VIDEO: Watch SEIU members speak about why they support Hillary Clinton
After members conducted a rigorous endorsement process for the past several months, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) today endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, calling her a leader who will stand up for the working moms and dads building a movement to secure a better future for their families.
The following statement is attributable to Gabe Morgan, SEIU Pennsylvania State Council President and Pennsylvania Director of SEIU 32BJ, Neal Bisno, Secretary-Treasurer of the State Council and President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, Tom Herman, President of SEIU Local 668, and David Melman, Manager of the PA Joint Board of Workers United.
“The Pennsylvania members of SEIU are proud to support Hillary Clinton for president. We are concerned about the same things as people across the country: earning a fair wage for a fair day’s work, ensuring access to quality healthcare for all and great schools for our kids, and the ability to take care of and provide a better life for our families. We cannot afford four years of policies that will hurt working families while lining the pockets of big corporations.”
SEIU’s national months-long member engagement process included a 1,200-member conference in March, three national tele-town hall meetings in which more than 80,000 members participated, three national member polls from the fall of 2014 through the fall of 2015 and more than 200 local executive board debates and discussions with thousands of local union officers and elected member-leaders.
Hillary Clinton will fight to raise wages and has stood up for the rights of workers to join together in a union. She has spoken out in support of the Fight for $15 movement: on the movement’s April 15 national day of action, during the New York wage board fight that resulted in $15 for all fast food workers in the state, for the $15 victories in Los Angeles city and county and again just last week, on Nov. 10, during the biggest day of action yet.
“As cleaners, we roll up our sleeves every day and get the job done without complaint. When Hillary Clinton is president, she will do the same. She will fight tirelessly for working families. I like that she is not running to prove a point, she is running to make our country better,” said Pam Johnston, a cleaner, member of 32BJ SEIU in Pittsburgh and executive board member.
Once elected, Hillary Clinton will have the opportunity to address the epidemic of low wages and poor training standards for our nation’s airport workers, who keep travelers safe and airports clean. “Airport jobs should be good jobs — and together, we can make sure they are,” she wrote to airport workers gathered at a national convention last month in Washington.
Clinton has recognized the value of care work in our nation, particularly the home care providers and child care teachers who help educate our future generations and allow our seniors and those with disabilities to live with dignity at home. In many places, these workers earn poverty wages with no sick or vacation time and few if any benefits. “One of the things I'm trying to do in this campaign is put raising wages at the center,” Clinton said at an August roundtable meeting in Los Angeles with SEIU home care providers. “I think your skills deserve a lot more pay and benefits than what's currently being made available to you.” Clinton also recognizes the need for a social safety net and the value that public sector workers provide in delivering services to our most vulnerable citizens.
"Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate and will stand with working families to improve the quality of life for all Americans," said Lawrence Funck, SEIU Local 668 retiree. "She will do so by increasing the minimum wage, guaranteeing access to affordable healthcare, and continuing to ensure that Americans can retire with dignity."
Clinton is also a leader on the core issues SEIU members care about in this election, including fighting for commonsense immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship, standing up for voting rights and criminal justice reform that prioritizes ending mass incarceration and supporting and strengthening the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Clinton’s commitment to quality, affordable healthcare goes back decades to her courageous efforts in 1994 to ensure coverage for all. SEIU members know she will fight hard to strengthen the ACA so we never go backward.
“Hillary Clinton has shown a commitment to supporting working families and rebuilding the middle class,” said Paula Stellabotte, a registered nurse and member of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. “She knows what issues matter most to us, and will work to make sure that all jobs provide the dignity of a living wage.”
“Hillary Clinton has proven she will fight, deliver and win for working families,” said SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry. “SEIU members and working families across America are part of a growing movement to build a better future for their families, and Hillary Clinton will support and stand with them. This movement for economic, racial, immigrant and social justice is poised to turn out to vote in November with their families and communities and keep pushing elected officials to deliver once in office.”
SEIU’s 2 million members will join hands with community partners in a broad movement for economic, social, immigrant and racial justice. Along with the 64 million people who work at jobs paying poverty-level wages, they will be a powerful force during the 2016 elections. Hundreds of thousands of face-to-face and door-to-door contacts, millions of phone calls, robust digital engagement and other activities to get out the vote will counteract the efforts of billionaires and corporations to elect leaders who would answer only to the wealthy few.