Watch CNN's panel debate on H1N1 flu vaccines & health care workers

Oct 06, 2009 - Be sure to watch the Lou Dobbs Tonight show on CNN as SEIU's own Jemma-Marie Hanson, RN, a member of the Public Employees Federation of New York (an SEIU affiliate) will discuss flu vaccines and why voluntary programs work. Read more...

Appreciation for the workers who help your children make healthy food choices

Oct 06, 2009 - Two new "trends" are helping to make over school lunches in many schools across the nation--nutritional awareness and the local foods movement. As a kid, you don't make meal choices yourself and unfortunately, not all adults care to prepare healthy snacks and lunches for their children, or have the means necessary to do so. Thankfully, there are men and women out there who are encouraging your children to make healthy foods choices at lunch time: food service workers. Read more...

Speaker Pelosi speaks out against "domestic violence as a pre-existing condition"

Oct 06, 2009 - Earlier today, Speaker Pelosi spoke forcefully against the fact that in some states, insurance companies can actually deny coverage to victims of domestic violence on the grounds that they have a pre-existing condition. Will you join Speaker Pelosi in calling for an end of all "pre-existing conditions," including domestic violence, once and for all? Read more...

Potential home care cuts could be a humanitarian disaster

Oct 06, 2009 - SEIU members, disability, senior-citizen rights groups filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court Friday to stop 130,000 people from either being dropped or cut from California's In-Home Supportive Services program as of Nov. 1. Nearly one hundred thousand people would be part of the group only having 'some' of their services cut--which sounds almost positive compared to those that will lose all of their in-home care, right? Except when you consider the actual breakdown of these services to be lost... Read more...

Apple wants to fall far from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's tree

Oct 05, 2009 - Mac users out there are feeling very "green" right now, if word has reached them that Apple has become the newest company to join the hasty exodus from corporate front group U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The computer software company announced their exit from the corporate front group today over their differing climate change policies, joining Nike and an ever-growling list of companies who don't share out-of-touch viewpoints on lobbying on behalf of the interests of Wall Street instead of working people. Read more...

SEIU Local 1000 family among victims of Typhoon in Philippines

Oct 05, 2009 - On Saturday, September 26, Typhoon Ondoy struck the Philippines with the heaviest rainfall recorded, followed by the worst flooding in 40 years. "This has had a significant impact on the families of some of our members, including Ramon Alcantara, whose family has lost many of their possessions, and almost lost Ramon's son," says SEIU Local 1000 president Yvonne Walker in a message on the Local's website. Read more...

Taking Congressmen back to school

Oct 05, 2009 - Last week, we covered the many ways in which women are discriminated against in our current health care system. From not covering maternity care to calling domestic violence a pre-existing condition, insurance companies seem to have written the book on how to turn a buck at the expense of millions of women in America. Read more...

1199SEIU campaign results in elimination of "late-night" ER fees at five MA hospitals

Oct 05, 2009 - Until last week, patients being treated by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's physician group, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians (HMFP), were charged extra fees, simply for going to the emergency room after 10 p.m. But thanks to a public advocacy campaign launched by 1199SEIU, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and several other Massachusetts hospitals have ended the practice of charging "late-night" emergency room fees for care required after 10 p.m. Read more...

Snapshot of recent worker actions protesting Puerto Rican Governor's mass layoffs

Oct 03, 2009 - he temperature is rising fast in the labor climate in Puerto Rico as a result of the 16,970 public employees laid off by Governor Fortuño on one stroke last Friday. Several scenarios accounted for the increased tension yesterday between government and workers, both organized and unorganized, and leaders from SEIU-affiliated locals SPT (Local 1996) and UGT continued their peaceful protests across Puerto Rico. to demand a roll back of the layoffs. Read more...

VIDEO: Female Senators talk women's health care

Oct 02, 2009 - On Tuesday, four female Senators held a press conference to discuss the many issues women face in our broken health care system. Watch for yourself as these four passionate women discuss why women need reform so badly: Read more...

Victory: Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis to Resign after SEIU Campaign

Oct 01, 2009 - Yesterday, Americans were given one more reason to look forward to ringing in the New Year: Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis announced he will be be stepping down from the bank, effective Jan. 1, 2010. As a part of the Take Back the Economy coalition, SEIU and partners have been calling (loudly and persistently) for Lewis' ouster for several months. Read more...

Can you call your Senator?

Oct 01, 2009 - This week, the Senate Finance Committee has been debating health care reform and today it will debate a series of mean spirited amendments that require the government to discriminate against lawful immigrants, causing many of them to lose access to affordable health care. Read more...

Humana executive slams door on concerns of West Palm Beach Medicare recipients

Sep 30, 2009 - On Tuesday, members of SEIU Healthcare Florida joined senior citizens from the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans to try to speak to a local Humana executive at the West Palm Beach office of the insurance company. As the area seniors rallied to deliver a letter addressed to the local Humana executive and Humana CEO, they were instead greeted by the scampering of little feet, as the fearful insurance company executive hightailed it to his office in the wake of their arrival--practically slamming his office door in their faces. Read more...

Puerto Rican Governor sicks SWAT team and police brutality on laid-off workers holding peaceful protest

Sep 30, 2009 - On Tuesday in San Juan, peaceful demonstrators outside of the official estate of Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño were violently removed by SWAT team agents and arrested, despite assurances that they would leave peacefully and not resist arrest. Labor leaders and other demonstrators protesting the massive 16K+ firing of Puerto Rican state employees are shoved and billyclubbed by SWAT team ordered by Governor Fortuño. Read more...

Four Senators stand up for women's health care rights

Sep 30, 2009 - A few weeks ago, we wrote about research from the National Women's Law Center that uncovered the existence of domestic violence as a pre-existing condition in eight states and DC. We were horrified, as well many other bloggers and reporters. Apparently, so were at least four female Senators. Read more...

Turn off the Lights at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Sep 30, 2009 - The last one to leave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, please turn off the lights. The exodus from the corporate front group is taking place because of its extreme views on issues like climate change, health care reform, financial regulations, and labor law reform. We must use this opportunity to further isolate the U.S. Chamber as an out-of-touch outfit that only serves the interest of a handful of greedy CEOs. Sign the petition to your senators: listen to working people, not the greedy CEOs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Read more...

What yesterday's vote really means

Sep 30, 2009 - On Monday, the Senate Finance Committee voted down the public option amendments introduced by Senators Rockefeller and Schumer. Sen. Schumer's public option amendment picked up moderate Democratic votes by Sen. Carper (D-DE) and Sen. Nelson (D-FL)--both of whom received hundreds of phone calls from people across the country in support of a public option. Read more...

County Employees Rally for Better LA as Contract Clock Runs Out

Sep 30, 2009 - With contracts between LA County and its largest employee union set to expire at midnight on September 30, more than 2,000 LA County employees called on the Board of Supervisors to support an agreement that protects services in the economic downturn. Read more...

What's the Big Deal with the 2010 U.S. Census?

Sep 28, 2009 - With less than a week to go before the launch of SEIU's ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR! campaign for a full count of U.S. Latinos in the 2010 Census, we thought you might want to know why we think this is such a big deal. The U.S. Census, held every 10 years, is the single most powerful indicator of who we are as a nation. It not only dictates the story we tell about our demographic makeup-but it also determines the allocation of our federal purse string and the seats of our political power. Read more...

Update: Filling Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat, Banks, Protests for Corporate Reform, Employee Free Choice

Sep 28, 2009 - This past week, while much of D.C. has been focused on the healthcare mark-up (us included), we've also been tracking a few other stories that we wanted to bring to your attention. First--the encouraging news that Massachusetts will return to full representation and the Democrats in Congress to a cloture-proof majority. Also, don't miss two stories on SEIU's calls for financial reform and a questionable award choice from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Read more...

DREAM students hold over 120 "Back to School" events nationwide

Sep 26, 2009 - On Wednesday, thousands of immigrant students held over 120 events in 28 states to support legislation that would allow talented DREAM students who view this country as their own to attend college, serve their nation, and earn a path to U.S. citizenship. States with the most "Back to School" events included Illinois (7 actions statewide), Texas (11 actions), Florida (15 actions) and California (almost 30 actions). Read more...

Republicans defend seniors insurance company profits

Sep 25, 2009 - On Thursday, as the Republicans continued to wage war on reform by attempting to defend the status quo, they decided to turn their attention to Americans over 65. In an attempt to scare seniors (and pander to their buddies in the insurance industry), the Republicans rose to the "defense" of Medicare, claiming that 10 million senior citizens who have Medicare Advantage would see a loss in their extra benefits under the new bill. The other side's solution? The option of 'doing nothing'...which will lead to a projected bankruptcy of Medicare by 2019. Read more...

The U.S. Chamber's Puzzling Definition of "Corporate Citizenship"

Sep 24, 2009 - Each fall, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce awards member organizations with its "Corporate Citizenship Award" as a way of recognizing contributions to communities. Unfortunately for the U.S. Chamber, the award is blind to a multitude of misdeeds committed by honorees. Indeed, for two years running, the U.S. Chamber has selected companies rife with problems. Read more...

Rep. Joe "You Lie!" Wilson: New Face of Corporate Opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act

Sep 24, 2009 - South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson is really embracing his newfound stardom as Heckler-in-Chief. So what's Wilson's latest outburst? Slamming the Employee Free Choice Act to a corporate group fighting the bill. Read more...

How Poverty Jobs Are Created

Sep 23, 2009 - In this month's American Prospect, David Moberg writes an exposé on how government contracts are creating poverty-wage jobs. Through the story of New Jersey school cafeteria worker Ada Iglesias, Moberg personalized the connection between the federal dollars and a struggling family. Read more...

Around the country, local members are sick of big insurance

Sep 22, 2009 - In August, we took our message of health care reform to our elected officials during town halls all across the country, and they listened. But, now that they are back in Washington, they are again under the influence of the insurance industry, which is fighting hard to defeat real reform. Read more...

Washington Post Editorial: "School Lunch Punch"

Sep 21, 2009 - The Washington Post has published an excellent editorial piece on the Child Nutrition Act. In it, the newspaper's editorial board preaches the "wisdom of spending more money to provide healthier meals." Read more...

Last Days to Stop the Deportation of Jorge-Alonso Chehade

Sep 21, 2009 - Jorge-Alonso Chehade came to the U.S. from Peru as a child and is now facing deportation on Friday, Sept. 25. Alonso is the embodiment of the American Dream, but our broken immigration system has prevented him from continuing down his career path after graduation. Alonso has earned the chance to live and work here and call America home--and ICE needs to hear from us that he should be allowed to stay. Sign the petition here. Read more...

Big Insurance: 'Sick of It' Rally

Sep 20, 2009 - Along with MoveOn.org, we're organizing Big Insurance: Sick Of It rallies in front of health insurance company offices across the country. We'll hear stories of people who have suffered from our broken health insurance system, and we'll demand that the companies stop trying to kill the public health insurance option. Host your own 'Big Insurance: Sick of It' Rally or sign up for an event near you. Read more...

National Citizenship Day - Can you Pass the Test?

Sep 17, 2009 - In honor of National Citizenship Day and as part of the ya es hora !CIUDADANIA! (Citizenship: It's Time) campaign, SEIU Local 615 in Boston will join groups across the country this weekend to hold an all-day workshop to help eligible immigrants apply for U.S. citizenship. Read more...

Insurance Companies Consider C-section Birth "Pre-Existing Condition"

Sep 17, 2009 - Did you know that most insurance companies on the individual market consider pregnancy "optional"? The fetus is viewed as an uncovered "pre-existing condition," and therefore not something that's necessary for insurance companies to insure. Many insurers also consider a Cesarean section pregnancy a "pre-existing condition"--and refuse to provide health coverage for women who have had the procedure. Read more...

Part of insurance industry's money-making plan: Denying coverage to victims of spousal abuse

Sep 17, 2009 - If you're shaking your head at disbelief at the discovery that insurance companies can--and do--deny coverage to victims of spousal abuse by citing the abuse as a "pre-existing condition," you're not alone. On Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" last night, host Reagan and SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger discussed this outrageous practice "This is outrageous that women who are victims of domestic violence can't have health coverage," said Anna Burger on Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" last night. Tell members of Congress to step up and get this done--because no one should be denied health care coverage, least of all women who have already endured so much. Read more...

As UNITE HERE prepares to re-affiliate with AFL-CIO....

Workers United Members Call on New Leaders of AFL-CIO to Help End UNITE HERE Dispute

Sep 16, 2009 - As UNITE HERE prepares to re-affiliate with the AFL-CIO, members of Workers United, an SEIU affiliate, called on AFL-CIO incoming President Richard Trumka to help end the ongoing UNITE HERE dispute that is hurting workers from coast to coast. Read more...

Wall Street Reform Must Not Be Stalled or Stopped

Sep 15, 2009 - "When Lehman Brothers fell, they took not just the rest of Wall Street, but all of Main Street, down with them. Yet, one year later, the greedy CEOs who caused the collapse are unremorseful, unrepentant, and virtually unchanged," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, following President Obama's speech yesterday on the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. While the economy continues to recover, President Obama warned, "normalcy cannot lead to complacency." Read more...

Rep. Kucinich has opportunity to question insurance

Sep 15, 2009 - As the health care debate unfurled over the past few months, we've seen the great lengths that insurance companies will go to in order to ensure that their profit margins remain high. In some cases, these companies have gone so far as to deny coverage to victims of domestic violence by classifying their experience as a "pre-existing condition." As more of these practices come to light, members of Congress are sitting up and taking notice. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare 775NW bring reform to CIGNA's front yard

Sep 15, 2009 - How do you make the insurance companies sit up and take notice? They've shown that they clearly have no qualms ignoring outcries over their practice of raising premiums to levels few can afford, or denying coverage for a wide variety of "pre-existing conditions." Read more...

Anniversary Reminder: No Coercion in Majority Sign-up

Sep 15, 2009 - September 15th marks the second anniversary of New Hampshire's majority sign-up law, which allows public sector workers to form collective bargaining units by signing petitions rather than through an election process. Read more...

Crystal Lee Sutton, the real "Norma Rae," was a fighter to the end

Sep 14, 2009 - Our nation has lost a great hero and champion of working people. Crystal Lee Sutton was a courageous woman who stood up for herself and her coworkers under the most difficult circumstances. She was an inspiration to organizers in this union and beyond, particularly Southern women who went on to lead their own campaigns after learning from her example. It's well-known that Crystal's story was the inspiration for the academy award-winning 1979 film Norma Rae, but I wish more people knew the real story of Crystal Lee Sutton and her co-workers, and the strength and honor they showed as they fought to organize the textile giant JP Stevens. Read more...

Like Two Vitriolic Peas in a Pod: Glenn Beck and the US Chamber of Commerce

Sep 14, 2009 - Two of America's most favorite right-wing institutions will converge in East Lansing, Michigan at an event ironically titled the "Future Forum." FOX News' Glenn Beck and US Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue will both keynote an event hosted by the Michigan Chamber that is sure to tickle the free market fancies of those in attendance. Read more...

Thanking John Sweeney for his years of service to workers

Sep 14, 2009 - Today, SEIU President Andy Stern thanked outgoing AFL-CIO president John Sweeney for his 50+ years of service to working families, and congratulated his successor, Richard Trumka. Read more...

Watch LIVE: President Obama's speech on the financial crisis

Sep 14, 2009 - A year after the collapse at Lehman Brothers and the worldwide financial collapse, the President will speak from Wall Street's Federal Hall in New York about the government's role in moving the economy forward after the financial crisis that peaked one year ago, focusing on how to protect consumer's money by preventing another financial collapse. He is expected to speak on stricter regulations of the financial and banking industry. The livestream from the speech at Federal Hall begins at 12:10 p.m. ET and 9:10 a.m. PT. Read more...

Watch: Andy Stern on "Fox News Sunday"

Sep 11, 2009 - Andy Stern was featured on Fox News Sunday, where host Chris Wallace named him a Fox Power Player for SEIU's leading role in health insurance reform. Chris Wallace interviewed Stern at SEIU International Headquarters. Check out pictures and videos from Wallace's visit to SEIU. Read more...

