"It's fitting during this week when we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to remember his passion in demanding that every man, woman and child have the right to live free of illness and to reach his or her potential." ~ Dr. L. Toni Lewis, SEIU Healthcare Chair

SEIU Healthcare Chair Dr. L. Toni Lewis made one thing very clear during the Families USA, Health Action 2012 conference when she said, "People are still shocked to hear about health care inequities, the gross disparities in access to healthcare and the deadly outcomes experienced by people of color, the elderly and children."

Dr. Lewis told the audience, "The lack of diversity in the healthcare workforce is one of the root causes of health access and health disparities." Several studies show that people of color receive a lower quality of care than white patients, even when they are insured at the same level, have similar incomes and are presented with the same type of health problem.

As working families struggle with the economic crisis, especially African American and Latinos experiencing double digit unemployment rates (15.8 and 11.0 percent respectively), people probably aren't too concerned about disparities, or whether or not the healthcare law is repealed or the newest threats to cut Medicare and Medicaid.

This workshop, and others like it, make it clear why healthcare is still such an important part of our fight for social and economic justice:

ONE IN FOUR African Americans and one in four Latinos live in poverty today. With that poverty comes a lifelong sentence of poor health. Chronic disease + unemployment + poverty = shorter, sicker lives.

SAVING LIVES: As of 2014, the healthcare law will provide more affordable healthcare options to 32 million more Americans - both through competitive state market places and through an expansion of our Medicaid system.

CREATING JOBS: Many Americans may not know that healthcare sector continues to create jobs despite our struggling economy. The expansion of our healthcare system to cover more people will actually create jobs. Estimates are that more than 2 million new healthcare jobs will be created by 2018. If the law is repealed or defunded, none of this is possible.

SAVING MONEY: Medicaid matters to Americans and Medicare really matters. Seniors who fall into the prescription drug "donut hole" are now saving 40% on lifesaving prescription drugs.

SERVING COMMUNITIES: The Affordable Care Act provides more than $10 billion in funding to community health centers - critical centers of care and jobs in underserved, urban and rural minority communities.

ENDING DISCRIMINATION & ELIMINATING DISPARITIES: This fall Tri-Caucus members introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011. It builds on the healthcare law and includes new tools and provisions to "ensure effective, prioritized action is taken to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities, which can help our nation save trillions of dollars in savings."

It is a political mistake to think that Americans will sit by while right wing politicians continue to attack working families and cut into the foundation of our healthcare system.

The year 2011 will go down as one of the more intense for many of us. We took part in many actions, organizing drives, meetings, conference calls, and rallies. What took place this year is not terribly different than all the other years: We showed up!

We used our collective voice to continue the good fight to protect our rights, and proved we could not--and would not--be silenced when advocating for the rights of our patients.
]]> You are a phenomenal group of fierce, educated union members who proved again this year that if the fight was on Capitol Hill, you made it to D.C., if the fight was in Wisconsin, you were there as well.

On a personal note, one of my most memorable moments of 2011 took place up in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. I was up there to support a group of healthcare workers employed at the Pocono Medical Center. Word got around that these sisters and brothers needed us in town...and more than 5,000 of us showed the world what solidarity looks like. The rally was the biggest one I'd ever been to in my working career--it was, well, brilliant!

Take a minute to read through some of the year's highlights and feel the pride of accomplishment that we all brought to the table, the facilities, the Capitol, and everywhere else.

Was there a monumental moment in your working life in 2011 that you want to share? Please do so in a note to me: Richard.Negri@seiu.org.

We hope you'll consider forwarding this special year-end Roundup to any SEIU nurses you know so they can sign up to receive these bi-weekly updates too. Click here to share the Round-up.
 

"Below-Target" nursing shifts and increased workloads signal greater risk of mortality for patients.

When a New England Journal of Medicine study on the relationship between nurse staffing levels and patient mortality rates was released earlier in 2011, it was met with our Union's 85,000+ nurses strongly supporting the study's conclusions.

Dian Palmer, RN, and Chair of the National Nurse Alliance, said: "Let there be no more debate about the link between nurse staffing levels and patients' health--there are far too many lives at stake."

The study was researched and written by Jack Needleman, Ph.D., Peter Buerhaus, Ph.D., R.N., V. Shane Pankratz, Ph.D., Cynthia L. Leibson, Ph.D., Susanna R. Stevens, M.S.,  and Marcelline Harris, Ph.D., R.N. Since its publication, Dr. Neeleman has attended a few of RN conferences to discuss, in even greater detail, the study.

