIU members or their Locals are planning to honor MLK's legacy--let us know in the 'Comments' section below.