Citizenship push gears up as National Citizenship Day approaches

Sep 11, 2009 - With less than a week before National Citizenship Day on September 17--ya es hora ¡Ciudadania! (Citizenship: It's Time!), national community partners and the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) announced that more than 25 citizenship events are being held across the country this month to help thousands of eligible immigrants apply for U.S. citizenship. Read more...

SEIU Local 721 Launches AccountableCalifornia.org

Sep 11, 2009 - SEIU Local 721 in southern California has launched a new website dedicated to exposing waste in government spending and improving the delivery of public services. The site is a part of the local's new Center for Public Accountability project, which also promotes protections for whistleblowers. Read more...

Stop the lies: Set the record straight on immigrant access to healthcare

Sep 10, 2009 - Last night, during President Obama's speech, one Republican Congressman tried to turn a Joint Session of Congress into an August town hall meeting by calling the President a liar [Rep. Joe Wilson: "You Lie!"] Just like immigration reform, some Republicans will stop at nothing to poison the debate on health care. Read more...

Labor Day 2009, SEIU Local style

Sep 10, 2009 - Here's a compilation of a few of the many events and rallies SEIU members attended in Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan, Montana and California this Labor Day to show their support for health reform and honor American workers. Read more...

Senate study blasts furloughs 'penny saved, a dollar lost'

Sep 10, 2009 - A new study by the California state Senate says that furloughs are "costing the state money and further hurting the economy" and Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg called for immediate passage of the SEIU Local 1000 contract contract bill, AB 88. Read more...

US Chamber of Commerce at the Root of Financial Crisis

Sep 09, 2009 - As Americans continue to face furloughs, layoffs, and dwindling savings, as millions find themselves unable to afford the homes that banks enticed them to buy with tricky mortgages, and as states and cities cut services as a result of declining tax revenue, CEOs and the US Chamber of Commerce remain unrepentant, unremorseful, and if they get their way, unregulated. Read more...

Massachusetts health workers urge legislative action to allow interim Senate appointment

Sep 09, 2009 - Amidst national dialogue on healthcare reform, healthcare workers from 1199SEIU sent a letter today to all Massachusetts legislators to honor the request of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy to allow an interim appointment by the Governor to fill his seat in the U.S. Senate. The letter stresses that MA "must have two voices and two votes" in upcoming Congressional debates and is signed by 1199SEIU Executive VP Mike Fadel and Political Director Tim Foley on behalf of the 34,000 Massachusetts members of 1199SEIU. Read more...

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Reinvigorates Ad Campaign to Stomp out Consumer Protections

Sep 08, 2009 - As Congress returns from recess and gets back to work to pass legislation to bring access to quality, affordable healthcare to everyone, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is wasting no time working hard to hang onto the same reckless business practices that got us in this hot financial mess in the first place. The Chamber is launching a new $2 million ad campaign attacking the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Read more...

Forward this Message

Sep 08, 2009 - This week we're stepping up the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act. Hundreds of people will meet with their Members of Congress, and we'll make thousands of calls to their offices to show the broad public support for the Employee Free Choice Act. But we need to bring in more people to help support out efforts. Read more...

MEDIA ADVISORY for September 10th: Nearly 300 Progressives Descend on Washington to Lobby for Employee Free Choice Act

Sep 08, 2009 - On Thursday, September 10, a coalition of nearly 300 progressives from 15 states across the country will travel to Washington this week to lobby for major labor law reform. Read more...

Share your Labor Day photos and video

Sep 08, 2009 - One hundred and twenty-seven years after the first Labor Day parade, we still take a day to honor America's workers. Did you attend a Labor Day celebration, march or rally with SEIU members or any of our coalition partners? We want to know! Use this form to upload your photos, audio and video capturing your Labor Day experience. Read more...

This Labor Day, Pledge to Bring Affordable Healthcare to Working Families

Sep 04, 2009 - This Labor Day, nothing is more critical to working families than seeing real progress on healthcare reform. Click here for a listing of events being held on Labor Day, Monday, September 7th. No one knows better than working families and healthcare providers the mounting cost of inaction--and the stakes just keep getting higher. Read more...

The week in review: Local's actions on health care

Sep 04, 2009 - 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 Labor Day celebrations, SEIU members are still working hard for health care reform. Check out recent actions in Ohio, Maine, Rhode Island, Florida and California. Read more...

SEIU 1021 to Senator Feinstein: Have a Heart for Health Care Reform

Sep 04, 2009 - Over 200 members of SEIU Local 1021 paid California Senator Dianne Feinstein a personal house call on Monday. While their message was strong--demanding that the Senator stand up and support real health care reform--they also came carrying hearts and roses to show their support for the Senator. Read more...

Honoring the Worker: What are you doing this Labor Day?

Sep 04, 2009 - On Labor Day, it's important not to forget the sacrifices of our brothers and sisters whose brave acts earned us the working rights we now possess. As Congressional recess comes to close, 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. Join events being held by SEIU and HCAN across the country on Monday, September 7th. Read more...

Happy Labor Day! Employee Free Choice Recess Round-up

Sep 03, 2009 - With Labor Day right around the corner, we wanted to catch you up on what SEIU and our allies have been up to over the last few weeks. From opposition groups confusing their Congressmen to new studies and reports from the states, keep reading for a full recess round-up on Employee Free Choice Read more...

Video: Healthcare workers send their message to Congress

Sep 03, 2009 - Doctors, nurses and other health care workers provide comfort and care to some of the sickest Americans, rarely able to leave their posts for any period of time because lives are at stake. As a result, their voices have been largely absent from the debate around health care reform. But, through the Scrubs campaign "Every Patient Matters," healthcare workers around the country have been able to send their message to Congress. Read more...

Vote Now: Greatest Hits of the August Recess

Sep 03, 2009 - Last month, members of Congress returned to their home districts to discuss health care reform with their constituents. Unfortunately, many of them were met by individuals intent of finding out why they supported socialized medicine, wanted to "pull the plug on grandma," and believed that we should ration care. Several members of Congress rose to the occasion, debunked the lies and ran their town hall meetings in a calm and collected manner. Check out some of our greatest healthcare town hall hits and then vote for your favorite. Read more...

US Chamber's Death-By-Waiting Strategy on Health Care

Sep 02, 2009 - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a clear strategy in the fight for heath care reform: delay, delay, delay. In a new ad released this week, the U.S. Chamber showed its true colors with the improbable claim that health insurance reform is moving "too fast." Read more...

"Scrubbing in" around the country

Sep 02, 2009 - During a town hall meeting on Monday, Senator Harry Reid showed his support for health care for all Americans by donning a scrub top from the Scrubs project. SEIU District 1199 also got in on the Scrubs action when the OFA bus tour rolled into Columbus, OH, as did medical students a Brown University in Providence, RI, who also joined the Scrubs campaign by writing their stories on scrub tops as well. Read more...

New Report: Young Workers Fall Behind, Blame Wall Street for Economy

Sep 02, 2009 - A new report from the AFL-CIO shows some stunning statistics about young workers. Read more...

San Francisco Home Care Workers Describe Lies, Coercion, and Fraud in Union Signature Drive

Sep 02, 2009 - San Francisco home care workers called for a hand-examination of each signed card submitted by Sal Rosselli and other ousted union officials seeking to decertify SEIU-UHW, saying they had been subjected to lies, coercion, and fraud. Read more...

Judge tentatively rules that state fund furloughs for 6,000 California workers are illegal

Sep 02, 2009 - Yesterday, a Superior Court judge issued a tentative ruling that State Compensation Insurance Fund employees are exempt from Governor Schwarzenegger's furloughs. The lawsuit affects over 6,000 clerical and professional SEIU Local 1000 workers who work for the fund, which provides worker's compensation insurance to employers. Read more...

Ad Campaign Explains "Eight Ways Reform Matters to You"

Aug 31, 2009 - The ad, "Eight Ways Reform Matters to You" is the second in a series supported by the American Medical Association (AMA), FamiliesUSA, the Federation of American Hospitals, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the SEIU. Read more...

Local 1199SEIU and 615 Members Remember Senator Kennedy

Aug 31, 2009 - Throughout his storied career, Sen. Kennedy stood with members of SEIU to fight for dignity and respect for working people everywhere. The Senator could always be counted on to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with 1199SEIU members in Massachusetts. As a testament to this, stories continue to pour in on the work the Senator championed alongside our members. Read more...

Google Map: Snapshot of Healthcare Events Across the Country

Aug 31, 2009 - Check out our Google Map snapshot of healthcare campaign events held all across the U.S. these past couple of months. Read more...

Video: Nurses Reflect on Senator Kennedy's Legacy

Aug 28, 2009 - On Wednesday, as the nation mourned the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy, nurses from Local 1199 at Prince George's Hospital Center in Maryland took a moment out of their day to reflect on the Senator's legacy. The PGHC nurses expressed both their sadness over the Senator's death, but also the need to carry on his dream and renew our efforts in fighting for what Kennedy called the "cause of my life": healthcare reform. Read more...

Senator Grassley on Healthcare: A Study in Contradiction

Aug 28, 2009 - Iowa's senior senator Charles Grassley is rapidly becoming the Republican Party's chief obstructionist in the health care debate. The ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee is going on the offensive against President Obama and members of Congress who support comprehensive reform. In a conference call Tuesday, Senator Grassley told Iowa reporters, "I don't think it's going to be possible to work it out with the administration because they're all over the field - all over the ball park." Read more...

SEIU Locals & Change That Works in action on healthcare

Aug 27, 2009 - SEIU members around the country have spent the month of August meeting with their members of Congress and engaging in meaningful conversation about healthcare reform. Read about reform events held in Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Viriginia and Washington in just the last week. Read more...

Video of Senator Kennedy: "We are a Nation of Immigrants"

Aug 27, 2009 - For over 40 years, Senator Ted Kennedy was a tireless advocate and voice for immigrant rights. On April 10, 2006, Sen. Ted Kennedy joined 200,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C for a rally supporting his plan for comprehensive immigration reform. Watch his speech to the crowd of 200,000 rally-goers here. Read more...

Rep. Moran Brings Dr. Dean to Dispel Health Reform Myths

Aug 27, 2009 - Earlier this week, Congressman Jim Moran hosted a town hall at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA with special guest, Dr. Howard Dean. The contentious town hall was a big target but Change that Works Virginia and pro-health care activists outnumbered the opposition by 2,000 persons! Volunteers and Change that Works team members filled the pro-health care question box that Rep. Moran had designated but unfortunately 85% of the questions were from the anti-reform box. Read more...

Signing Scrubs to Support Reform

Aug 26, 2009 - This weekend, Iowa saw a different kind of town hall forum. At the Macbride hall, on the University of Iowa campus, dozens of signed scrubs were displayed with messages of support for health insurance reform--and painful stories of hardship because of our current health care system. Signed by health care providers from the various University of Iowa hospitals and clinics, these messages are from people on the front lines: people who deal with sick patients and their families every day. Patients who, under our current system, do not get better, but worse. Read more...

Activist Speaks About Change that Works on Wake Up AMerica Radio Show

Aug 26, 2009 - Activist Judy Stadtman Tucker took to the radio waves this week to talk about her work with Change that Works, Health Care for America Now, and Organizing for America for the cause of health insurance reform for the radio show 'Wake Up AMerica.' Read more...

Making Kennedy's Vision for America a Reality

Aug 26, 2009 - For five decades, Senator Kennedy stood with working families to fight for our shared vision of America where every family has access to affordable healthcare, every worker has a paycheck that supports a family, and every child is guaranteed a brighter future. Let's continue to make Kennedy's vision for America a reality by taking action this year to pass healthcare reform. Read more...

Video: Danny Glover supports workers as Bemis strike continues

Aug 25, 2009 - Workers United members of Local 1426 in Terre Haute, Indiana recently rejected a contract offer by their employer and voted to continue to strike. Earlier this month, actor and activist Danny Glover traveled to Terre Haute to show his support for the workers who make the flexible food packaging you see on your grocery store's shelves. Read more...

Congresswoman Maxine Waters Speaks Truth To Power

Aug 25, 2009 - Deep in the heart of south Los Angeles, Rep. Maxine Waters hosted a health care town hall at Southwest College. The well-attended town hall was packed to the gills well before its scheduled start time of 1 PM 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 in the warm breeze 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. Read more...

SEIU Locals 615 & 1199 Partner to Sign Scrubs

Aug 25, 2009 - Since the launch of "Every Patient Matters" campaign with the Partnership for Quality Care last week, numerous SEIU Locals with members working in health care facilities have already held scrub signing actions at health care facilities their members work at. Yesterday at Whidden Hospital, SEIU Local 615 and Local 1199 teamed up to sign scrubs. Read more...

SEIU's Andy Stern Named in Top Ten Most Powerful People in Healthcare

Aug 24, 2009 - SEIU President Andy Stern has been named in the top ten of Modern Healthcare's ranking of the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare, released today. It's an honor to make Modern Healthcare's listing of the 'Top 100' most influential "movers and shakers in healthcare"--and this year marks the fifth year in a row Stern has been named in the annual rankings. Read more...

President Obama commits to public option during national healthcare forum

Aug 24, 2009 - "I continue to support a public option; I think it is important," said President Obama during last week's national healthcare forum, which was viewed online by thousands of SEIU members and millions of concerned Americans from across the country. He described the public option as setting a benchmark for private insurers, who would then respond by shaping their own plans to be competitive. Read more...

Every Patient Matters: Will You Share Your Story?

Aug 24, 2009 - SEIU, as part of the Partnership for Quality Care, is sending surgical scrubs to nurses and health care workers across the country. Read more...

Health insurance premiums have increased 119% over the last decade

Aug 21, 2009 - With health spending projected to double if we don't enact real reform, middle and lower income families are at high risk of losing their health coverage--or facing an impending future of stagnant incomes. A new report by Commonwealth Fund determined health care rates could jump 94% in the coming decade if cost growth continues on its current course. Read more...

Update on Herta: Thank You and Next Steps

Aug 21, 2009 - I'm Herta Llushlo, and thank you - for all of the calls made and all the letters written to DHS and ICE on my behalf, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also want to give you an update on next steps. Read more...

Economy Causing More Kids to Enroll in School Meal Plans

Aug 21, 2009 - Record job losses and high unemployment will "push thousands more children into poverty," many for the first time. The change could amount to a record number of children in the United States that will rely on free and reduced-price meals at school. Read more...

140,000 people of faith attend healthcare call with President Obama

Aug 21, 2009 - With sponsorship by more than thirty religious denominations and organizations, an estimated 140,000 people of faith from across the country joined President Obama's healthcare call on Wednesday and committed to press Congress to finish work on health care reform when they return after Labor Day Recess. Read more...

Reminder: No coercion in majority sign-up

Aug 20, 2009 - EPI posted a recent study that shows literally no coercion in majority sign-up. You can read the survey here, but the graph says it all. So when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce tries its scare tactics, remember: it's corporations that coerce and intimidate workers who want to join unions. Anything else is just simply not true. Read more...

We Don't Need Fear, We Need Solutions

Aug 20, 2009 - Nebraskans: Let's stand up on August 25 and show that we're not afraid of change; that we're not afraid to guarantee a gentler world for our grandchildren, one that's free from the threat of devastating health costs. Read more...

Foundation Laid for Needed Immigration Reform

Aug 20, 2009 - Yesterday, joined by other labor, advocacy, faith and business leaders, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina met with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to lay the groundwork on immigration reform. Read more...

Massachusetts Mental Health Workers Vote to Join SEIU Local 509

Aug 19, 2009 - Mental health care workers at the Brien Center in western Massachusetts voted overwhelmingly on August 18 to unite together in SEIU Local 509. The local will now represent 350 workers throughout Berkshire County who provide outpatient services to 9,000 people with mental health challenges, including substance abuse and sexual abuse. Read more...

Final Push for Herta

Aug 19, 2009 - At this point, The Department of Homeland Security and ICE, have still not made a decision on Herta's application for deferred action. Today Herta will present herself to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Detroit - where she will learn if she stays or if she will be deported. Secretary Janet Napolitano, Assistant Secretary for ICE John Morton, and ICE field officer Vincent Clausen need to hear from you - right now. Read more...