At the end of the day, the validation of this report is 10-fold as SEIU Nurses have linked understaffing and patient mortality rates for many years. The study underscores this with the following:

Staffing by RNs was within 8 hours of the target level for 84% of shifts, and patient turnover was within 1 SD of the day-shift mean for 93% of shifts. Overall mortality was 61% of the expected rate for similar patients on the basis of modified diagnosis-related groups. There was a significant association between increased mortality and increased exposure to unit shifts during which staffing by RNs was 8 hours or more below the target level (hazard ratio per shift 8 hours or more below target, 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.03; P<0.001). The association between increased mortality and high patient turnover was also significant (hazard ratio per high-turnover shift, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.06; P<0.001) 

Dian issued a statement in March 2011 saying, "SEIU nurses are committed to delivering the highest quality care to patients and we can achieve that goal by ensuring that every state has robust and effective safe staffing legislation. We will continue to reach out to nurses and concerned citizens to ask for their support of safe staffing legislation in states such as Pennsylvania, Florida and New York." 

Do you want to share with other SEIU Nurses your own experiences around nurse-to-patient ratios? If so, please email me: Richard.Negri@seiu.org. 
 

Safe Patient Handling: a report on Washington State's 2006 SPH law and the passage of of AB 1136 in California

In January 2011, a report titled, "Implementation of Safe Patient Handling in Washington State Hospitals," was published. The report is the first of two evaluations of the 2006 law requiring hospitals to establish safe patient handling committees and programs, including the acquisition of lift equipment that would be paid for, in part, with the help of a tax credit.

Sometimes it takes a report for folks to "get it...." In this case, OSHA put out a statement shortly after the report was published, stating, "Washington's safe patient handling law has substantially reduced workers compensation claims for back injuries in the state's hospitals."

Really? Who knew?

Our Union has supported a national Occupational Safety and Health Administration safe patient handling standard for a very long time, and we pointed to this study as further evidence of the effectiveness of safe patient handling laws.

SEIU Health and Safety Director, Bill Borwegen, said, "We are glad to see that positive changes also occurred in some nursing homes, resulting in a reduction of back injury claims, especially in nursing homes affiliated with hospitals."

Though it might be hard to find in the report, if it wasn't for the determination and drive of SEIU nurse members and member leaders, the 2006 Washington State Safe Patient Handling Law would likely not have passed in the first place. 

California, here we come

We are safe in saying that, like in 2006 in Washington State, our work paid off again as AB 1136--a California Safe Patient Handling law--passed this year.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed an earlier version of this bill, but SEIU nurses in California weren't about to go down silently. In keeping that drumbeat going, we reported that Governor Jerry Brown, in October, signed the landmark law.

"There isn't a nurse that I've met that doesn't have a story of experiencing an injury while caring for a patient that took them off work either temporarily or permanently," said Ingela Dhalgren, RN, and the Executive Director of the SEIU Nurse Alliance of California.

Bill Borwegen says that for more than a decade, "mechanical lifting and transfer devices were proven to be remarkably effective in reducing injuries while simultaneously reducing serious patient skin tears and patients being dropped."

Just as California's SEIU nurses have lead the charge for safer working conditions and patient care, it was all of us linking arm-in-arm to get ourselves heard on nurse-to-patient unbalanced ratios. 

Hundreds of SEIU nurses react to a nation about to code

The following email from Dian Palmer, RN and President the SEIU Nurse Alliance, was sent out toe member activists shortly after they participated in an awesome day of action on Capitol Hill

When more than 400 nurses traveled to Washington, DC and joined in our “Code Blue”advocacy day and action last month, we helped protect quality healthcare for our patients through the power of our voices and our profession.

While we all know that what America needs right now is more good jobs, not more healthcare cuts, leaders in Washington were focused on one thing – cutting the essential healthcare services that seniors, people with disabilities and children depend upon. Thanks to you, Medicaid and Medicare were spared even deeper, more devastating cuts under the “super-committee” process.

Together, you and your fellow nurses took a stand, and reminded members of Congress and working Americans just what was at stake.  And you made the difference.  Our country's healthcare system has been spared what would have been the worst cuts in history.

