Here's a photo from a great healthcare event that was held yesterday in Los Angeles:
Dr. Paul Song and his spouse, TV journalist Lisa Ling, pose with members of SEIU ULTCW and their families during the Healthy Works Fair + Film + Action in downtown Los Angeles on Labor Day.
With Labor Day just around the corner and only six days left of Congressional recess, Locals across the country are gearing up for a busy weekend. But, amidst the upcoming celebrations, SEIU members are still working hard for health care reform.
OHIO: SEIU nurse Barb Montgomery joined the Organizing for America Health Insurance Reform Now bus tour during its stop in Columbus, OH on Monday, where over 2,000 activists rallied and paid tribute to Senator Kennedy's legacy on health care reform. At the event, Montgomery shared both her own story and that of family members and friends, further illustrating why Americans need health insurance reform.
RHODE ISLAND: Rep. Jim Langevin joined doctors, nurses and health care workers at Rhode Island's Women and Infants Hospital (the only maternity hospital in the state!) as they signed scrubs with their message to Congress: we need health insurance for all Americans. The event was covered on a variety of blogs, including a great post on Rhode Island's Future.
MAINE: At an an event organized by SEIU Maine Change that Works, AFSCME, the Maine People's Alliance and Organizing for America, a passionate group of healthcare activists delivered more than 35,000 letters, postcards, emails, and online petitions from all over the state to urge Senator Olympia Snowe to stand up for quality, affordable healthcare for every man, woman and child. Senator Snowe was not the only one who heard our message--the front page of the Bangor Daily News the next day featured a front page story with pictures of our activists and the headline "Health care reform fans blitz Snowe with 35,000 messages." Read more.
FLORIDA: More than 1,200 people from across Florida gathered on Saturday to help jump-start the reform debate. "There's a Washington debate, but now people in Orlando can get involved," said SEIU Healthcare Florida president Monica Russo. Community members, people of faith, retirees, union members and healthcare workers arrived in buses and cars from Tallahassee, Tampa Bay, Miami, Broward County, Jacksonville and Palm Beach to pack a gym in downtown Orlando sending a message to Congress: healthcare reform can't wait! Central Florida's 7th, 8th, 24th congressional districts together have 403,000 people without health insurance. Watch video.
CALIFORNIA: In Los Angeles, SEIU United Long-Term Care Workers (ULTCW) has scheduled a free screening of Michael Moore's movie Sicko, followed by a panel discussion with health care professionals and special guests. After the event, attendees will also be able to engage in a variety of actions, like calling elected officials and taping their own personal health care story, in support of health care reform. More details here.
On Tuesday September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers marched from city hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first-ever Labor Day parade. Despite the threat of losing their jobs, participants took an unpaid day off to honor American workers and draw attention to grievances they had with employers.
And the list of grievances was long. During this time, the average American worked twelve hour days, seven days a week, just to make a basic living, with children as young as six toiling alongside adults.
As years passed, more states began to hold these parades, but Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later. A bloody strike by railway workers brought the issue of workers' rights to the public eye and provoked Congress to officially make the first Monday of September Labor Day.
Today, it's not uncommon to hear the phrase "Unions: The Folks Who Brought You the Weekend." And the saying is true: unions won the eight-hour day standard we all enjoy today. What many people don't realize is that workers and their unions had to fight for the eight-hour day for nearly 3/4 of a century (beginning in August 1866) before any national reform was enacted. The dream of an eight-hour work day finally became a reality in 1938, when the New Deal's Fair Labor Standards Act made it legally a full day of work throughout the United States.
The Struggle Continues
Although many Americans have now come to associate Labor Day as just a day off from work or the end of summer relaxation, it's important not to forget the sacrifices of our brothers and sisters, whose brave acts earned us the working rights we now possess. Unions have historically laid the groundwork for impressive grassroots campaigns to strengthen America's middle class and rebuild the economy in hard times. As we face the greatest recession since the Great Depression, unions continue to be at the heart of efforts to pass healthcare reform, restore economic balance and bring prosperity to all Americans.