Robin Holland: My Brain Tumor Won't Wait for Reform

Aug 18, 2009 - Robin Holland's story is sadly, not unusual. Diagnosed with brain cancer after a car accident in 1993, Robin had no health insurance at the time. She waited for 5 weeks, wrapped in bandages, while her doctor decided whether he would operate on her for free, and while she waited to be approved for Medicaid. Read more...

Herta's Bags Are Packed

Aug 18, 2009 - Tomorrow, 19 year-old Herta Llushlo will be removed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from the only place she knows as home and deported to Albania - her bags are already packed. You can make sure that doesn't happen. Can you write Secretary Napolitano in support of Herta Llushlo? Help renew the promise of the American Dream for Herta, so that together we can work renew the promise of the American Dream for everyone. Read more...

Howard Dean, SEIU on the doors in PA

Aug 17, 2009 - The fight for health care is hotter than ever. With myths and lies entering the public conversation, it's time to bring in the big guns. Enter Howard Dean. In Aliquippa, PA this Saturday, Howard Dean and SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger joined with SEIU Healthcare PA to kick off a canvass for healthcare reform. Read more...

Be the first to know...Sign-up for mobile alerts from SEIU

Aug 17, 2009 - When our members require support at the workplace, the state capitol, or in the streets, we need immediate coordination--and being a part of our mobile alert list is a critical piece of our rapid response infrastructure. Text 'SEIU' to 787753 (PURPLE) right now, or sign-up online for SEIU's new mobile alerts program: http://action.seiu.org/seiumobile Read more...

Judy Lanza, RN, Speaks out for Health Care Reform

Aug 17, 2009 - Judy Lanza, a labor and delivery nurse for 25 years, knows firsthand the damage that our current health care system has caused. Our system is so broken that even pregnant women are not guaranteed quality, affordable health care. Read more...

Grist Magazine: Let's (Re)do School Lunch

Aug 17, 2009 - Published today in Grist is a fantastic commentary by Kurt Michael Friese, a chef in Iowa City and a member of the board of directors for an organization called Slow Food USA. His article discusses how, in the last 50-75 years, we've moved from an "understanding of foods, of cooking, and of the pleasures of the kitchen" and replaced it with "the language of the drive-thru, the shopping mall, and the convenience store." Read more...

Dr. L. Toni Lewis discusses town hall violence on MSNBC's "The Ed Show"

Aug 14, 2009 - Last week, Democratic Rep. Russ Carnahan's health care town hall in St. Louis, Missouri turned violent after conservative right-wing protesters clashed with pro-reform union workers. On MSNBC's "The Ed Show," Dr. L Toni Lewis, President of the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), discusses SEIU's ongoing efforts to keep the focus of town halls on the need for health care reform. Read more...

Death Panels? Cut Through the Lies About Health Care Reform

Aug 13, 2009 - There's been a lot of info flying around about health care reform from a lot of different sources. It's gotten so ridiculous, some people are even claiming that the President wants to create 'death panels' that would decide whether sick or elderly Americans live or die. Here's the truth about death panels: they're completely made-up. Read more...

As big banks' bonuses continue to flourish, consumer protections reform hangs in the balance

Aug 13, 2009 - USA Today dishes out a scathing critique of Wall Street's continued practice of paying out big figure bonuses to the architects of our economic collapse. Read more...

New Coalition Campaign, Ads to Debunk Anti-Reform Myths

Aug 13, 2009 - To help debunk the misinformation being spread about what health care reform actually means for Americans, a new coalition called Americans for Stable Quality Care--which includes the SEIU, American Medical Association (AMA), PhRMA, the Federation of American Hospitals and FamiliesUSA--will launch their first ad today as part of an August recess campaign for health care reform. Read more...

Caregivers to Congress: Every Patient Matters

Aug 12, 2009 - Nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers across the country have launched the Every Patient Matters campaign with the Partnership for Quality Care to ensure the voices of frontline caregivers and the stories of their patients are heard in the debate over healthcare reform. As part of the campaign, providers are partnering with their hospitals and healthcare facilities to sign surgical scrubs with stories and messages about why healthcare reform is needed. Read more...

A Lesson in Free Speech and the Law for Corporations

Aug 12, 2009 - This week we criticized a NAM adviser who defended corporate lawlessness on the pages of the Wall Street Journal. The adviser found virtually no fault with intimidating threats, and complained that corporations wouldn't be able to stop employees from joining unions without punishment. NAM responded to our criticism, raising the false specter of corporations "who express their opinions [being] punished for that expression." Read more...

Keeping town halls focused on healthcare reform details

Aug 11, 2009 - CIR/SEIU Healthcare President Dr. L Toni Lewis is live on the Ed Show on MSNBC to discuss the ongoing healthcare town halls--and why SEIU members are pledging to keep the focus on the need for reform. Read more...

The Daily Show Takes on Teabaggers (Video)

Aug 11, 2009 - Leave it to John Stewart to bring a little clarity on the opponents of health care reform. Read more...

Why is the Chamber outsourcing American jobs?

Aug 11, 2009 - Last week, SEIU President Andy Stern called on U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue to explain why his organization supports outsourcing of American jobs. "It's unconscionable that, at a time when most Americans are consumed with fear of losing their jobs, their healthcare and their homes, the nation's top advocate for corporate lobbyists is actively working to make those fears become reality," said Stern. Read more...

The Vanguard of an American Clean Energy Revolution

Aug 10, 2009 - The benefits of green buildings cannot be overstated--and one of the most cost-effective ways to "green" a building is to ensure that it has a knowledgeable and well-trained workforce. SEIU 32BJ's Training Fund has developed the first-ever Green Buildings Initiative to train building superintendents in the latest, state-of-the-art, best practices in energy efficiency. Read more...

Shock: Corporate Advocates Who Break the Law Don't Want to Be Punished

Aug 10, 2009 - Corporate groups are expanding their attack on working people and the Employee Free Choice Act. The latest volley? Defending the status quo of ineffective penalties for when corporations break the law. Yeah, they went there. In a WSJ editorial, NAM adviser John Irving advocates for the current toothless system that allows corporations to get off scot-free when they break the law. Read more...

Stop the violence at health care town halls

Aug 07, 2009 - Last night in St. Louis, Missouri, a reverend and staff member of SEIU was assaulted at a town hall. The incident, along with a town hall in Tampa, Florida, has been all over the radio and cable news shows. GOP operatives are rushing to paint it as SEIU "thug" violence. That couldn't be further from the truth. Read more...

Change that Works Spreads the Message for urgent healthcare reform

Aug 07, 2009 - SEIU members and activists continue to stand tall to ensure healthcare reform happens this year. As members of the U.S. House and Senate turn their sights from committee hearings and floor votes to barbecues and luncheons back home, SEIU's Change That Works team is planning hundreds of events to ensure elected leaders don't forget the promises they made on the campaign trail. Read more...

Your Guide to Corporate Astroturfing: Lobbyist-Run Groups Orchestrating...

Aug 07, 2009 - For several days now, radical-fringe right-wing opponents bent on blocking any reform legislation have disrupted town hall meetings conducted by members of Congress. Conservative lobbyist-run groups FreedomWorks, Conservatives for Patients' Rights, Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and Americans for Tax Reform are leading the way orchestrating these town hall mobs. Read more...

New Hampshire Tea Partiers Keep it Classy

Aug 05, 2009 - Attacking a staffer? Harassing a pregnant woman? All in a day's work for the opposition to health care reform. Hey Tea Party, it's called activism, not intimidation. As we say on the internets, "Ure doing it wrong." Read more...

Local Paper: "Lunch Ladies Go To D.C."

Aug 05, 2009 - The SouthtownStar, a local newspaper in Chicago, has an excellent article about our "lobby day" from a few weeks back, where we told our members of Congress that an improved Child Nutrition Act is needed to ensure that millions of children get the type of food that they need. Read more...

CA State Budget: Kindergarten Cop turns on kids

Aug 05, 2009 - Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the state budget into law last week, but not before chopping another half billion dollars from services for women, children, the sick and the elderly - services that just days before he'd agreed not to cut any further. Read more...

Bank of America's One Percent Solution

Aug 05, 2009 - On Monday, the SEC slapped Bank of America with a $33 million fine for misleading investors on plans to award multi-billion dollar bonuses to Merrill Lynch executives during BofA's purchase of the failed bank. Read more...

Wall Street: Contracts for Me, Not for Thee

Aug 05, 2009 - Citigroup - recipient of $45 billion in bailout funds - apparently isn't feeling the economic crunch. In fact, it's considering paying a $100 million bonus to one of its employees, protesting that it can't tear up a contract. Tell that to California state employees. SEIU's Stephen Lerner compares the two vastly different situations in a segment on CNBC. Read more...

Own a piece of the movement

Aug 04, 2009 - SEIU has partnered with Florida-based artist Derek Gores to create an original piece of art for those closest to the movement to fix health care. Using words, photographs, and symbols of our movement as inspiration, Mr. Gores has captured this unique moment in our nation's history. Read more...

Unrestricted Executive Compensation Exists in Wall Street's "Bizarro World"

Aug 04, 2009 - Late Friday afternoon, SEIU's Stephen Lerner debated the new executive compensation regulations approved by the House of Representatives on CNBC. Lerner argued that the insatiable desire for limitless pay and bonuses amounted to a Wall Street "Bizarro World." Read more...

Childhood Obesity Rates Triple

Aug 04, 2009 - Childhood obesity rates in the United States have tripled,according to a new study by the Academic Pediatrics journal. Using data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Survey, researchers looked at 12,384 children aged from 2 to 19 years, and were able to conclude that found that 3.8 percent of the children within the sample meet the criteria for "severe obesity." Read more...

95,000 CA state workers vote to strike if necessary

Aug 04, 2009 - By a 74 percent margin, SEIU Local 1000 state workers in California voted to step up pressure on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to ensure that the contract signed with the governor's representatives this past February is ratified. Read more...

Hundreds of workers striking Bemis Plant for being treated like lab rats

Aug 03, 2009 - More than 700 Local 1426 workers of Workers United in Indiana continue to be on strike against Bemis for its proposal to subject workers to invasive medical testing to keep their health insurance coverage. Read more...

Women Stand Up for the Employee Free Choice Act

Aug 03, 2009 - Following the announcement last month from over a dozen national women's organizations in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, women across the country are standing up for the legislation. Women want to see our labor laws updated so that workers can freely and fairly form their own organization and their rights are protected. Read more...

The Penthouse View vs. Main Street Reality

Jul 31, 2009 - Congress took a step towards cracking down on corporate and big bank CEO pay today, as the House passed the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009 by a 237-to-185 vote. The House passage of the bill is an important step to correct the enormous disparity between those at the top and regular working Americans, but much more needs to be done to help Main Street recover. Read more...

Republican Misinformation about Health Care

Jul 31, 2009 - As the House leaves for August recess, the Republican party is pulling out all stops as they misinform the public about the true cost of health care reform. With H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act--which should be exempt from the usual political machinations-- the health and welfare of Hoosiers and folks throughout the country is at stake. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana continues to spread false information about the cost of the bill. In an interview on MSNBC, Rep. Pence incorrectly states that the health reform bill would result in one trillion dollars in new taxes. Even the news anchor knows something is wrong with Pence's calculations. Read more...

Educating on the Employee Free Choice Act

Jul 31, 2009 - Paul Begala has an incredibly powerful and persuasive op-ed in Politicotoday making the case for the Employee Free Choice Act. After introducing nightmare hypothetical scenarios of workers getting fired for trying to organize, Begala pulls back the curtain and reveals the stories are about real workers who were fighting for better jobs. Read more...

Bank of America to Close 10% of its Branches?

Jul 31, 2009 - If reports that BofA intends to close 10% of the bank's branches are true, that means the jobs of up to 5,000 bank employees at hundreds of BofA branches are at risk. If you are a BofA employee, we need you to add your initials to our letter to Ken Lewis. Read more...

Lifestyles of the Rich and Bailed Out

Jul 30, 2009 - It appears that big bonuses are back on Wall Street....er rather, maybe they never really left. The WSJ reported last week that "Executives and other highly compensated employees now receive more than one-third of all pay in the US." Which begs the question: Are wealthy Americans truly turning back to pre-crisis habits, even as most of the country remains in deep economic stress? Read more...

Retired garmet workers: "Hands off our home"

Jul 30, 2009 - Since the 1940's the old International Ladies Garment Workers Union building in NYC's Garment District has served union members. It's been home to generations of clothing and textile workers, housed a health center and provided services for members and the surrounding community. Read more...

Change That Works demands reform from elected officials: August Congressional recess events

Jul 30, 2009 - 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. Read more...

Video: 18,836 people tell Congress, "We support majority sign-up"

Jul 30, 2009 - Yesterday we delivered a petition in support of majority sign-up and the Employee Free Choice Act to the Senate. A grand total of 18,836 people signed our petition in just a week! That's really amazing. Watch this video of SEIU members delivering the petition to the Senate yesterday. Read more...

Lewin Group FAIL

Jul 29, 2009 - Imagine you're an insurance company making billions of dollars by charging people tons of money for health care. Now, imagine there's a reform bill in Congress that could end your stranglehold on the market, forcing you to lower your prices and improve your services. Read more...

Hey Big Banks: Want some better ways to spend that $74 billion?

Jul 29, 2009 - According to the Washington Post, the top six U.S. banks set aside $74 billion in 2009 for bonuses and other compensation--up $14 billion from last year alone. In response, SEIU released its own "Top 5 Ways We'd Spend The $74 Billion." Included in the list were: covering the budget shortfalls of 16 states, including California; paying one year's worth of mortgage for over 6 million families, and giving over $5,000 to every single American that's currently unemployed. Read more...

Alliance for Worker Freedom kicks out workers

Jul 28, 2009 - Today, several workers went to Capitol Hill to attend a panel discussion about the Employee Free Choice Act sponsored by the Alliance for Worker Freedom. Much to their dismay, the workers were escorted out of the event after its organizers complained to the Capitol Police. Read more...

Montana Small Town Business Owner Speaks Out Against U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Jul 28, 2009 - In Chester, pop. 730, on the broad northern grasslands of the Montana Hi-Line, local business owner and Chamber of Commerce member Margaret Novak says she's ready to speak out for health care and labor law reform. "The middle class is stuck footing the bill without the means to pay it," Novak said. "Any economist will tell you that you need a strong middle class to make the economy work." Novak and her husband, Mike, own Mike's Thriftway, a supermarket and gas station along U.S. Highway 2 at the edge of town. The two have more than two dozen employees and offer health insurance and family-friendly scheduling to employees. Read more...

Meet Leslie Williams, a School Food Service Worker

Jul 28, 2009 - Leslie Williams, a school food service worker, has been at the job for 20 years. When she talks about her job, she lovingly refers to the children as "her babies." They rely on her to take care of them and cook them a wholesome meal during lunch. Sometimes, it's the only hot meal that they get that day. Read more...

Why call Congress for healthcare reform?

Jul 28, 2009 - Still looking for more reasons why you should tell your representative we need to pass health reform now? Here's one:

Health Care Supporters Take Over Tea Party in "Red Tennessee"

Jul 27, 2009 - With less than 24 hours notice, Change That Works Tennessee and its coalition partners staged a massive counter-demonstration at a Tea Party in front of Rep. Bart Gordon's office in Rutherford County. Our action, turned the Tea Party into a health care reform party. Read more...

SEIU Security Officers Who Protect Kaiser Permanente Hospitals Nationwide Vote Overwhelmingly to Ratify First-ever Union Contract

Jul 25, 2009 - Security officers with SEIU who protect Kaiser Permanente hospitals nationwide voted overwhelmingly today to ratify their first-ever union contract. The three year contract with private security company Securitas includes family healthcare and higher wages. Read more...

Taha will not be deported!

Jul 24, 2009 - Thanks to 24 hours of your calls and faxes, the Department of Homeland Security has done the right thing and deferred action on Taha's deportation. Read more...