We still have a real fight ahead to ensure affordable, quality healthcare for everyone in America, but this moment marks a tremendous step in the right direction.

On behalf of the Nurse Alliance Executive Committee, we offer our deepest thanks and appreciation for your commitment to your patients and to nursing.

Code Blue coverage on SEIU’s blog is here.

Finally, in an effort to keep all SEIU Nurse Sisters and Brothers in the loop, please help me invite them to sign up for our Roundup newsletter with our online tools. 

In Unity,

PHNs strategize for the future at historic conference

More than 100 PHNs participated in an historic conference on April 15 in San Francisco. The gathering, organized by the SEIU Nurse Alliance of California and hosted by SEIU Local 1021, was the first ever statewide meeting held solely for Public Health Nurses.

SEIU PHNs spent the day discussing issues and challenges that are unique to their profession, hearing updates on how the new federal healthcare reform legislation could impact their positions, and networking with other PHNs who have been under fire from budget cuts happening on the county and city level.

Lively participation was the theme of the day, as many in attendance expressed their excitement and relief to finally be having discussions about issues specific to their jobs. PHNs participated from the counties of San Francisco, Alameda, Napa, Marin, Sonoma, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Kern, San Benito, Los Angeles, Riverside, and the City of Berkeley.

The Healthcare Law And Its Implementation

 Dr. Toni Lewis, MD, head of SEIU’s Healthcare Division, and member of the SEIU Executive Board, started the day off by recounting the victories and challenges involved in the new federal healthcare reform legislation. Dr. Lewis mentioned that while positive changes are already taking place, still half of all Americans don’t understand the new law. Because nurses are consistently ranked at the top of the professions trusted by the general public, Dr. Lewis told the audience that it’s up to PHNs and RNs to share our stories of how our patients are benefitting from the care we provide and from changes brought by the Affordable Care Act.

Dr. Lewis also explained the five key areas where the Affordable Care  will expand and protect the public healthcare system. 

1. Access: The healthcare law expands coverage for millions of Americans, creates a benefit floor, strengthens primary care, and greatly increases funds to community health centers.

2. Prevention: The law provides some free preventive services in both Medicare and private insurance, including testing for certain diseases.

3. Coordination of care: The Affordable Care Act establishes a system that allows for greatly improved coordination between services.

4. Maternal and child care: Access to coverage of these services is expanded and certain programs are strengthened with considerable respect to prevention, wellness, education and health promotion practices.

5. HIV/AIDS: Today, nearly 30% of people living with HIV are not covered by insurance. The Affordable Care Act will have a huge impact on people living with HIV/AIDs through stopping insurance discrimination and increasing access to coverage and providing better care.

SEIU PHNs expressed general support for the changes, but also expressed frustration that even though many of the new programs could and should be described as public health programs, PHNs are not the ones developing them--and may not even necessarily be the ones delivering the services created, unless we struggle to get a stronger voice at the table to ensure that it happens.

The group then went around the room county by county and heard report backs of what programs are in place, and how many PHN positions have been retained in the face of our ongoing statewide budget crisis. The news was as expected: every county represented has had cuts, some smaller and some on a larger scale. The report backs revealed another big issue: many counties are deciding which programs to cut and which ones to keep based on what they can get funded. PHNs at the conference strongly expressed that it is imperative that public programs need to be population based, and should be decided on by assessments of what each county truly needs and how to make it happen.

At the end of a fulfilling day, many PHNs felt that this meeting, though ground breaking, should only be the first of many to come, and that another gathering was needed in the future to keep the momentum going. Several PHNs volunteered to be on a committee that would look into what steps will be needed to focus the energy at the conference into making positive changes for PHNs during this difficult and challenging time in California history.

SEIU nurse tells OSHA what's what on its 40th anniversary

Cathy Stoddart, RN, BSN, Chair of the Nurse Alliance of SEIU Healthcare Policy and Politics Committee and a staff nurse at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, took part in an informative and distinguished panel at the Center for American Progress (CAP) last week, which held an event honoring the 40-year anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The event aired on C-SPAN, which you can watch here.

The facilitator of the panel told Cathy that he didn't think that many people generally think of healthcare workers when it comes to OSHA and dangers on the job. He asked Cathy to explain what nurses do face, and how OSHA might have helped them over the years.