This Labor Day, let's remind members of Congress just how many working families are still struggling to make ends meet under the strain of skyrocketing health care costs. Help send Congress back to DC with a mission to reform healthcare by joining us at send-off rallies across the country.
Events being held by SEIU and HCAN across the country on Labor Day, September 7th in Arkansas, Colorado, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Washington state are listed after the break.
MoveOn along with co-sponsors DFA, TrueMajority, Center for Community Change, Doctors for America, HCAN and the SEIU hosted over 350 candle light vigils last night to remind legislators that the country cannot wait for reform. Overwhelming the nation is in favor of reform and the local vigil I attended in Hollywood provided further evidence to support the campaign.
MoveOn along with co-sponsors DFA, TrueMajority, Center for Community Change, Doctors for America, HCAN and the SEIU hosted over 350 candle light vigils last night to remind legislators that the country cannot wait for reform. Overwhelming the nation is in favor of reform and the local vigil I attended in Los Angeles provided further evidence to support the campaign.
Arriving at the corner of Sepulveda and Santa Monica Boulevard, hundreds of pro-health insurance reform gathered outside Senator Dianne Feinstein's LA office. Attendees held home-made signs supporting the public option and sang folk mash-ups to support health reform. As the sun set, community members lit small candles. Speakers like Dr. Alice Chen, vice president of Doctors for America explained why physicians are in favor of fixing the system so as to better provide for their patients.
Across the street about 16 anti-reform protesters staged a counter demonstration. Their signs and chants belied an alternate agenda to say the least.
Before the evening concluded, several hundred people delivered a strong positive message to members of Congress, to make sure that they know an overwhelming majority of voters are counting on them to act quickly to pass heath insurance reform.
Deep in the heart of south Los Angeles, Rep. Maxine Waters hosted a health care town hall at Southwest College. The well-attended August 22 town hall was packed to the gills well before its scheduled start time of 1:00 p.m. and the primarily pro-health care reform crowd consisted of SEIU members, Organizing for America activists and other concerned citizens and organizers. A festive atmosphere met the town hall attendees as they gathered and signed pledge forms to support health care reform. Two orderly lines were formed by Rep. Waters Congressional staffers, and each person signed in before they entered the Southwest College Town Center for the meeting.
Congresswoman Waters invited a distinguished panel of health care professionals that included Dr. Yasser Aman, founder of the much lauded Uma Clinic in south LA. Rep. Waters went on to praise the Uma Clinic, calling it a "melting pot of health professionals" and making special recognition of Dr. Aman's quest to find podiatrists to tend to the needs of a community that is rampant with cases of Type 2 Diabetes.
The Congresswoman pointed out select folks in the audience who work in the medical field to make the quality of life better for residents in Congressional District 35--people like Dr. Releford, who started the Barbershop Network to facilitate the treating of African American men who are reluctant to go to the doctor by enabling them to be tested for diabetes and hypertension right from their barber's chair. Dr. Releford is also revered for saving patients suffering from diabetes the pain and suffering of having limbs amputated.
Rep. Waters expressed strong feelings in support of health reform during the town hall, saying:
"Health is not simply a privilege, it is a right."
And on single payer:
"We gave up on single payer but we're not giving up on public option."
Congresswoman Waters also had a special message for President Obama:
"We know that President Obama is a nice man, but there comes a time where you have to drop that and move forward. Mr. President: be tough, do everything that you have to do, and know that we have your back."
You can read more about the town hall in the LA Timeshere.
Video of the event had well over 400,000 views on YouTube. And despite the fact the video showed our staffer -- dressed in purple -- on the ground at the start of the clip, Glenn Beck and his tea-bagging friends launched daily attacks on SEIU claiming we perpetrated the violence.
It's time like this that we need immediate coordination, and being a part of our mobile alert list is a critical piece of our rapid response infrastructure.
As members of the U.S. House and Senate turn their sights from committee hearings and floor votes in D.C., to barbecues and luncheons back home, SEIU's Change That Works team is ready to ensure they don't forget the promises they made on the campaign trail to fix our broken healthcare system and support hardworking families.