Attacking Reform with Insurance Company-Owned Research?

Jul 24, 2009 - This week, the Washington Post revealed that the Lewin Group -- a firm commonly cited by Republican lawmakers as an independent and nonpartisan think tank -- is owned by a health insurance company--and a badly behaving one, at that. Playing politics with health reform is simply unacceptable - and using insurance company-provided "statistics" to do it is just plain wrong. Read more...

17,000 tell Congress: We support majority sign-up and the Employee Free Choice Act

Jul 24, 2009 - In response to New York Times reports that Senate Democrats were dropping the "majority sign-up" provision of the Employee Free Choice Act, over 17,000 people signed petitions for Congress showing their support of the provision. The petitions will be hand-delivered to Congressional offices next week by SEIU members. Read more...

Meet Taha - a DREAM Act Student who is facing deportation

Jul 24, 2009 - SEIU is teaming up with Dreamactivist.org to help stop the deportation of another Dream Act student, Taha. On July 29, 2009, Taha will be deported to Bangladesh - a country that he has no memory of or connection to. Read more...

The clock is ticking for consumer protections

Jul 23, 2009 - Congress is reportedly delaying action on President Obama's consumer protection reforms. Why? Because the U.S. Chamber and big bank lobbyists complained for a delay. Click here to fax your Representatives and tell them the U.S. Chamber and big banks shouldn't set the agenda on financial reform. Read more...

Goal: 15,000 people for Majority Signup and the Employee Free Choice Act

Jul 23, 2009 - Since Andy Stern kicked off our campaign this week, more than 10,000 people signed our petition in support of majority signup - but we still need to hear from you. Next week SEIU members will deliver our petition to the senators working on the Employee Free Choice Act. We want at least 15,000 people to show support for majority signup before we go to Congress. Read more...

Do corporate front groups think the Employee Free Choice Act is similar to Nazis?

Jul 23, 2009 - With the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act still going and going, it was bound to break Godwin's Law: yesterday the Arkansas Democrat Gazette editorial board "unequivocally" equated the Employee Free Choice Act to.... Nazis. Read more...

Ad check: U.S. Chamber of Commerce pushes phony numbers in new offensive against health care reform

Jul 22, 2009 - The Chamber of Commerce continues their "Just Say No!" strategy against health care reform with a new ad this week that flaunts a series of misleading numbers to make the case (or rather, their lack thereof) against legislation that will guarantee Americans access to quality, affordable healthcare. Here are the real facts on how small businesses and taxpayers would actually be affected by the latest proposals for fixing our broken system. Read more...

GRITtv Live Now: Bank of America workers on Bank of America

Jul 22, 2009 - Watch this live broadcast now of Bank of America workers and SEIU's Stephen Lerner on GRITtv discussing how the bank's practices hurt consumers, employees, and our economy. Read more...

SEIU members & healthcare allies get serious about reform in Illinois

Jul 22, 2009 - Last week, elected officials left Springfield without doing their job--again. So SEIU Healthcare Indiana and Illinois took their fight to protect home and childcare workers from budget cuts to the scene of the crime. Read more...

Bank of America Takes Billions of Bailout Money, Only to Cut Lending for Struggling Small Businesses

Jul 22, 2009 - A new report released by SEIU today shows that Bank of America has cut small business loans - despite taking billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts meant to stimulate the economy. Instead of lending money to small businesses through SBA loans, BofA appears to be moving its small business clients to higher-interest credit card loans. Read more...

California budget deal missing actual solution

Jul 21, 2009 - In spite of the fact that months of debate between CA lawmakers on how to resolve the state's $26 billion budget deficit may be finally coming to an end, there can be no cause for celebration when the 'solution' does not reflect the priorities of a vast majority of California voters. Read more...

Big banks and the Chamber do their best to stop economic recovery--AGAIN

Jul 21, 2009 - Today, reports hit saying Congress is delaying action on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency after a series of lobbying efforts and a letter from the U.S. Chamber and big banks. When it comes to fixing our economy, Congress must not buckle under the pressure of the U.S. Chamber and big banks. Read more...

Schumer Moves Ball Forward on Immigration Reform

Jul 21, 2009 - SEIU commends Senator Schumer and members of the Judiciary Subcommittee for rolling up their sleeves and starting to lay the groundwork for a thoughtful, solution-driven debate on comprehensive immigration reform this fall. Yet, the current E-Verify program needs significant improvements before it can serve as an effective component of comprehensive reform. Read more...

The verdict is IN: 75% of Americans support majority signup as part of Employee Free Choice

Jul 21, 2009 - Majority signup is based on a simple idea: if a majority of workers say they want a union, they should get a union. And the public agrees: three-quarters (75%) of adults favor allowing workers to have a union once a majority of the employees in a workplace sign authorization cards indicating that they want to form a union, including 44% who strongly support the idea. Read more...

Tell Congress: We support Majority Signup and the Employee Free Choice Act

Jul 21, 2009 - I wanted to write you about the recent news about the Employee Free Choice Act. The New York Times reported on Friday that the Senate is considering dropping majority signup from the Employee Free Choice Act. I created a petition to Congress for you to show support for majority signup. Can you please add you name? Read more...

California state workers will vote to strike; protest Governor Schwarzenegger

Jul 20, 2009 - 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. Read more...

Demint's Slip-Up

Jul 20, 2009 - Republicans have pledged to be working in good faith with Democrats, despite their nonstop battering ram of rhetoric (re: "socialized medicine," "rationing of care" and blaming Canada), and have left the dirty work of killing health care to pundits and Fox News anchors. But now, there's been a slip-up. And not just by any Republican - but by a very prominent Republican leader... Read more...

If you're one of millions of Americans without adequate coverage, this bill is for you

Jul 17, 2009 - Yesterday on Capitol Hill, SEIU Healthcare 775NW member and Montana home care worker Pat DeJong stood alongside Senators Dodd, Mikulski, and Harkin to celebrate the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee's passage of healthcare reform bill, the first of the Congressional panels to approve the health legislation. Read more...

Senator Bingaman gets a health care check-up

Jul 17, 2009 - On Wednesday as Senator Jeff Bingaman joined his colleagues on the Senate HELP Committee to vote for sending a comprehensive health care bill to the Senate Floor, he was joined by dozens of New Mexico doctors, nurses, and health care providers assembled to show support for a robust public health insurance option in 2009. Read more...

Video: Janitors protesting Cisco Systems end hunger strike

Jul 17, 2009 - On June 9, dozens of janitors laid off from Cisco Systems in San Jose, CA ended a 7-day hunger fast protesting the company's corporate greed, unfair treatment and laying-off of 40 percent of its total janitorial workforce. Check out this new video SEIU United Service Workers West created documenting the breaking of the fast. Read more...

Statement by SEIU President Andy Stern on the Employee Free Choice Act

Jul 17, 2009 - In response to today's New York Times piece on the Employee Free Choice Act, SEIU President Andy Stern issued the following statement: "As we have said from day one, majority sign-up is the best way for workers to have the right to choose a voice at their workplace..." Read more...

Unions make for a much more family-friendly workplace

Jul 16, 2009 - A new report authored by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the Labor Project for Working Families found that companies with more unionized workers are more likely to pay for family health insurance premiums, embrace paid leave, and allow the use of personal leave to care for a sick child. In case you needed more evidence as to why we need to restore workers' freedom to form unions and bargain through the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Recognize the important role food service workers play in your kids' health

Jul 16, 2009 - Yesterday, Service Workers United cafeteria workers from across the country went to Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress for stronger USDA Child Nutrition Programs. Watch Illinois food service worker Marlon Taylor discuss why he loves his job working with kids and why it's important to improve the Child Nutrition Act. Read more...

Miami Nurse Touts the Value of Reform

Jul 16, 2009 - In the debate over health care reform, it is important to listen to the people at the forefront of the crisis: our country's nurses. Even President Obama speaks to the importance of nurses as health care providers, noting that in some rural areas, nurses are the only providers of health care. Read more...

HELP is on the way! Healthcare reform advances in Congress

Jul 15, 2009 - Last week nearly 5,000 SEIU members and activists from across the country called their Members of Congress to say: "Healthcare won't be fixed until it's affordable for everyone." Well, these hours and hours of phone calls, door knocks, letters, and visits to Congress demanding real healthcare reform is paying off. Last night, House Democrats unveiled a healthcare bill that provides comprehensive reform that is both fiscally responsible and legislatively achievable this year and today the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pension Committee passed their version of a bill, the Affordable Health Choices Act. Read more...

School Food Workers to Members of Congress: We're Hungry for Change

Jul 15, 2009 - For the first time in the 63-year history of our nation's School Lunch Program, front-line food service workers are on Capitol Hill today to petition their government to strengthen the program that serves food to more than 30 million children every day. Read more...

32BJ Endorses Mayor Bloomberg for Re-election

Jul 15, 2009 - Yesterday, SEIU Local 32BJ endorsed Michael Bloomberg for re-election. Why? Because Bloomberg has proven his commitment to working families, raising security industry standards and taking action to make sure out-of-work New Yorkers have the resources necessary to find employment. Read more...

Bruce Raynor on FOX Business: "American workers and American business cannot afford the current [healthcare] system"

Jul 15, 2009 - This year it's going to cost $18,000 per family for medical coverage--and that's just not affordable, says Workers United President Bruce Raynor on Fox Business News, making a case for why reform needs to happen now--and why he thinks an employer mandate should be part of the solution. Read more...

Insulting: Ask Arkansas TV Stations to Pull this Ad off the Air

Jul 15, 2009 - It's one thing to have a substantive debate. It's another to spread baseless innuendo masquerading as "fact." A corporate group from Washington, DC is doing just that: airing a TV ad about the Employee Free Choice Act that's both completely false and insulting to the intelligence of Arkansans. You can do something about it. Ask the Arkansas TV stations running the ad to pull it off the air. A corporate group from Washington, DC is doing just that: airing a TV ad about the Employee Free Choice Act that's both completely false and insulting to the intelligence of Arkansans. Read more...

CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 to Protest Scheme to Outsource Students' Health and Safety

Jul 14, 2009 - Members of the CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 chapter that represents the Connecticut Windham Public Schools' food service workers will speak out against outsourcing food services at Board of Education public forum tonight. Read more...

Ahem, Governor Schwarzenegger - You can't ignore the law, no matter who you are

Jul 14, 2009 - The Governor and CA state officials have refused to abide by the U.S. District Court's preliminary injunction preventing the slashing of salaries for California home care workers. In light of this outrageous defiance, the ruling Judge has amended her original injunction: rescind approval of all IHSS wage reductions by July 14 that were scheduled to take place on July 1 by COB today. Read more...

Celebrating J Dilla's music and legacy: 4th annual tribute & fundraiser recap

Jul 14, 2009 - Last week, SEIU co-sponsored the 4th Annual J Dilla Tribute & Fundraiser show at DC's Liv Niteclub to celebrate Dilla's legacy and raise awareness about the medical condition that cut his life short and left his family with mounting bills of over 1 million dollars after he lost his health coverage. Read more...

Letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger: Trail of broken campaign promises must end

Jul 14, 2009 - "Governor, we've sacrificed. And we've now reached our limit. We cannot, and will not, allow you to use us as pawns in your political power game," writes SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger concerning the California union's contract deal and latest budget proposal. The Governor's proposal seeks to pile on an additional 5 percent pay reduction or fourth furloughed work day for more than 230,000 state workers. Read more...

Unacceptable: Governor Schwarzenegger ignores court order to stop home care cuts

Jul 13, 2009 - strong>Last week, SEIU was forced to file a motion with U.S. District Court to hold the state of California in contempt for illegally cutting the wages of (IHSS) workers by $2 per hour in defiance of an earlier court order. Read more...

Free Summer Lunch Program A Rousing Success in NJ

Jul 13, 2009 - During the school year in New Jersey, school lunch is provided at a reduced cost or for free to thousands of poor students to help eliminate at least one significant and widely recognized barrier to an education: hunger. Read more...

Call Congress: Support a Strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Jul 13, 2009 - In the same way that we keep stores from selling exploding toasters, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency will have the power to keep lenders from offering "exploding" loans. Congress has already held a first hearing on the new agency, and it is on the agenda now. It is also already on Wall Street's agenda to stop it. Read more...

Congressional praise for SEIU's work on behalf of Walter Lara & the DREAM Act

Jul 10, 2009 - Earlier today, Congressman Polis praised SEIU in his personal privilege floor speech for our work on behalf of Walter Lara and the DREAM Act. Read more...

What would happen if the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had its way?

Jul 10, 2009 - When CEOs in Washington decide the agenda of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they seem to forget all about real workers and business owners throughout America. We took a look at what would happen if the U.S. Chamber had its way, and how those policies would impact certain states. SEIU's activists in these states are faxing their senators asking them to stand with working people, not the greedy CEOs of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Read more...

SEIU Demands Corporate Lobbyists Take Down Deceptive Ads On Employee Free Choice Act

Jul 10, 2009 - Today the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) sent letters to television stations in Nebraska and Arkansas demanding that deceptive ads about the Employee Free Choice Act be taken down immediately. The ads are paid for by the Employee Freedom Action Committee (EFAC), the political action committee of anti-worker front group Center for Union Facts. Read more...

Immigration Bill Ready by Labor Day, Says Schumer

Jul 10, 2009 - Momentum is growing in Washington for comprehensive immigration reform. Just as the bipartisan Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) issued a sweeping report on the urgent need for comprehensive immigration reform, Senator Schumer announced yesterday that an immigration bill will be ready by Labor Day. Read more...

NY Times: "Change is too slow coming for the nation's one million home care aides"

Jul 09, 2009 - Citing the hard work and critical role they play with an aging boomer population, the NY Times editorial declares that "Home care aides should not have to wait any longer for the fair pay they have been denied for so long." Read more...

New Report: Nation's Buildings at Risk

Jul 09, 2009 - A new government report released yesterday has dropped a bombshell on the state of private security and its ability to protect our nation's most important buildings. In a routine check on the state of private security for our nation's federal buildings, investigators were able to sneak explosive materials inside - get this - a total of 10 out of 10 times. Read more...

Video: Hip-Hop Takes on the Health Care Crisis

Jul 09, 2009 - Members of the healthcare, hip-hop and progressive community sat together on a "HealthCare Remix" panel on Wednesday, June 8 to discuss the state of healthcare reform and how to raise awareness of the urgency of the problem. Watch a video from the discussion--featuring Phife from Tribe Called Quest--here. Read more...

Conservative obstructionists are not serious about reform

Jul 09, 2009 - Conservative obstructionists are still not serious about reforming our broken health care system to rein in the costs that are crushing families and businesses, and exploding our deficit. Read more...

Pope Supports Principles of the Employee Free Choice Act

Jul 08, 2009 - Yesterday, Pope Benedict released a bold new encyclical criticizing the current economic system and reaffirming the Church's longstanding commitment to protecting workers' freedom to form unions--the central principle of the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr: "Healthcare must be our lunch counter moment for the 21st century"

Jul 08, 2009 - Today's hip-hop "Healthcare Remix" panel discussion at SEIU's headquarters in Washington, DC shed a bright light on the need for healthcare reform that does more than just expand insurance coverage--and why it is imperative that every community has a voice at the decision-making table. Read more...

Higher Worker Wages on the Table in NJ

Jul 08, 2009 - In a move that "could have a major effect on public school food service workers' wages," the New Jersey State Legislature is considering a new bill that would make sure that workers are paid the prevailing wage. Read more...

Sarah Jones: A Right to Care

Jul 08, 2009 - The Associated Press calls her "astounding." People Magazine calls her "amazing." We call her one of the most important and engaging messengers ever to tackle the issue of health care disparities in America. And she's performing in Washington, DC on Thursday, July 9th and St. Paul, MN on July 11th. Read more...

DC Loves Dilla: Healthcare Roundtable & Tribute Event

Jul 08, 2009 - James Yancy (aka J Dilla, aka Jay Dee) was an influential hip-hop MC and producer whose rising star was cut short by complications stemming from his battle with Lupus. Dilla emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan, and was widely respected throughout the hip-hop community as a "producer's producer." Read more...