Cathy told the audience that by the early 1980s, more than 17,000 healthcare workers contracted hepatitis-B and about 300 died each year, a phenomena she said is often referred to as the "healthcare workers' disease." Cathy said that because of inadvertent needle sticks, healthcare workers were contracting hepatitis-B from contact with the needles and blood. "In the early 1980s I worked with a nurse who had been exposed to hepatitis-B through an accidental needle stick," said Cathy. "She died later that year."

Think about Cathy's story and multiply it by 300--that is a lot of healthcare workers killed on the job.

SEIU members led the charge in a five year-long campaign to achieve passage of the 1991 OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.

"Today," Cathy added, "as a direct result of our actions, hepatitis-B cases among healthcare workers plummeted by 97% and deaths are rare."

Cathy said that early in her career it was very rare for nurses to wear gloves. Gloves were only ever used for surgery and sterile dressing changes. Whereas patients used to be afraid if they saw their nurse wearing gloves, "now they are scared if they see us without them!"

"Back then the nurses carried needles on a tray or in a foam block, today needle boxes are in every room, if we have to use them at all. We now have safe needles and entire needle systems for our protection." Cathy stressed the fortunate and unusual relationship the union has with the Allegheny management. Their joint labor-management committee--Life Safety--sits down as equal partners to negotiate a number of issues. "My hospital does the right thing in being committed with the union to have a safe hospital," said Cathy.

As a side note: we learned that Allegheny's management was excited that Cathy was asked to be part of this panel. The hospital WANTED Cathy to share how both labor and management are working together to make a safe hospital for both its workers and its patients.

The CAP panelists were asked about some of the safety and health challenges that still remain in their workplace. Cathy mentioned safe patient handling, airborne infectious disease precautions, and then pointed out the need for standards around workplace violence. "Nurses are not just in hospitals. We are in prisons, mental institutions, nursing homes, and now, in the communities." She said that we need to work at creating standards that protect workers from violence on the job.

Cathy and the other panelists stressed that their union brings them a voice in the workplace The message we took away from this is that although we have challenges ahead of us, as we educate ourselves on the issues, we can push each day to make the needed changes happen.
 

SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW took Nurses Week to the airwaves!

 

In May of each year nurses around the country celebrate National Nurses Week. While we generally celebrate our profession and our accomplishments all year round, it is during this one week that the rest of the country focuses in on us as well. This year, SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW took the initiative to raise awareness to educate everyday folks about our staffing issues. To that end, the local produced a fantastic radio ad to get the word out.  Take a minute to read through this article--the link to the actual radio spot is included in the piece. 

 

We know that having the right number of nurses means better care for our patients. We don’t want our patients to have to wait for medicines or treatment, and we don’t want to have so many patients that mistakes are more likely to happen.

We’re celebrating nurse and healthcare worker week May 6-12 by raising awareness of the important work we do to keep patients safe. Our union contract means we have a voice at the table to improve staffing. 12,000 SEIU members are bargaining this spring to make patient care improvements, including proposals to enforce our staffing plans in our contracts with levels of nursing care that will keep patients safe. By standing together we’ve already made patient safety improvements with safe patient lifting equipment and safe needle protections.

Listen for the radio spots on Seattle radio stations that tell the public we’re the nurses and caregivers you count on, and we want to make sure there are enough nurses and caregivers for you. 

Play the radio spot.

SEIU Nurses Online in 2012

What should have made it to the Year in Review but didn't? Please do not hesitate in sending me 2011 accomplishments we need to share with everyone. Feel free to contact me with other stories, story ideas, pictures, videos -- and really anything else we need to get in the Roundup. And while I have the floor -- PLEASE Click here to share the Roundup so that we keep one another up to speed with what all we're up to. 

Interested in blogging for SEIU.org in the future? Please let me know. 
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Happy New Year! Onward!
We wish you all the best in 2012. Happy New Year!

After the signatures are turned in, the GAB will have 60 days to verify the signatures, though they have requested additional time. After it is verified that United Wisconsin did submit the 540,208 necessary names, parties will have six weeks to hold a primary, followed by an additional four weeks until a general election would take place.

Organizers will also turn in enough signatures targeting the Wisconsin Senate majority leader and three other GOP senators who rammed through the infamous anti-worker legislation last year.

* Continue to follow the recall at United Wisconsin and We Are Wisconsin.
* Read more coverage here.