At more than 400 events, from nurse and doctor town halls to large rallies, canvasses and phone banks--wherever members of Congress are, SEIU members will be there as well. From an ambulance tour in Miles City, Mont., to bake sales in North Dakota, we are letting them know that working families need affordable, quality healthcare this year and the Employee Free Choice Act, a check on corporate greed that would allow workers to bargain with their employers for better job security, wages and benefits.
Our message this recess is clear: there are consequences to not changing the status quo -- consequences for families, consequences for our economy and consequences for members of Congress.
Here are just a few highlights from the more than 400 events taking place during the congressional recess:
Colorado's "Rolling Rallies for Reform" will bring out activists and leaders across the state to highlight the need for healthcare reform in their communities, from Grand Junction to Durango to Glenwood Springs. Each rally will feature local leaders, small business owners, front-line caregivers and hardworking Americans sharing their personal healthcare stories.
Healthcare rally in Indianapolis Aug. 29.
Grassroots activists will participate in each of Senator Grassley's town hall forums in Iowa.
Emails will be sent to Louisiana's congressional delegation with a new personal story each day that underscores the need for quality, affordable healthcare reform.
Montana's Emergency Drive for Healthcare will highlight the need to pass healthcare reform with an ambulance tour across the state that will cover 21 sites in 15 days. The tour will rack up the miles in Miles City; attend a barbecue in Lame Deer; put on street theater in Missoula; and participate in the Relay for Life event in Libby--just to name a few stops.
Rally for change at the state capitol in Lincoln, Neb., on Aug. 19.
Bake Sales for Healthcare across North Dakota will take place July 29-31. During the first week of September, look out for "Losing Sleep Over Healthcare," where leaders and activists hold an evening rally followed by an all-night vigil for the reform needed by the millions of Americans who lose sleep every night over healthcare bills.
Since January 12, 2009, SEIU's Change That Works campaign has generated:
14,021 one-on-one meetings
3,827 letters to the editor
122,145 petition signatures
93,136 phone calls
99,814 letters to Members of Congress
With a staff of more than 400 on the ground in an ongoing 35-state campaign, these numbers continue to grow every day. Visit SEIU's Change That Works for ongoing updates.
As the governor and legislators continue to battle over the budget in California, leaders of SEIU Local 1000 have issued a strike authorization vote to the union's 95,000 members beginning today, July 20. SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week , declaring the union "will fight" his latest proposal to pile on a fourth furloughed work day for more than 230,000 state workers.
No end in sight: The Governor must've decided he was on a roll, because just days after issuing the latest pay cut threat, he ordered state department heads to eliminate 2,000 jobs on top of the 5,000 positions he wants to cut as part of his budget solution. "Governor, we've sacrificed. And we've now reached our limit," said Walker.
Strike ballots were mailed out to members on Saturday and SEIU spokesperson Doug Crooks told California Progress Report that he'd be "surprised if [the union] didn't get 80 percent approval." State workers have been without a contract for more than a month. The vote to authorize a strike will end on July 31, 2009.
HUGE news for home care workers and those they care for. In response to SEIU lawsuit, a U.S. District Court judge issued an injunction Thursday afternoon ordering the state of California to halt a proposed $2 cut in wages for the state's 400,000 home care workers.
The injunction has the effect of stopping pay cuts in all California counties that were planning on passing the state cut through to their home care workers.
The injunction, issued by federal judge Claudia Wilken, was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has 250,000 home care members in California. The lawsuit alleges the wage cut violates the federal Medicaid Law, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Rehabilitation Act.
"This ruling is bringing hope to hundreds of thousands of home care consumers and workers all across the state," said Mary Harms, a home care worker in Contra Costa County. "We had no choice but to ask the court to help us after the governor and legislature let everyone down and put so many people in danger."
The enjoined state budget cuts would have slashed homecare workers' wages to as low as $9.50 an hour. The wage cuts would have forced thousands of homecare providers to leave their employment to seek living-wage jobs, forcing frail seniors and people with disabilities to enter nursing homes or other residential institutions.