Senator Al Franken's First Bill: Co-Sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act

Jul 08, 2009 - Within hours of being sworn in as Minnesota's 2nd senator, Senator Al Franken took action on his first bill: he co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Big banks & U.S. Chamber of Commerce join forces to tank financial reform

Jul 07, 2009 - Recognizing their parallel efforts to fund campaigns against working families, the unappetizing alliance of big bank executives, credit card and financial services companies is joining forces to intensify their lobbying efforts against financial reform. Read more...

The U.S. Chamber v. Everyone

Jul 07, 2009 - Progressive groups and individuals are targeting the U.S. Chamber for its opposition to pretty much anything that makes life even "a little better for working people." Read more...

Stopping Walter Lara's deportation is just the beginning

Jul 06, 2009 - Thanks to everyone who rallied around Walter's cause and took action, he's not being deported today. But personal interventions won't help the tens of thousands of other DREAMers who stand to benefit from passage of the DREAM Act--this is why we need Congress to pass the DREAM Act. Read more...

Change that Works campaign turns up the heat for healthcare during recess

Jul 06, 2009 - This year during the Congressional Fourth of July recess, SEIU & Change that Works activists created fireworks across the country. Here are a few highlights from the recess activities. Read more...

Living wages are in Con Ed's Power

Jul 06, 2009 - Con Ed employee Fernando Cruz is one of more than 28 million people--about a quarter of the working-age workforce--who work full time yet still earn less than the income that marks the federal poverty line for a family of four: $9.04 per hour, a full-time salary of $18,800 a year. Read more...

AP Covers Philly Schools' Pilot School Meals Program

Jul 06, 2009 - Today, the Associated Press published an interesting profile on the Philadelphia, PA school district and its pilot program for feeding its hungry children through school meals. Key to the program is the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act later this year. An improved Child Nutrition Act is a top priority for the thousands of school food service workers that SEIU represents Read more...

Nebraskans Greet Sen. Johanns...And His Staff Calls the Cops

Jul 03, 2009 - One day before celebrating the birth of our great nation, Nebraskans gathered at a scheduled healthcare roundtable to call on Senator Johanns to support an American solution to our healthcare crisis--only to have the police called on them. Read more...

Workers to Out-of-State Corporate Lobbyists: Stop Lying about My Job

Jul 02, 2009 - In response to new ads from out-of-state corporate lobbyists spreading lies about the Employee Free Choice Act, Nebraska Change that Works issued this statement from North Platte cafeteria worker Trish Meuhlenkamp. Read more...

Mandatory overtime a thing of the past for PA direct care workers

Jul 01, 2009 - Beginning today -- July 1st, 2009 -- mandatory overtime is a thing of the past for any healthcare worker in Pennsylvania providing direct patient care. This victory is the culmination of a 7-year struggle by nurses and other healthcare workers who repeatedly marched, called, emailed and lobbied their legislators to support this important patient safety legislation. Read more...

At Victory Rally, Al Franken Shouts Out to Labor, Union Health Insurance

Jul 01, 2009 - At his victory rally today in Minneapolis, Senator-Elect (finally!) Al Franken spoke to an enthusiastic crowd about the race and what he's expecting in Washington. According to The Hill, Franken gave two important shout-outs in his speech: one to his "brothers and sisters in labor," and the other to his union's health insurance plan. Read more...

Bank of America's Employees: The Other Side of the Financial Crisis

Jul 01, 2009 - According to the Associated Press, Bank of America "encouraged" its employees to "burden consumers with debt and enroll them in high-fee programs." Fed up with these unsavory practices, Bank of America workers are speaking out. Sign our petition in support of protections for bank employees. We'll deliver your petition directly to Members of Congress working on financial reform. Read more...

Hartmarx Workers Win with Court-Approved Sale

Jun 30, 2009 - Nearly 4,000 jobs were saved with court approval of the sale of Chicago-based Hartmarx Corporation to the British firm Emerisque Brands late last week. Emerisque announced plans before the deal to keep many of Hartmarx's Workers United-represented workers. Read more...

Sharing Responsibility, Ditching the Chamber

Jun 30, 2009 - The Chamber of Commerce's veneer of unity on health care is beginning to fade. In the latest blow to the Chamber's "Just Say No!" strategy on health care reform, Wal-Mart joined with SEIU and the Center for American Progress today in announcing support for an employer mandate on health coverage. Read more...

Bank of America Workers Speak Out About Anti-Consumer Practices

Jun 30, 2009 - Today Bank of America workers are speaking out about BofA's anti-consumer sales practices and failed banking model. In articles from the LA Times and Associated Press today, current and former Bank of America employees talk about how Bank of America "encouraged" its employees to "burden consumers with debt and enroll them in high-fee programs." BofA employees also allege the bank targets low-income working people and Latinos who can't afford and don't need the products that bury them in debt. Read more...

Rep. Keith Ellison, Consumer groups to join bank workers speaking out against predatory sales practices, failed banking model

Jun 30, 2009 - Today, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) will join Bank of America workers to speak out against predatory sales practices and a failed banking model and call for reforms that protect frontline bank workers and consumers. Read more...

Five Hundred LA City Employees Vote to Join SEIU

Jun 29, 2009 - As the City of Los Angeles faces an unprecedented budget crisis, nearly 500 city engineers have just voted to unite in SEIU 721 to have a stronger voice at work and unite with the 22,000 other City employees in the Coalition of LA City Unions, of which SEIU 721 is a member. Read more...

Farmers and Ranchers for Employee Free Choice

Jun 28, 2009 - A new rural coalition to support the Employee Free Choice Act launched this week: Farmers and Ranchers for Employee Free Choice. Read more...

DREAM Act Rally and Lobby Day

Jun 26, 2009 - Students file in wearing colors mixed like an unsolved Rubik's cube--some wearing chords representing achievement and honors. Friends straighten each other's caps. The rainbow of the march is accompanied by a violin and the pomp and circumstances of cameras flashing. Read more...

Health Care '09 Rally: Photo Slideshow

Jun 25, 2009 - Joined by SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, Actress Edie Falco, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and other leaders, more than 10,000 healthcare advocates from across the country kicked off the Health Care For America Now (HCAN)'s historic lobby day with a rally in upper Senate Park. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Corporate Ad Fact Check: "Poison"

Jun 25, 2009 - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce-backed corporate front group Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is out with a new video filled with falsehoods about the Employee Free Choice Act. Their new video, produced by GOP and corporate ad man Mike Murphy, peddles thoroughly debunked lies and misinformation about the bill. Watch our fact check. Read more...

The dust in Fresno has settled....now what?

Jun 25, 2009 - The Fresno members voted to keep SEIU UHW as their union in a record turnout for an election among home care workers. They made this choice after enduring an unprecedented two-year campaign of lies, distortions and false promises by the NUHW officials, who ran a management-style, anti-union campaign. Read more...

SEIU Member Killed in DC Metro Tragedy

Jun 25, 2009 - 32BJ member Ana Fernandez was one of the nine confirmed dead after the tragic Metro crash in Washington this week. To help make ends meet for her family of six children, Ana was on her way to her second job as a cleaner at a building downtown when the crash happened. Read more...

Healthcare Equality 2009: Lighting up the Future

Jun 25, 2009 - Last night, an impressive group of speakers and passionate activists gathered in Washington DC, in the appropriately named Freedom Plaza, to declare their commitment to advocacy and demand that Congressional reform efforts address systemic inequality in the American health care system. Punctuated throughout the evening by the rhythmic sounds of Rudy Gonzalez Y Su Lokura's Latin jazz band, the evening was a tribute to both the passion and diversity involved in the health care reform movement. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members head to DC for Health Care '09 rally and lobby day

Jun 24, 2009 - Now is the time for healthcare reform, and SEIU members from 1199NW are helping to lead the way. Delegations of community leaders from over 40 states are being flown into Washington for in order to meet with key Members of Congress, and four SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members will be among them. Read more...

Round-Up of this Week's Health Care Events

Jun 24, 2009 - You may have noticed there is a lot going on with healthcare over the next roughly 24 hours. Below is a Below is a snapshot of what's going on. Read more...

350 New Bedford Factory Workers Fight to Save Their Jobs

Jun 24, 2009 - Remember the infamous Bianco Factory raid in New Bedford, MA where hundreds of hard-working immigrants were rounded up, detained and separated from their families? Today, a horrible experience of déjà vu as workers at the same factory who make backpacks for the U.S. army face yet another tragedy, as new owner Alliant threatens to shut the factory down. Read more...

Business Professors in Business Week: Anti-Union is Anti-Business

Jun 24, 2009 - Business Week magazine goes right to the point: the hostility that Big Business has towards the Employee Free Choice Act is downright short-sighted and bad for business. Two business professors - Paul Adler of USC and Donald Palmer of UC Davis - lay out why businesses should support the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis "Absolutely" supports Employee Free Choice

Jun 24, 2009 - While in LA, Solis spoke on worker-friendly measures she will be fighting to pass in her new role as the Secretary of Labor, giving her unequivocal endorsement for the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

SEIU to Citigroup: Ensure raises go to workers, not top execs

Jun 24, 2009 - According to the New York Times, Citigroup is raising salaries by as much as 50 percent for investment bankers and other top executives, to accommodate for smaller annual bonuses. Anna Burger, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union released a statement in reaction to the news. Read more...

SEIU Home Care Aide to discuss healthcare with President Obama on ABC's "Prescription for America"

Jun 24, 2009 - Tonight, Obama will continue his health care push with a primetime nationally televised event in the White House called "Questions for the President: Prescription for America," which will be moderated with ABC's Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer. SEIU Healthcare 775NW member & home care aide Pat DeJong has been invited to participate in the ABC News special event--make sure to watch! Read more...

Workers Denied Contracts by Their Employers: Arbitration Needed in Labor Law Reform

Jun 23, 2009 - Workers join together and unionize to improve their wages, benefits, and working conditions. Yet a full year after voting to form a union, 52 percent of new unions still haven't been able to secure any improvements because their employers have used delay tactics to avoid signing a first contract. Read more...

Seeking Alpha seeking your thoughts on what to do with Ken Lewis

Jun 22, 2009 - Financial website Seeking Alpha's instablogger Jim Van Meerton poses an open question: what to do with Bank of America's CEO Ken Lewis? Read more...

Maine small business owner: U.S. Chamber's attacks on healthcare hurt small businesses

Jun 22, 2009 - In response to recent attacks from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Maine small business owner Lisa McSwain advocated for healthcare reform to help other small businesses struggling with growing healthcare costs. Read more...

WashPost Opinion Piece: "Lessons From The Holocaust Museum Shooting"

Jun 22, 2009 - Last week, the Washington Post published an opinion piece authored by Valarie Long, the Vice President of SEIU Local 32BJ. In the piece, Long recognizes the importance of the job that security officers perform each and every day, raises the need for improved standards on the job, and offers her condolences to the family of Officer Johns. Read more...

Study Depicts Tough Times for Food Service Workers, Offers Recommendations

Jun 22, 2009 - Thousands of school food service workers in New Jersey are living at or near poverty, according to a new study from Rutgers University's Center for Women and Work. The study, authored by Dr. Mary McCain, addresses the scope of the problem in general, and then offers recommendations to fix these problems. Read more...

Victory in Fresno! Home Care Workers Vote to Stay with SEIU UHW

Jun 22, 2009 - Fresno County home care workers voted to keep SEIU-UHW as their union by a vote of rejecting an attempt by a group of ousted union leaders to split the workers off into a new organization. Read more...

What was your Dream?

Jun 19, 2009 - Remember what it was like when you had a dream? For many immigrant students their dreams of pursuing higher education can't be realized because of their immigration status - even though they may have lived here most of their lives. Read more...

U.S. Chamber to the Senate: Unions are right, we're total hypocrites

Jun 18, 2009 - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce just released a letter to the Senate, detailing the corporate group's hypocrisy in opposing first contract arbitration in the Employee Free Choice Act. The U.S. Chamber was apparently reeling from recent newspaper ads highlighting their two-faced approach to the issue, and wanted to explain itself to the Senate. Read more...

Letter from the "Other" Washington: Meet SEIU Grassroots Lobbyist Susie Young

Jun 18, 2009 - Nine SEIU members and workers from key states across the country have relocated to Washington, DC this spring for a three-month long stint as a Grassroots Lobbyist (GRLs) on Capitol Hill. Meet Susie Young, one of the amazing grassroots lobbyists who has spent the last few months fighting the good fight with SEIU here in D.C. "This has been one of the best experiences of my life," says Susie of her time spent as a GRL. Read more...

CA lawmakers reject Schwarzenegger's pay cuts to state workers and reduce cuts to home care

Jun 18, 2009 - On Tuesday, lawmakers on the California Legislature's joint budget committee refused to cut state worker pay and spared that state's In-Home Support Services the major cut that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed as part of his plan to solve the state's $24.3 billion deficit. Read more...

NBC/WSJ Poll: 76% of Americans Support Public Health Insurance Option

Jun 18, 2009 - Congress can't seem to reach a consensus, but the American people have overwhelmingly made up their minds: we need a public health insurance option. A new poll conducted by NBC and the Wall Street Journal is the latest in a series of polls to show convincing support for a choice between a private or public health insurance plan among the American people. Read more...

UAW Calls for an End to the Fight

Jun 17, 2009 - Read the letter from UAW President Ron Gettlefinger urging UNITE HERE's President to settle his dispute with Workers United/SEIU for the good of all workers. Read more...

Round One of U.S. Chamber's "Free Enterprise" Campaign? Opposing Consumer Protections.

Jun 17, 2009 - We learn today that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is adamantly opposed to a consumer-friendly regulatory agency. Read more...

Top 10 Historical Chamber of Commerce Quotes Against Healthcare

Jun 17, 2009 - When the US Chamber of Commerce opposed early versions of the healthcare bill Tuesday, we weren't surprised. This is, after all, the same group that colorfully told the Associated Press it was "time to unload the powder and fill the musket" in their fight against health care reform. Read more...

State Legislators to the Hill: We Need Health Care Reform

Jun 17, 2009 - 700 state legislators from every state have signed on to a letter to the President, HHS Secretary Sebelius, and leaders in Congress, asking them to support the key ingredients for real health care reform. And, today, a delegation of legislators from around the country will be on Capitol Hill to meet with the White House and deliver the letter. Read more...

In Mexico, SEIU's Eliseo Medina Calls for Cross-Border Solutions to Fix Broken Immigration System

Jun 17, 2009 - This week, SEIU Executive VP Eliseo Medina is in Mexico City meeting with key legislators and labor leaders on the importance of working together to improve labor rights and economic opportunities for workers on both sides of the border. And in other immigration reform news... Read more...

Begging For Change

Jun 16, 2009 - The Maine Change That Works campaign launched "Begging for Change," a multimedia effort to highlight Maine families' urgent need for comprehensive health care reform that includes an affordable public health insurance option. Read more...

U.S. Chamber and Tyson Foods Fought Workplace Safety Measures

Jun 16, 2009 - On Friday, a U.S. District Court in Arkansas ruled that Tyson Foods Inc. must pay a $500,000 fine for "willfully" violating workplace safety regulations that led to the 2003 death of Jason Kelley, a maintenance worker at its River Valley Animal Foods plant in Texarkana. Read more...

Big Business' Two-Faced Approach to Arbitration

Jun 16, 2009 - Many corporations--like the Chamber-- praise arbitration when it favors them, but oppose it in settling first contracts--and will use any tactic they can to avoid paying their employees better wages and benefits. Supporters of the freedom to form unions are fed up with delays that favor employees, and American Rights at Work has launched a campaign to point out the hypocrisy of Big Business on arbitration. Read more...

U.S. District Court: Tysons Food Worker Death Could Have Been Prevented

Jun 16, 2009 - Tyson Foods and the US Chamber of Commerce are actively fighting workplace safety measures that could have prevented the tragic death of a Tyson Foods worker, said Rev. Copley today. Read more...

We thought an elephant never forgot?