Unemployed Washington, D.C. workers John Butler and Linda Evans, members of Our DC and Occupy Capitol Hill, told the crowd that they were organizing, protesting and pushing for our national leadership to create good jobs. Butler said it was hard having to decide between paying his rent or buying needed medicines. "America, you can do much better than this," he proclaimed.

In addition to organizing, Evans has spent her time teaching black history and theater to children. "We have to carry on this fight," she said.

At the same time, our leaders must act to make jobs a national priority, said Rev. Paul Sherry, national coordinator of Faith Advocates for Jobs. Congress has a short time to extend benefits for millions of unemployed workers.

Good jobs can be created; it's just a matter of will. We will walk the halls of Congress to demand that our representatives create good jobs so mothers and fathers can feed their children. We will walk the halls of Congress to demand that our leaders extend benefits to the unemployed.

An interfaith group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders led the crowd in a series litanies for worker justice, including those who are unemployed, underemployed and their families, for a faithful national budget, for victims of wage theft who are not paid what they are owed. Other litanies called for worker safety, an extension of unemployment benefits, more opportunities for young workers entering the workforce and for workers' rights to join a union to be respected.

Many people would be surprised to learn that access to jobs was a part of Dr. King's dream, said Rev. Dr. James Forbes in his sermon. He reminded the audience that the official title of the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech was "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom."

Any society, economic system or person who stifles a person's fulfillment by denying them work is "ungodly," said Forbes, the Harry Emerson Fosdick Distinguished Professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

I've been involved in my union for about 16 years. Recently, I got involved in the Occupy movement. I've been going to the General Assemblies, mostly on the weekends. Without having any official leadership, the Occupy movement allows everybody to have basically equal participation. It's very interesting.

I volunteered to be on the Occupy Outreach Committee because I could see that the Occupy protestors really wanted support from the labor unions and I basically helped coordinate between Occupy New Hampshire and our union, and did outreach to faith groups and other community groups.

"Listen, we're not looking at this as just us. We, union members, feel that everybody deserves healthcare, you know? Everybody deserves a decent retirement. We're not trying to steer all this towards just us, we're trying to spread the middle class out to include everybody. It's not like we want a bigger slice of the pie--we want a bigger pie!"

Given that we have the first presidential primary in the nation, it was a natural for us to Occupy the New Hampshire Primaries. I went to the demonstrations outside the Republican Presidential Debates last weekend, with some other members of our union, SEA. We went down there together mostly to get the voice of the individual heard, rather than that of the corporations. We were there to criticize the current campaign financing situation where corporations have a voice over that of the individuals. We were there to point out many of the top Republicans' -- especially Romney's -- attack on jobs.

But it wasn't really specific towards Romney cutting jobs or Huntsmen cutting jobs or Santorum's attack on social issues; it was more to say, "Your goals are not focused on solving the economic problems of the middle class - and they should be."

The top thing I'm happy to see with Occupy is how it gives younger people this ability to become involved in the process and become active in demonstrating their concerns. I've never seen so many young people demonstrating like this since the days of the protests against the Vietnam War. In addition to providing our youth with a cause, the Occupy movement dramatically expands and unites our base of allies, resulting in a stronger voice in our fight for the Middle Class.

Ken Roos is an Administrator with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services and is currently serving as the first Vice President of SEIU Local 1984, the State Employees Association of New Hampshire (SEA).

Watch video of Occupy New Hampshire supporters.

The following are Medina's remarks:

"I must say that I am absolutely amazed that, when it comes to Latinos, how culturally tone deaf, divisive and strategically challenged the Romney campaign is. He has unfairly used immigrants as campaign fodder in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

"While this is unworthy of a candidate who seeks to become the president of all of the people, this tactic also makes no sense.

"The issue of immigration, as continuously shown by opinion polls and exit polling is not a top priority for voters, with the exception of Latinos. It was not in Iowa or New Hampshire and it is not in Florida. What voters care about is jobs and the economy, not immigrant bashing.

"However, after watching his performance during the last week, Mr. Romney has proven that he is not only ignorant about the Latino community, he is 'un candidato de dos caras,' a two-faced candidate. He says one thing in English and another thing in Spanish, all in one day.