California State Legislator Sen. Mark Leno (CA), Member, Health Committee; Chair, Subcommittee on Health, Human Services, Labor and Veterans Affairs signed onto a letter along with 700 state legislator from every state to the President, HHS Secretary Sebelius and leaders of Congress, asking them to support key ingredients for real health care reform. Today, a delegation of legislators from around the nation will be on Capitol Hill to meet with the White House and deliver the letter.
State legislators are at the forefront of good health care reform with states like California spearheading low cost insurance for children and teenagers with the Healthy Families Program-- currently facing cuts due to the California state budget.
From the letter:
Key priorities for reform are reflected in recent state initiatives and public opinion polls which show that Americans want more choices and options for quality health care. Americans recognize that the private sector alone has proven incapable of creating a high-quality, fair, and accountable health care system that works for all families. Therefore, a key priority for reform is the choice of a public health insurance plan that is available to businesses, individuals, and families.
These are elected officials who have been legislating on health care reform for years, and have a keen understanding of how burdensome our broken health care system is for state budgets and for people's pocketbooks.
This past Saturday, Organizing for America asked that Americans around the country meet to discuss what they believe health care reform should look like. President Obama's organization put out a video that organizers could show their group and use to solicit support for reform and encourage participants to share their stories dealing with the broken health care system. Change that Works California is committed to working with OFA to support the President and make health care available to all Californians.
This past weekend, hundreds of meetings took place in California with thousands of participants around the state. I attended two OFA meetings in the Los Angeles area. On June 6, Mayor Abbe Land, Council member Lindsey Horvath and Deputy to the Mayor, Corri Planck held an OFA meeting at the West Hollywood City Hall. Approximately forty people were in attendance from in and around the city of West Hollywood. Participants watched the President's video; wrote their health care stories and talked about they wanted health reform to look like. Many community members stressed an emphasis on choice, echoing one of the three principals of health reform the President has stressed. Community members also wanted health care reform to encourage preventive treatment.
The second OFA meeting took place at Pasquale's Café in Los Angeles. About 25 folks squeezed into the café and dined on Pizza Michelle (created in honor of the First Lady by Chef Tonino) as they listened to several speakers, including Jack d'Annibale; Ronald Norby, Regional Director of the Veteran's Administration Desert Pacific Health Care Network and Mike Petrold, CA State Field Director for Organizing for America. Community members asked questions about the federal employees health plan and discussed their concerns about health reform. Health care stories were collected and the meeting concluded with a mini phone bank organized by Obama campaign workers from Nevada.
These kick-off meetings along with many others, are the precursors to the June 27 day of action-- check for listings of many of the OFA events around California on this site.
The goal of workers seeking to form a union is to sit at the table with the employer
and bargain an agreement on their wages, benefits, and working conditions. Gaining
union representation can be a long and arduous process for workers. Even when workers
are able to form a union, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) fails them because so many are denied the right to collectively bargain with their employer.
A recent study document that only 38% of new unions are able to negotiate a first contract within one year of NLRB certification and only 56% are able to achieve a contract after two years. That means that under the NLRA, 44% of new unions still don't have contracts two years after they are certified, and many newly-unionized workers never achieve a first contract.
We broke down what these delays mean for several states. Download the individual reports here.
In this new YouTube video, SEIU UHW member and upcoming leader Frank Valdez canvasses for the first time with mentor May Santiago in Fresno. "It's very important to take care of these folks at home, and that's why I'm here," says Frank, on why he's fighting alongside his fellow union members in support of Fresno home care workers.
Today, SEIU home healthcare members closed their 48-hour vigil with a press conference on the steps of the California statehouse to protest drastic budget cuts which would drive home care workers into poverty and force seniors and people with disabilities into more restrictive and costly institutional settings, as reported in the Los Angeles Times and La Opinion. "They're talking about limiting the services to the most frail, elderly, handicapped individuals in our state and in our county," SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina told CBS 47.