Jun 16, 2009 - The National Republican Senatorial Committee is planning on going after Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), according to a Roll Call article today. Yet the NRSC seems to have already forgotten the lessons of the 2008 campaigns, in which groups spent millions attacking Democrats on Employee Free Choice only to see those candidates go on to win--with voters approving Employee Free Choice by a considerable margin. Read more...

CNBC Fail: Anchors compare Iran elections to Employee Free Choice Act

Jun 16, 2009 - Yesterday, CNBC's Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett made a ridiculous, irresponsible statement. Cramer and Burnett compared the aftermath of Iran's recent election to what would happen under the Employee Free Choice Act. This is irresponsible journalism at its "finest." Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett need to hear from you now about their reckless reporting. Read more...

Workers March in Portland: "What Do We Want? Fairness!"

Jun 16, 2009 - After numerous songs, slogans, speeches and a march across Portland's Hawthorne Bridge, the message came down to a simple chant rising from Terry D. Schrunk Plaza and echoing off the Portland skyscrapers around it: "What do we want? Fairness! When do we want it? Now!" With that, about 2,500 SEIU Local 503 members and allies concluded the United for Oregon rally against state budget cuts and layoffs last Sunday. Read more...

"Lighting the Night": Demand healthcare equity for all

Jun 16, 2009 - Healthcare must go beyond simply expanding coverage to all the uninsured Americans, it must put us on a path towards healthcare equality. Every person, no matter the color of their skin deserves affordable, accessible healthcare of the highest quality. On June 24th, healthcare justice activists from all across the country are convening in Washington, DC to demand healthcare reform that truly works for everyone. Read more...

President Obama Mentions Nashville Small Business Owners

Jun 16, 2009 - President Obama in his health care reform address to the American Medical Association in Chicago, mentioned Becky and Chris Link, two small business owners and Change that Works Tennessee activists Read more...

President Obama addresses the AMA; Doctors say public health insurance option must be part of health care reform solution

Jun 15, 2009 - In his 50 minute address to the American Medical Association at the group's annual convention in Chicago, President Obama reiterated his strong support for a truly national public health insurance plan, calling the current state of the nation's health care system a "ticking time bomb." Read more...

Chamber of Commerce Defends Bonuses, Bailouts, and the Broken Healthcare System on Fox News Sunday

Jun 15, 2009 - Yesterday U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue appeared on Fox News Sunday, and in the course of a 15-minute interview, defended taxpayer-funded bonuses, championed a broken healthcare system, and brushed off concerns about bailed out companies. Read more...

Stop Squeezing the Middle Class: Former Labor Secretaries Reich and Marshall on Employee Free Choice

Jun 15, 2009 - In the past 50+ years that have passed since America's middle class was expanding and the economy was soaring, former labor secretaries Robert Reich and Ray Marshall have seen an economy weakened by a combination of personal greed, individual irresponsibility and unsustainable financial conditions. In Sunday's Chicago Tribune, Reich and Marshall explain why the Employee Free Choice Act is necessary if our economy is to succeed. Read more...

Coalition of Doctor Organizations: "Our Patients Deserve the Choice of a Public Health Insurance Option"

Jun 15, 2009 - A coalition of 8 organizations representing over 200,000 physicians and physicians-in-training, including SEIU's Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) and Doctors Council, issued a statement this morning in support of achieving health care reform this year, including the creation of a robust, high-quality public health insurance option. Read more...

BofA & Merrill: "Who was holding the shotgun?"

Jun 15, 2009 - There are two storylines that Bank of America has been pushing about its decision to go through with the Merrill Lynch acquisition, even after it became clear that Merrill was facing billions in losses. Did the Fed force BofA into a shotgun wedding, or is it possible that BofA put a shotgun to the head of the broader economy in order to get political and economic cover for a bailout that it needed anyway? Read more...

SEIU Workers in Puerto Rico Lead March Against 30,000+ Layoffs

Jun 15, 2009 - Led in part by SEIU Local 1996 in Puerto Rico, close to 100,000 union members, students, and other activists marched in front of the capitol building in San Juan last week to protest Governor Luis Fortuño's plan to lay off more than 30,000 government employees and suspend public sector collective bargaining rights. Read more...

Illinois home care worker on budget cuts: "When you take jobs away from poor people, it's only going to create more poor people."

Jun 15, 2009 - As a home care worker in Chicago, Rebia currently receives a $9.85 an hour, her only source of income. Billions in budget cuts to critical human services programs are set to take effect on July 1st - leaving 80,000 working parents without child care, over 40,000 seniors and people with disabilities without home care and countless other families devastated by drastic cuts to the programs they depend on. Read more...

Senators push for wage and hour protections for home care workers

Jun 13, 2009 - A group of 15 Senators led by Senator Harkins (D-IA) have sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, urging the Department of Labor to expand federal wage and hour laws to an estimated 1.5 million home care workers in the U.S., one of the fastest-growing professions in the country today. Read more...

Maryland Family Child Care Contract Victory!

Jun 12, 2009 - 5,000 family care providers in Maryland won their first contract with the Department of Education and the Governor's Office yesterday. The historic contract includes a nearly three-percent increase in the state subsidy, access to decision-making committees, and the creation of a new Training Committee of state officials and child care providers to recommend future improvements. Read more...

It's On Your Kitchen Table

Jun 12, 2009 - President Obama last week indicated that we must provide Americans with the option of a public health insurance plan. Now it's time to convince Congress; and the strongest proof that our current health care system is broken is probably sitting on your kitchen table - your medical bills. Read more...

Are healthcare workers on TV realistically depicted?

Jun 12, 2009 - Two new TV dramas about registered nurses - "Nurse Jackie" on Showtime and "Hawthorne" on TNT - premiere during the month of June. They join a host of TV programs that are set in hospitals, such as Grey's Anatomy, House and Scrubs. Do you any of the programs accurately depict the lives of healthcare workers, and is your situation reflected in any of these programs? Read more...

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Stands Up for its Constituents: Ken Lewis and Bank of America

Jun 12, 2009 - Yesterday the U.S. Chamber of Commerce saw fit to stand up for Bank of America's disgraced ex-Chairman and current CEO Ken Lewis. Lewis testified to the House Oversight Committee about the bank's purchase and subsequent bleeding of Merrill Lynch. Read more...

Officer Johns: A True Hero

Jun 11, 2009 - No doubt, you've likely heard about yesterday's tragic shooting incident at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where security officer Stephen T. Johns tragically lost his life. The event is a bitter reminder about the importance of these brave men and women who serve as the "first line of defense against a terrorist attack," and the methods that can be taken to ensure their safety while on the job. Read more...

Public Employees Notch Two Victories in Keystone State

Jun 11, 2009 - Workers in two counties on opposite sides of Pennsylvania-- Montgomery County and Westmoreland County--voted late last month to unite for a voice with SEIU Local 668--Pennsylvania's Social Services Union. Read more...

10 Questions to Ask Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis at House Testimony on Disastrous Merrill Lynch Purchase

Jun 11, 2009 - Ahead of Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis' testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, we put together the top ten questions that employees, consumers, taxpayers and shareholders would like reporters and legislators to ask Ken Lewis. Read more...

Colorado Small Businesses Endorse Employee Free Choice Act

Jun 11, 2009 - Today, 225 Colorado businesses released a "directory" featuring businesses that support the Employee Free Choice Act. In this economic crisis, we have a duty to support entrepreneurs and start-up companies in building sustainable, long-term successful businesses, rather than being forced to compete against irresponsible companies in an unwinnable, low-wage race to the bottom. Read more...

Danny Glover: "Binding Arbitration, Sooner the Better"

Jun 10, 2009 - Hollywood actor Danny Glover has always used his celebrity to support unions and organizing drives, pro-worker political candidates and the Employee Free Choice Act, saying "I will always be a union activist, and I am proud of that." Today on the Huffington Post, Glover urges binding arbitration as a path to end to the conflict around the dissolution of the UNITE HERE merger. Read more...

SEIU exposes U.S. Chamber of Commerce's record of fighting common-sense legislation

Jun 10, 2009 - The very same day that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced a $100 million campaign to "defend the free market system," SEIU announced a campaign of its own: to expose the Chamber's record of opposing working families and common-sense legislation that would help our economy. Read more...

Organizing for America unveils its "Health Care Action Center"

Jun 10, 2009 - After holding its Health Care Organizing Kickoff this weekend with thousands of house parties across the country, Organizing for America unveiled its "Health Care Action Center." Read more...

24 Hours of Twitter

Jun 09, 2009 - Thanks to the hard work of the Iowa Change that Works, our 24 hours of health care stories campaign on Twitter was a tremendous success. Read more...

New York State employees reach agreement with Gov. Paterson to preserve services, jobs

Jun 09, 2009 - The Public Employees Federation of New York, an SEIU affiliate, reached an agreement with the state's governor that saves the state billions, avoids layoffs, preserves services and protects union contracts. Read more...

Californians Convene for Health Care Reform

Jun 08, 2009 - 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. Read more...

When did layoffs become 'acceptable'? Put working families above Cisco profits

Jun 08, 2009 - As janitors and community supporters continue their hunger strike outside of Cisco Systems corporate headquarters in San Jose, Mercury News columnist Mike Cassidy has written a thought-provoking column about the corporate strategy of treating layoffs as 'par-for-the-course' events that are the cost of doing business in this downtrodden economy. Read more...

@ChuckGrassley: Who's Tweeting Whom?

Jun 08, 2009 - While telling the President he "has some nerve" as well as asserting "I'm no NAIL" might raise some eyebrows, we're not here to school Senator Grassley on the finer points of inter-netiquette. Rather, SEIU's Change that Works campaign is taking advantage of the Senator's connectivity to reach out directly and influence him where it counts: to reform our country's health care. Read more...

What Are You Going to Do About Health Care Reform? (Colorado)

Jun 08, 2009 - This weekend, inspired by Chris Dodd & the hardworking volunteers in Organizing for America, I set out to document what ideas people had for reforming health care in America. Read more...

Gov. Dean Gets Fired Up in Delaware

Jun 08, 2009 - On May 29th, SEIU hosted an event with Gov. Howard Dean to discuss health care reform with people in Wilmington, Delaware. Watch a clip of Howard Dean reacting to a story from a local resident who was forced to file for divorce in order to afford cancer treatment. Read more...

Louisianans Answer the President's Call for Health Care Reform

Jun 08, 2009 - On Saturday, June 6, Change that Works organizers joined as dozens of activists from Organizing for America answered the President's call to meet and discuss health care reform. In house meetings across the state, Louisianans watched the President's health care reform message; shared their health care stories and found out how they could further participate in the health care reform discussion. Read more...

"Lethal Weapon" Danny Glover Headlines Union Rally in Niagara Falls

Jun 05, 2009 - Workers United members turned up the spotlight as Hollywood actor Danny Glover chanted union slogans on the picket line with employees of Courtyard by Marriott. Courtyard Marriott has refused to negotiate a collective agreement with recently organized workers. Read more...

SEIU Endorses Feingold Bill To Help Displaced Workers Find Health Care Jobs

Jun 05, 2009 - SEIU has endorsed Community-Based Health Care Retraining Act legislation reintroduced by Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). The new version of the bill, formerly introduced in 2004, 2005 and 2007, would establish a program to distribute grants to colleges and other institution to retrain workers in areas of high unemployment to take jobs in healthcare. Read more...

Nationwide Poll: Comprehensive Immigration Reform Enjoys Widespread Public Support

Jun 05, 2009 - The American people want our country's broken immigration system to be fixed--and they want Congress to make it happen within the year. According to new polling, public support for comprehensive immigration support remains unwavering despite the country's economic downturn. Read more...

LGBT Community Comes Out to Support SEIU UHW Home Care Members

Jun 05, 2009 - Friends and allies of SEIU are celebrating Pride month in a special way this year: Joining with home care workers in Fresno to protect their union and to keep their union voice strong in SEIU UHW. Read more...

Tell the Senate: Don't Listen to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Jun 05, 2009 - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce really stepped in it this week. The multi-million dollar corporate group flew in hundreds of CEOs and other businesspeople to pressure your senators into doing nothing to help working people. But boy, did it not go well for the U.S. Chamber. Write to your senators now. Read more...

Conservatives for Patients' Rights "Bulldozer" Ad Check

Jun 05, 2009 - Our health care activists have kept a watchful eye on ad buys by Rick Scott's "Conservatives for Patients' Rights," and with good reason. Scott's ads have contained demonstrably false material, misleading excerpts of interviews, and blatant fear-mongering in an attempt to swift-boat health care reform. Read more...

Eliseo Medina: Why Immigration Reforms Matters

Jun 04, 2009 - At the America's Future Now! conference in Washington, DC on Tuesday, Medina addressed attendees on why comprehensive immigration reform is an important issue to support. Watch the video of his speech. Read more...

Momentum for comprehensive immigration reform continues to build with introduction of "Reuniting Families Act"

Jun 04, 2009 - Today, Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced the "Reuniting Families Act," marking the first time in Congressional history that same-sex couples have been included as part of a multi-issue immigration bill. Read more...

Really, Canada?

Jun 04, 2009 - The right wing's bizarre attack on Canada's health care system continues. Why attack Canada? Because it's easier than defending the broken U.S. health care system. The recent media blitz on our neighbors to the north reminded us of the, ahem, sophisticated story line in South Park's 1999 feature film. (Watch our video) Read more...

The Chamber of Commerce and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Lobbying Day

Jun 04, 2009 - From the moment they flew people to Washington, DC to lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act, things were just not going the Chamber of Commerce's way...From bringing a major labor law violator to lobby on behalf of (wait for it...) labor law reform, to getting caught in a lie by Sen. Feinstein, this can't be how the Chamber wanted their lobbying week to go. Read more...

Denied the Right to Bargain: Why We Need First Contract Arbitration

Jun 04, 2009 - 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. Read more...

The Real Face of Schwarzenegger's Cuts to Home Care

Jun 03, 2009 - Governor Schwarzenegger says he thinks every day about the people who will be affected by his proposed cuts to health care will affect. "I know the consequences of those cuts are not just dollars," said the Governor to lawmakers yesterday. "I see the faces behind those dollars." Fresno area home care provider Carlos Martinez and his wife Mikesha Martinez show the real face of those who would be impacted the most by these cuts. Read more...

Industrial and Labor Relations Expert: The System Is Failing

Jun 03, 2009 - In an opinion piece published by the Washington Post this morning, industrial and labor relations scholar Kate Bronfenbrenner writes about the obstacles facing workers today. The system itself, she states, is failing "to defend workers' rights in a timely manner" and creates "delays that favor employers." That, in itself, is a large reason to support the Employee Free Choice's "first contract arbitration" section. Read more...

Richmond Small Business Owner for Health Care Reform

Jun 03, 2009 - Leonard Edloe has been running Edloe's Professional Pharmacy in Richmond, Virginia for 39 years--this African American owned business was opened by his father in 1947. As a small business owner, Mr. Edloe knows that when his customers thrive, his business thrives and that is part and parcel why he supports health care reform. Read more...

Stern: Unionized companies are a driving force in our economy

Jun 03, 2009 - Today, SEIU International President Andy Stern made the following statement in response to comments by New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin and MSNBC's "Morning Joe" cast on the effectiveness of unionized companies. Read more...

Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign Launched to Spearhead National Immigration Reform Effort

Jun 03, 2009 - At today's press conference, leaders of labor unions, business coalitions, civil rights and religious groups, and pro-immigrant advocacy organizations announced the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign--an effort to focus the political power of these diverse constituencies and give the American people a way to communicate their broad support for comprehensive immigration reform directly to lawmakers in Washington. Read more...

Video: Canvassing for Fresno Home Care

Jun 03, 2009 - 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. Read more...

Morning Joe Team Wakes Up on Wrong Side of Bed, Goes on Anti-Union Tirade

Jun 03, 2009 - This morning, the Morning Joe crew of MSNBC decided to go on an anti-union tirade. Clearly, they didn't drink the coffee handed to them by their unionized colleagues that help to get their show in the air. After a rant from "smart" money man Jim Cramer (who, in recent months, has admitted that he's "gotten a lot of things wrong" and that he "should do a better job") on the terribleness of unions, the entire on-air team decided to weigh in. Read more...