"On January 11, Mr. Romney's campaign aired its first Spanish ad in Florida called 'Nosotros.' It was an ad full of pictures of happy Latino families, workers and young people in graduation gowns. The ad features his son and three Cuban American members of Congress, and it assures Latinos that he believes in the values of liberty and opportunity; that everything is possible in the United States; and that 'he believes in us.' A very

"However, on the same day, in English, Mr. Romney issued a statement embracing the endorsement of anti-immigrant hate promoter Kris Kobach, stating that 'Kris has been a true leader in securing our borders; I am proud to earn his support and I look forward to working with him to support states like South Carolina and Arizona that are stepping forward to address this problem.' These are states that have enacted draconian anti-immigrant laws that have created a climate of fear, legalized racial profiling, and driven Latinos out of their homes. And these laws have been enjoined by the courts.

"Mr. Romney also has vowed that if elected president, he would veto the DREAM Act, a proposal that would create a legal pathway for smart, articulate and brave young people who grew up in the U.S. and are undocumented through no fault of their own.
"So this is a tale of the two Mitts - one who 'believes in us' and promises to create opportunities for Latinos, and the other who is proud to join with the father of SB 1070 to support states in persecuting immigrants and denying opportunity to young people.
"Apparently, Mitt believes that because he is speaking in English, Latinos will not catch on to his real agenda.

"Unfortunately for Mitt, Latinos do speak English and he is not going to get away with talking out of both sides of his mouth.

"Latinos are paying very close attention to what the candidates are saying to them and about them. We are tuned in and we will turn out in November.

"Mr. Romney and his consultants forget one of the cardinal rules of campaigning: If you are in a hole, stop digging. And right now, Romney is in a deep hole with Latinos, and unless he changes course, he is destined to join Tom Tancredo, Meg Whitman, Sharon Angle, Carly Fiorina and John McCain in te political elephants graveyard.

"Romney needs at least 40 percent of the Latino vote to win in November. As of today, I think he will be lucky to reach the low 20s.

"People are looking for candidates who will be straightforward, honest and consistent, regardless of the language they use to communicate their message.

"Mr. Romney is failing on all counts and while he is having his say now, Latinos will have the last word in November."

Tent tarps flapped against the wind and rain pellets bounced off wooden planks on the ground of a muddy National Mall. All the while, Edward Jude, a gray-bearded, African-American veteran, waited patiently to discuss his role in highlighting the nation's jobs emergency and its impact on African Americans. He came to Washington, D.C., with thousands of unemployed workers and activists to "Take Back the Capitol" and win economic justice for America's 99 percent.

Jude, however, discussed something even deeper in his radio interview. He connected the game-changing similarities between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s active support for the labor movement and today's fight to protect working families from extreme Republican lawmakers, Wall Street CEOs and millionaires who are determined to crush the dreams of hardworking families.

As we honor Dr. King's legacy this year, we must remember that working families deserve economic justice, including America's 13 million unemployed, the long-term unemployed and the 24 million people looking for work.

Dr. King's legacy of fighting for economic justice for all is just as relevant today as it was when he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech 49 years ago.

"People like us are losing our homes; sitting up with lights cut off in the cold; in the winter months--no heat. Something has got to change."

As Jude put it, the 1 percent is getting away with just about everything.

Since that interview, right-wing Republicans have continued to turn their backs on America's working families. They have refused to extend unemployment insurance benefits for 1.8 million Americans, pushing instead for repeal of the Affordable Care Act that already delivers better preventive care to more than 5 million Americans.

And right now these same Republican lawmakers are pushing for voter identification laws that disproportionately impact African-Americans, Latinos, college-age voters, the elderly and the poor - those who are most likely to vote for President Obama's re-election this fall.

This is not social or economic justice.

Dr. King embraced the labor movement and the fight for fair treatment, decent wages and dignity in the workplace. He attended countless labor gatherings, and often joined workers on the picket lines. When the 1199SEIU drive to organize New York City's voluntary hospitals began in 1962, Dr. King called New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and urged him to support collective bargaining legislation.

Working families, even some of our friends and neighbors, are in the fight for their lives. Now is the time we must unite to help move America forward by putting people back to work and building a better country for all. We cannot allow extremist Republicans in Congress to protect tax loopholes for the 1 percent, to make devastating cuts Medicare and Medicaid and to give free reign to Wall Street banks that wrecked our economy.

Edward Jude's reflections should remind all of us about the entwined relationship between the American labor movement and the civil rights movement--both are based on the basic principles of fair treatment, dignity and economic justice for all.