"Campaign for America's Future" Prepares the Way for Healthcare Reform

Jun 03, 2009 - More than 1,000 progressive leaders and activists have been in Washington, DC at the Omni Shoreham Hotel for the yearly America's Future Now! Conference, organized by Campaign for America's Future (CAF). The main 'event' of CAF's 2009 conference has been the launching of an $82 million campaign for healthcare reform, a collective effort involving more than 1,000 organizations that are part of Health Care for America Now behind President Obama's health care plan. Read more...

Small Business Owner: Chamber of Commerce Speaks for Me like Burger King Speaks for Cows

Jun 02, 2009 - Today, Maine small business owner Ben Wootten spoke out on the congressional lobbying organized by the Chamber of Commerce against the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

"I'm too old to get rehired and too young for Social Security."

Jun 02, 2009 - This weekend, about 100 union service employees, police and firefighters in Orlando, FL, met to discuss budget cuts which would force them from their jobs. "It's not the unions causing the crisis. Read more...

155 Academics Urge Sen. Specter to Support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Jun 01, 2009 - Everyone's jumping on the train. Today 155 Pennsylvania college & university professors signed a letter asking Sen. Arlen Specter to support the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Fighting to Protect Fresno Home Care

Jun 01, 2009 - They came from across Fresno County, California, the U.S. and Canada with one mission: to protect Fresno County home care. Between now and July 1st--the date the home care cuts are supposed to take effect--California home care workers, their families and supporters have much to fight for. Read more...

SEIU Members and Organizers Fight for Reform During Memorial Day Recess

Jun 01, 2009 - Across the country, SEIU members and Change that Works activists worked at a feverish pace to spotlight the value of reforming our broken healthcare system, with activities in Nebraska, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio, Colorado and Delaware. Read more...

Wells Fargo Officially Opposes Bid to Save Hartmarx from Liquidation

May 29, 2009 - The fight to keep creditor Wells Fargo from liquidating Hartmarx menswear factory appears to ramping up, as the bailed-out bank said today that it is opposing the $119 million bid by the British private equity firm Emerisque to save the bankrupt Chicago-based men's clothier...for the "good" of its workers. Read more...

Calling all DC Residents: Can you call the General Manager?

May 29, 2009 - Yesterday, we emailed about stopping Rick Scott's phony "documentary" from airing on Washington, DC's NBC4 after Meet the Press this weekend. Today, we're upping the ante. Read more...

Little Rock Worker Wants Employee Free Choice

May 28, 2009 - Kanisha knows working families in Arkansas need Employee Free Choice, and she's working hard to make that happen. Join the Arkansas Change that Works campaign and help improve the quality of life of Arkansas workers. Read more...

Governor Schwarzenegger: Home Healthcare Is Not A Throw-Away!

May 28, 2009 - 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 Read more...

California Needs the Employee Free Choice Act

May 28, 2009 - Union members in California and across the country earn significantly more than non- union workers. Over the four-year period between 2004 and 2007, unionized workers' wages in California were on average 12.7 percent higher than non-union workers with similar characteristics. Read more...

Healthy Families Act Would Guarantee Paid Sick Time for Workers

May 28, 2009 - Too many workers have jobs where they don't have any paid sick days for themselves, much less paid days off to care for a sick child or family members. to the introduction of The Healthy Families Act, introduced in Congress last week, to both sides of Congress last week by Senator Kennedy and Representative DeLauro. The legislation would allow workers to earn up to 7 days of paid sick time, with an accrual of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Read more...

President Bartlett Pledges to Pass The Employee Free Choice Act

May 27, 2009 - You may have heard of President Obama's support for the Employee Free Choice Act, but today, Catholics for Working Families is launching an ad with another president's endorsement: President Bartlett (or, as he's known in the real world, Martin Sheen). Read more...

24 Hours of Healthcare Stories in Nebraska

May 27, 2009 - Change that Works Nebraska kicked off their Memorial Day recess activities yesterday morning with their innovative 24 hours of Healthcare Stories Youtube campaign. Read more...

Sierra Club President Allison Chin: "An economy that treats workers fairly is fundamentally better for our planet"

May 27, 2009 - To mark the occasion of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Sierra Club President Allison Chin addressed a group of SEIU employees during a lunch lecture on the topics of grassroots activism, the Employee Free Choice Act and working together with labor in the Blue Green Alliance. Read more...

Tonight in California: Thousands Begin 48-Hour Vigils to Protest Massive Cuts

May 26, 2009 - SEIU members, seniors home care givers and community supporters from across the state will hold vigils tonight on the grounds of the State Capitol to protest Schwarzenegger's proposed cutbacks that would reduce vital services to seniors and people with disabilities. Read more...

Stop Starbucks: Coffee Conglomerate Blocks Baristas from Joining Unions

May 26, 2009 - Our friends at Brave New Films are out with their latest campaign to expose corporate opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act. Next up: Starbucks. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare Turns Up the Heat During Memorial Day Recess

May 25, 2009 - While many will be enjoying BBQs and beach time this weekend, SEIU advocates of healthcare reform will be pushing their Members of Congress and neighbors to support measures like a public health insurance option that increases choice and reduces costs. Read more...

Grassley Open to Public Health Care Plan Option

May 22, 2009 - Senator Grassley has been working hard to craft a health care legislation bill that works for everyone, and we applaud his considerable effort in the cause for quality, affordable health care reform. However, now is not the time to sacrifice the public health plan option for the sake of political compromise. Read more...

Big Interest Groups Throw a Hail Mary on Employee Free Choice

May 22, 2009 - A newly-formed coalition of religious leaders and people of faith--Faith Leaders for Workplace Fairness--publicly announced their support for the labor reform bill on a conference call with press last week, calling the legislation a "moral imperative" and a civil and human right. Over the last few days, several conservative websites and corporate interests have decided that such a coalition is unacceptable, because they apparently own all the stock on religion. Read more...

Job Loss Bad for Your Wallet AND Health (Employee Free Choice Act to the rescue!)

May 21, 2009 - Adding injury to insult, it turns out losing your job isn't just detrimental to your bank account: it's also bad for your physical and physiological health, according to a study in the latest issue of Demography. Read more...

No holiday for Health Care and Employee Free Choice campaigns

May 21, 2009 - Harley riders. Pancake breakfasts. Governor Howard Dean. What do they all have in common? They're just a few of the unique ways that SEIU's keeping our campaigns for health care reform and Employee Free Choice moving during the Memorial Day recess. Read more...

Sign Up and Tell Mark Fahelson: Walk A Day In Our Shoes

May 21, 2009 - On May 18th, Mark Fahelson, the Nebraska Republican Party Chairman, wrote an op-ed in Midland Voices entitled "Opposition to Employee Free Choice Act Only Sensible." We keep hearing parroted talking points and rhetoric from corporate-backed Republicans, when what we need to hear are the facts behind a bill that will help working families who are struggling to have a voice in their workplace. Read more...

Tell Governor Schwarzenegger: No more cuts to home care!

May 21, 2009 - Caring for others. It's probably the most important thing your mother ever taught you. But it's a lesson Gov. Schwarzenegger seems to have forgotten, because on May 14th the governor released a preview of his revised budget, which seeks to implement deeper cuts to the in-home care program by slicing the state's contribution toward home care worker wages by a staggering 20 to 30 percent. Read more...

Green jobs and energy are focus of President's first Economic Recovery Advisory Board meeting

May 20, 2009 - During the first quarterly meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger and fifteen other board members discussed green jobs and energy with the President, sharing their expertise on the creation of a comprehensive energy plan that will generate millions of clean energy jobs. Read more...

People of Faith, Sen. Harkin Deliver Strong Message to Congress for Employee Free Choice

May 20, 2009 - Over 50 religious leaders from a range of diverse faiths and denominations came to Washington, DC to lobby members of Congress on support of the Employee Free Choice Act. The lobbying day begin with an early a.m. prayer breakfast at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, followed a by press conference held with Sen. Tom Harkin. Check out our video of the event. Read more...

Missoulian Endorses Free Choice to Rebuild Middle Class

May 20, 2009 - Sociology professor Daisy Rooks of the University of Montana put the Employee Free Choice Act in its proper perspective with her glowing endorsement atop the editorial page of the Missoulian. Read more...

The GOP Health Care Proposal: More of the Same

May 20, 2009 - Republicans in Congress dusted off John McCain's health care proposal from the 2008 campaign and reintroduced it at a press conference in Washington today. The proposal, which serves as their counter to President Obama's plan for health care reform, replaces the coverage people have with an insufficient tax subsidy that doesn't even cover half of the average family's health care premiums. Read more...

Proposed OSHA Standard Would Prevent Injury for Nurses and Healthcare Workers

May 19, 2009 - Last week, Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) laid the first steps toward the Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act (H.R. 2381). This legislation will require that healthcare facilities provide safe patient handling using mechanical lifts and develop injury prevention plans for healthcare workers who move patients. Read more...

The Party of No...Health Care? We Hope Not.

May 19, 2009 - Last Sunday, RNC Chair Michael Steele revealed his party's intentions when it comes to fixing our broken health care system. Watch Chairman Steele demonstrate why his party is now referred to as the "Party of No". Read more...

SEIU Local 721 members Turn Out to Support Mental Health Services

May 18, 2009 - At a rally held at the downtown Los Angeles state building on May 13th, SEIU Local 721 members and community advocates gathered to show support for mental health services and oppose the May 19 ballot measure, Proposition 1E. Read more...

Community to Board of Supervisors: "Save Our Safety Net!"

May 17, 2009 - Santa Clara County, CA faces staggering $273 million budget deficit and there's no doubt the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will be making some truly hard decisions in the coming weeks. What's at stake: a $140 million reduction in public services and some 340 county workers who will be affected either by losing their jobs, having their job changed, or reduced work hours. Read more...

Dick Cheney: Wrong on Employee Free Choice (And Everything Else)

May 15, 2009 - Dick Cheney is out from his undisclosed location, this time with his sights set on the Employee Free Choice Act. In an interview with FOX News this week, Cheney criticized the Employee Free Choice Act while claiming to not be against working people. Watch our video on Dick's "greatest hits" here. Read more...

Why, What a Nice Plant You Have, Rick Berman

May 15, 2009 - You may remember Rick Berman from such corporate farces as, "Pesticides: Kids Love 'Em!" and "Second Hand Smoke: You Have Two Lungs for a Reason." Now get ready for the latest episode in Rick Berman's corporate hackery: planting a former employee and Wal-Mart lobbyist as a "Democrat against the Employee Free Choice Act." Read more...

Big Banks Liquidating Your Company? Let Us Know

May 15, 2009 - Today, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) launched a toll-free hotline and website--Keep America Working--to support small business owners and workers facing job loss because of frozen credit and liquidation at the hands of bailed-out banks. Visit www.keepworkinghotline.org if your company is facing liquidation threats from big banks. Read more...

Watch Andy Stern on the Charlie Rose Show

May 14, 2009 - SEIU President Andy Stern appeared on Charlie Rose last night to discuss the economic crisis and its impact on American workers. Watch it here. Read more...

Congress, Meet Your Partner in Health Care Reform: NURSES

May 14, 2009 - This week, hundreds of RNs flooded our nation's capitol, many of us with several decades of experience in patient care. We left our families and communities because this year-2009-is the year that Congress can finally fix our broken health care system. And it can't happen without nurses. Read more...

President Obama Reaffirms Support for the Employee Free Choice Act

May 14, 2009 - In a town hall meeting today in New Mexico, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to passing the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would allow workers to bargain with their employers for better job security, wages and benefits. Watch Read more...

They Got the Message: CNN and Fox expose Rick Scott

May 14, 2009 - Yesterday morning, both CNN and FOX News confronted Rick Scott about his miserable record in the health care industry. It seems the nearly 20,000 emails you sent to CNN and FOX News were enough to get the message across, and now they're passing that message on to viewers: Rick Scott can't be trusted when it comes to health care. Read more...

Big Business Loves to Choose (When They Choose Themselves)

May 14, 2009 - In today's Washington Post, political columnist Harold Meyerson explains the importance of first contract arbitration in the Employee Free Choice Act, which is the second main plank of the legislation. Read more...

New Video: The Epic Battle for Employee Free Choice

May 14, 2009 - Corporate lobbyists and executives are gearing up for their next round of attacks on the Employee Free Choice Act. But the next battle is bound to show them for who they are: greedy people who will do anything to hold onto their power. Watch our tongue-in-cheek video here. Read more...

Georgetown Hospital Food Service Workers Beat Back Subcontracting Effort

May 14, 2009 - A proposal to subcontract out food service workers at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC was recently defeated by 1199SEIU members. Read more...

Video: The Fight to Save Hartmarx Workers' Jobs

May 13, 2009 - On May 11, Workers United members at the Illinois Hartmarx facility voted unanimously to occupy their workplace if chief lender Wells Fargo moves to shut the factory down. Watch the short documentary released today on the events at the Hart Schaffner & Marx factory in Des Plaines, IL over the last week. Read more...

Virginia Home Care Workers Speak Out for the Union

May 13, 2009 - Home care workers and supporters describe their struggle for wage increases, health care and better working conditions. They tout the Employee Free Choice Act because it will allow workers to organize easier and pave the way for a better quality of life. Listen as one of the workers describes historical struggles the Virginia coal miners endured prior to organizing. Read more...

Video: Anna Burger on Labor's Role in Democracy

May 13, 2009 - "When workers had a voice on the job, when unionization was high and one in three workers had a union, not only was it good for those workers, it lifted up everybody," said SEIU's Anna Burger in an interview with the Brennan Center for Justice. "It raised the standards across America in terms of wages, healthcare, retirement security and the ability to give our kids a better life." Read more...

The Latest Victims of the Broken Health Care System: Medicare Recipients

May 13, 2009 - The big news out of Washington is that the Social Security and Medicare Trust funds are in worse shape than we thought. According to the Medicare Trustees' report released yesterday, we're going to exhaust Medicare by 2017 unless we take immediate action. Read more...

VP Biden's renewed support for Employee Free Choice: "If a union is what you want, then a union is what you should get"

May 13, 2009 - VP Joe Biden demonstrated once again today that he and the Obama administration stand firmly with working families in supporting passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Biden reiterated his opinion that labor unions are a big part of the solution in rebuilding our economy, saying there is "no way" for the administration to "level the playing field" without strengthening organized labor. Read more...

Maine's Veterans Support Employee Free Choice

May 12, 2009 - Last week, a group of Maine veterans gathered together in Portland to voice their support for the Employee Free Choice Act--and it's not only Maine's veterans who support the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Tell Wells Fargo: Save Jobs at Hartmarx

May 12, 2009 - The public gave Wells Fargo $25 billion in bailout funds, but rather than investing that money in American jobs by keeping credit flowing, Wells Fargo is considering cutting the cord. oment to sign a letter to Wells Fargo Executive Vice President John Stumpf asking him to choose a bidder who will save these jobs. Read more...

Is Bank of America Clueless?

May 12, 2009 - The bank was "shocked" at the Treasury's initial figure and "negotiated" to have the number lowered by about $20 billion. Of course this begs a question as to just how healthy BofA actually is. I mean, I've heard of accounting tricks, but I didn't know you can knock off 30% of your capital shortfall through "negotiations". That's one hell of an accounting trick! Read more...

Call the Senate: Support the Credit Cardholder Bill of Rights

May 12, 2009 - President Obama said he wants to sign a bill that protects credit card holders, but Big Banks are twisting the arms of your senators to get them to oppose even the most basic reforms. Make the call now: tell your senators to support the Dodd-Shelby amendment to the Credit Cardholder Bill of Rights. Read more...

SEIU Nurse Participates in White House Spanish-Language Town Hall on H1N1 Virus

May 12, 2009 - On Friday, SEIU Florida Healthcare nurse Patricia Diaz joined U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and a team of Spanish-speaking Administration officials from DHS and the CDC for a White House Town Hall to discuss Government's safety and prevention plans for the H1N1 virus. Read more...