With so much at stake for America's working families in 2012, let's renew our commitments to standing up for the 99 percent of us who want to win back the American Dream.

I believe that had he lived today, Dr. King would have stood in the rain, with Edward Jude -- wrapped in an American flag and sitting under a tree -- to fight for workers the same way he did decades ago, for jobs, freedom and equality.

In collaboration with SEIU and other progressive partners, United for a Fair Economy released its "State of the Dream: Emerging Minority Report." The report measures the impacts of public policy on the "racial economic divide" since the Reagan Administration. It also offers a 30-year projection on social and economic indicators including income, wealth, poverty, health care, home ownership, education and incarceration.

Here are just some of the key findings and projections from the report:

• Income Disparities: Black and Latino median incomes will be 61 cents and 45 cents, respectively, for every dollar of median White income in 2042. Blacks will have gained only 4 cents while Latinos will have lost 15 cents of median income relative to Whites from 2010 to 2042.
• Poverty: In 2010, poverty rates among Blacks (25.7%) and Latinos (25.4%) were more than two and a half times the White poverty rate. By 2042, the Black and Latino poverty rates will remain 1.9 times and 2.6 times that of the White poverty rate.
• Jobs: The current unemployment rates stand at 7.5 percent for Whites, 15.8 percent for Blacks and 11 percent for Latinos. In 2042, Black and Latino unemployment will be 1.8 times and 1.5 times higher than White unemployment, respectively.
• Wealth: By 2042, Blacks and Latinos will both have lost ground in average wealth, holding only 19 cents and 25 cents for each dollar of White wealth. The average net worth of Black and Latino families in 2007 was 20 cents and 27 cents, respectively, for every dollar of White net worth.

This past year, we have witnessed some of the most devastating economic loses in a generation. Our families, our friends, and our neighbors are in the fight for their lives to find a good job, keep their homes, and pay bills.

Dr. King believed that all working families deserve economic justice. In observation of the Dr. King holiday--and in honoring his legacy throughout the year--we must remember this and continue fighting for the economic justice King envisioned for America's 13 million unemployed, the long- term unemployed, and the 24 million people looking for work today.

Click here for the full report.

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Even other Republicans describe him as having made his fortune "looting" companies, then firing workers in droves. So when Mitt Romney says he likes firing people, it sounds like he means it.

At a time when many of our friends and neighbors are out of work, you'd think anyone running for President of the United States would want to talk about hiring people rather than crushing the dreams of hardworking families.

Not Mitt Romney!

So ask yourselves: Do you want someone who brags about firing people to be your next president?

We don't.

And we're going to fight back. We're going to fight for job creation and for economic justice. Most of all, we're going to fight to make sure that politicians like him aren't given the chance to make decisions for us in the years to come.

Join us and sign up to be part of the solution: http://action.seiu.org/jobsnotromney.

Then spread the word far and wide by sharing this on Facebook and Twitter.

SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry and International Secretary-Treasurer Eliseo Medina praised Munoz's appointment.

"The president has made the perfect selection in Cecilia Munoz, a dedicated and brilliant public servant who knows the intricacies of the economic and social issues facing our nation, as well as what must happen in Congress and with policy leaders to solve them ," Henry said.

"As we advocate for the 99 percent of us who seek a strong middle class, we know that Cecilia Munoz's sense of fairness and justice will continue moving forward President Obama's vision of a country with good jobs now, no more cuts in critical services, where everyone pays their fair share, and there is a pathway to citizenship for immigrant workers," Henry added.

Munoz, a longtime civil rights advocate who was named a MacArthur Fellow for her work on civil rights and immigration, has been a critical player in the administration's efforts to bring common sense and justice to immigration policies in the absence of Congressional action on comprehensive immigration reform, Medina noted.

"Cecilia knows the complexity and ineffectiveness of our immigration system, and understands that our economy will greatly benefit from comprehensive immigration reform. In striving to find solutions, Cecilia begins by advocating for what is possible, rather than arguing why something cannot be done," Medina said. "She is a fighter."

"A native of Detroit and a daughter of Bolivian immigrants, Cecilia was brought up during the era of President Kennedy with a strong belief that public service should be highly valued. We congratulate her for achievements and for maintaining her commitment to public service in the Obama Administration," said Medina.

With 2.1 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy. http://www.seiu.org