New Hampshire Gathers for Mother's Day Delivery

May 11, 2009 - This year, we here at Change that Works decided to celebrate Mother's Day by helping out where it counts: in the battle for quality, affordable health care. Our volunteers showed their commitment to the mothers and families of New Hampshire by taking the time to hand deliver flowers and unfilled prescriptions to the offices of Senator Judd Gregg and Senator Jeanne Shaheen. Read more...

Hartmarx Workers Hold Rally with State Politicians & Labor Leaders After Sit-in Vote

May 11, 2009 - Hartmarx workers were joined by Rep. Phil Hare, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and SEIU Illinois State Council president Tom Balanoff at a rally today at the Des Plaines, IL plant, following a unanimous vote by workers to stage a sit-in if Wells Fargo does not approve the sale of Hartmarx to a buyer that would keep it alive instead of liquidating it. Read more...

Hartmarx Workers Vote to "Sit In" to Save Their Jobs as TARP Recipient Wells Fargo Threatens to Close Factory

May 11, 2009 - Mirroring the six-day protest that helped save more than 250 Republic Windows and Doors workers from losing their jobs last December, Chicago-based Hartmarx factory workers voted unanimously this morning in favor of a "sit in" style action if chief lender Wells Fargo Bank or a new owner tries to begin liquidation or close the factory. Read more...

Why Today is a Game Changer

May 11, 2009 - SEIU is joining a diverse group of organizations at the White House today, unveiling a plan to reduce the cost of health care and jumpstart the drive toward real reform. The groups are teaming up with the Obama administration to curb health care costs through improved efficiency and higher quality of care. Read more...

As part of President Obama's Job Creation Plan, SEIU Calls for Passage of Employee Free Choice Act

May 11, 2009 - As President Obama laid out his latest plans to help the nation's unemployed millions, SEIU President Andy Stern called on Congress to implement the Employee Free Choice Act as a priority part of the President's job creation plan. Read more...

Report shows NJ food service workers get low pay, few benefits

May 08, 2009 - Thousands of school food service workers in New Jersey are living at or near poverty, according to a new report commissioned by SEIU Local 32BJ, which found that the average hourly wage for food preparation workers in educational services was only $8.15, and that most had no health benefits. Read more...

US Chamber: We Hate Arbitration. Except For When We Love It.

May 08, 2009 - In a post on the US Chamber of Commerce's blog, Brad Peck attempts to argue against our point that corporate lobby groups - such as the Chamber itself - were long for arbitration before they started assailing the process as a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad thing. Read more...

Calling It What It Is: Frank Luntz's Hit Job on Health Care

May 08, 2009 - Opponents of health care reform have been wringing their hands these last few months. Ever since America elected a president dedicated to fixing our broken system last November, it seems that no amount of spin can distract people from the fact that we're paying billions of dollars for a health care system that doesn't work. This week, as a last ditch effort, Republican spin-doctor Frank Luntz floated a confidential memo on how to scare Americans into believing health care reform is bad. The only problem: the memo was leaked. And, now, the media and members of Congress are calling his bluff. Read more...

Mayor Bloomberg walks a day in the shoes of SEIU 32BJ security officer

May 08, 2009 - "For me and for so many of my co-workers, the main issue is our healthcare," said Annie Davis, a 54-year-old New York security officer and SEIU Local 32BJ member during her day-long visit with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Read more...

Contracts Re-opening for 140,000 NYC Healthcare Workers

May 08, 2009 - Collective bargaining on behalf of some 140,000 hospital and nursing home workers are beginning this month in New York City. Representing 1199SEIU will be an elected Negotiating Committee of some 500 rank-and-file healthcare workers. They will be conducting parallel talks with representatives of the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, and the Greater New York association of nursing homes. Read more...

Corporate Lobbyists: We Were for Arbitration Before We Were Against It

May 07, 2009 - In a new round of attacks against the Employee Free Choice Act, corporate lobbyists and executives are showing their true, greedy selves. In recent weeks, corporate lobbyist groups such as the Center for Union Facts, the Chamber of Commerce, and conservatives like Newt Gingrich, have waged war to prevent workers from enjoying what CEOs take for granted: a contract. Read more...

Bank of America Fails "Stress Tests," Needs $34 Billion and Accountability

May 07, 2009 - Yesterday's federal government stress test results confirmed what concerned shareholders, taxpayers and bank employees have been saying all along--that Bank of America is failing taxpayers and our economy. Read more...

SEIU, Allies Working to Protect Community Mental Health Services in CA

May 07, 2009 - More than 200 community members joined elected officials, mental health advocacy organizations, and SEIU Local 1021 members at a forum last night to discuss the future of community mental health services in Sonoma County, CA. Read more...

New HHS Report: Decline in Patient Safety "Disturbing"

May 07, 2009 - The Department of Health and Human Services has released their National Healthcare Quality Report, which evaluates the quality of American health care based on data collected throughout 2008. This headline from the report sums it up: Health Care Quality Is Suboptimal and Continues To Improve at a Slow Pace Read more...

SEIU Members in Florida Defeat Anti-Union Ballot Initiative Designed to Undercut Workers' Rights

May 06, 2009 - SEIU members in Florida have helped beat an anti-union ballot initiative designed to undermine Employee Free Choice and deny workers their rights. Through a grassroots campaign, Florida members defeated the so-called "Save Our Secret Ballot" (SOSB) initiative, part of a national campaign led by big business and right-wing think tanks. Read more...

Point of View: What Prop. 1A really means for California

May 06, 2009 - The new rules under Prop. 1A would require massive savings even in bad years and would greatly reduce the funding available for public services. Prop. 1A won't reduce California's looming deficit for the 2009-10 budget by a single cent, and most of its provisions will not take effect for two years--years that should be spent hammering out real solutions to the state's budget and fiscal challenges. Read more...

YouTube Video Contest: Why the Employee Free Choice Act & being in a union is important to LGBT workers

May 06, 2009 - To help give discrimination the "one two" punch, Stonewall Democrats and Pride At Work recently launched SharedAgenda.org to build support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Employee Free Choice Act. Join this campaign by submitting a video that explains to Americans why we need to quickly pass both pieces of pro-equality legislation. Read more...

Andy Stern's Testimony to Congress: The Face of the Health Care Crisis

May 06, 2009 - SEIU President Andy Stern visited Capitol Hill Tuesday in one of the last official opportunities to provide input on health care reform before a final piece of legislation is drafted next month. Learn about the standards SEIU uses to measure the success of the healthcare system that works for America's working families. Read more...

Politico labels SEIU's Dennis Rivera a key player in healthcare debate

May 05, 2009 - This week, Politico dubbed SEIU Healthcare Chair Dennis Rivera "The Organizer" on their list of five people who could play a prime time role in affecting the course of health care reform. Read more...

How (Not) to Join a Union

May 05, 2009 - Ever wonder how, exactly unions are formed? The Center for American Progress is out with a new video that explains the process step-by-step. Read more...

Illinois Workers United Suit Makers' Jobs On the Cutting Table

May 05, 2009 - Workers United members at the Hart Schaffner & Marx (known as Hartmarx) menswear factory in Des Plaines, IL, make suits for President Obama, but their jobs may not make the cut. Read more...

"Kids Can't Wait" Campaign Launch: Free Healthcare on Wheels

May 04, 2009 - Last weekend, SEIU Healthcare Michigan members and their families attended the Detroit launch of a national initiative called "Kids Can't Wait," a campaign which seeks to draw attention to the impact of the economic crisis on children's healthcare and expand health care services to disadvantaged children. Read more...

Your Voices: What Sen. Specter's Announcement Means for Us

May 04, 2009 - If you thought that Sen. Specter's party-affiliation change from a Republican to a Democrat meant an automatic endorsement from labor unions for his 2010 election...think again. In the memo Andy Stern sent to PA members late last week, he affirmed that we will maintain our ramped-up efforts to reach out to the Senator and let our concerns be known on the need for reform to our nation's labor laws. Read more...

Who is Rick Scott?

May 04, 2009 - Recently, Rick Scott bought ads for his group "Conservatives for Patients' Rights" on CNN and FOX News networks. Join SEIU in calling on FOX News and CNN to adhere to their own policies and immediately cease running CPR's distortions. Read more...

This has to stop

May 03, 2009 - Next week, SEIU President Andy Stern will be going toCapitol Hill for a Senate roundtable on fixing health care and he wants to use your voice to tell the real story of this health care crisis. Will you take a moment to share your health care story? Read more...

California: Interfaith Leaders Support Employee Free Choice Act

May 01, 2009 - Interfaith leaders gathered outside of Wal-Mart in Los Angeles to "renew a covenant with workers" and call for Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Wal-Mart has doggedly pursued anti-worker policies and is currently spending millions of dollars... Read more...

CPR Responds With No Refutation of Our Case

May 01, 2009 - Rick Scott's group, Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR), responded today to SEIU's written request to CNN and FOX News for removal of the group's ads. The ads, which were created by the same PR firm behind the now widely-discredited "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" ads in 2004, contain false statements and distortions that are intended to mislead the viewing public. Read more...

Home Care Workers Unite With SEIU in Ontario and Nevada

Apr 30, 2009 - Home care workers from Ontario and Nevada are the latest workers to join SEIU in their growing campaign to raise standards and improve the quality of home care across North America and and set higher standards for thousands of home care aides. Read more...

Obama's First 100 Days: What he's done for workers

Apr 29, 2009 - Today marks the 100th day Obama has been in the Oval Office. "President Obama has made it clear from day one that we will not be able to rebuild our economy stronger than it was without a greater voice, and greater prosperity, for American workers," said SEIU's Anna Burger, highlighting workers' engagement during the Administration's first 100 days. Read more...

Pictures from San Francisco with Mary Kay Henry

Apr 29, 2009 - SEIU Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry led a rally and protest outside of Bank of America in San Francisco yesterday. It was a windy day, but 50+ activists gathered to call for reform at Bank of America. Read more...

Liveblogging Bank of America's Annual Shareholder Meeting

Apr 29, 2009 - We liveblogged Bank of America's annual shareholder meeting starting at 10am EST until the very end when the meeting adjourned after 2pm. Read commentary and analysis on the meeting in which Ken Lewis' fate at Bank of America will be decided by shareholders. Read more...

Sebelius confirmed, but why not sooner?

Apr 29, 2009 - It took swine flu, and 13,000 petition signatures, to remind Republican Senators that cynical politicking can have real consequences for American lives. After weeks of Republican maneuvers to delay a floor vote, the Senate yesterday voted 65-31 to confirm Kathleen Sebelius as HHS Secretary. Read more...

Taxpayers Rally in Providence

Apr 28, 2009 - Taxpayers are rallying in dozens of cities across the country today calling for Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis to go. Today's events are off to a great start. Here's a snapshot from the event in Providence. Read more...

Fire Ken Lewis!

Apr 28, 2009 - Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis' failed policies have wreaked havoc on the economy. Taxpayers are getting together all over the country today to say that enough is enough and it is time for Lewis to go! Read more...

Washington Child Care Providers Urge Legislators to Support Struggling Families

Apr 27, 2009 - After consulting with members across the state, Washington state family child care providers are urging legislators and the governor to focus the state's $33 million incoming share of federal child care grants to help low-wage families access quality child care in the economic downturn. Read more...

SURVEY: Over One-Third of Healthcare Facilities Not Prepared in Event of Pandemic Flu Outbreak

Apr 27, 2009 - Only 4 percent of surveyed union leaders representing heatlh care workers reported their workplaces as "very ready" to respond sufficiently to an influenza pandemic like swine flu, according to a new report compiled by the SEIU and six other unions. Read more...

VOTE for Limbaugh as Worst Media Moment of Obama's First 100 Days

Apr 27, 2009 - Our friends over at Media Matters are asking online readers to watch a selection of the most outrageous media moments from the first 100 days, and vote for which you think is the worst. For us, the winner here is pretty clear: Rush Limbaugh's choice words on Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

US bailout for offshored jobs?

Apr 27, 2009 - More than 20,000 people have already signed "taxpayer proxy cards" asking for CEO Ken Lewis to be fired and to reform Bank of America. Can you help us reach 30,000 in the next 48 hours? Read more...

What's the HHS got to do with it?

Apr 27, 2009 - The swine flu outbreak has prompted news outlets and bloggers to take a harder look at the Republican obstructionism that's blocked the confirmation of an HHS Secretary. Many noticed that on Sunday, when White House officials briefed the press on the spread of the virus, the official who spoke was not the Health and Human Services Secretary (whose confirmation is stalled in the Senate), but Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security. Read more...

Arkansas Worker Shown the Door for Talking About Workplace Safety

Apr 27, 2009 - Rhonda Woods lives in Paris, Arkansas and until recently worked on a factory floor. When she brought up potentially unsafe working conditions to her boss, she was told: "If you don't like it, there's the door." Read more...

Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis Blows off Retirees

Apr 25, 2009 - When asked what he thinks about calls to resign, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis appeared to care less about the lives of those who have invested his company, and more about his own bottom-line. Read more...

SEIU Nurses In Florida Relay Healthcare Headaches to State Lawmakers

Apr 24, 2009 - Nurses from across Florida gathered with State Representative Alan Williams and Leon County Commissioner Cliff Thaell in Tallahassee this week to ensure elected officials understand the dire state of our healthcare system. Read more...

Missoula Turns Out to talk Health Care with Ezra Klein

Apr 24, 2009 - This past week, blogger and policy wonk Ezra Klein, along with Change that Works and Forward Montana, came to Missoula to discuss the current state of health care in Montana. Thanks to your support, it was a raging success. We look forward to many more successful events to come! Read more...

Maine's Workers Travel To DC to Meet with Senators

Apr 22, 2009 - This Wednesday, Maine's workers traveled to Washington, DC to meet with Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Our Maine workers are making the trip all the way down to our nation's capitol to personally urge the senators to support Maine's workers by saying YES to the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare Illinois Ad: Don't cut home care and child care to the bone

Apr 22, 2009 - SEIU Healthcare Illinois launched a hard-hitting advertising campaign this week, timed to coincide with the return of legislators to Springfield, calling on the General Assembly to stop deep cuts to child care and home care services in the FY10 budget. Read more...

Alameda Hospital Workers Win 18% Raises

Apr 22, 2009 - On April 17, SEIU UHW members at Alameda Hospital in Oakland ratified a new three-year contract, which is retroactive to April 2008 and covers nearly 130 workers. Read more...

Yes, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Supports the Employee Free Choice Act

Apr 21, 2009 - Despite some unbalanced reporting, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis's support for the Employee Free Choice Act is not remotely in question. Secretary Solis's labor record is beyond reproach, and her support for the Employee Free Choice Act has never wavered. Read more...

The Sprint Toward the Finish Line?

Apr 21, 2009 - News broke yesterday afternoon that Senators Kennedy and Baucus have pledged to have a health care bill ready for mark-up in early June. The Senators asserted that their respective Committee bills could be 'quickly merged into a single bill for consideration on the Senate floor.' For health care advocates, this ambitious timeline indicates that the next two months will be one of the most dynamic periods in recent Congressional history. Read more...

In Case You Missed It: Rallies, Events Continue Across the Country in Support of Employee Free Choice Act

Apr 17, 2009 - In Washington, they may have questioned whether the Employee Free Choice Act battle was drawing to a close. Good thing no one told the rest of the country, where rallies and activities in favor of the bill are going strong. From Maine to North Dakota, activists gathered to tell their Senators, the time for the Employee Free Choice Act is now. Read more...

CIR/SEIU Members Discuss Healthcare Reform during Congressional Recess

Apr 16, 2009 - Members of the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare have been participating in in-district health care reform events during the Congressional spring recess. Several events took place over the past week in New Jersey, New York and New Mexico. Read more...

Senator Grassley Says Progress on Healthcare Depends Upon Bipartisanship

Apr 15, 2009 - "The true test of this bipartisanship process will be how we handle the details," said Senator Charles E. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, last week in a Mason City, Iowa, health forum including panelists from AARP and SEIU. Speaking about competition between insurance companies, Local 199 member and RN Mary Burke commented, "I think competition would actually be meaningful if we have a public health care system. If you don't have everybody insured, we're still going to have the problem." Read more...

Nebraska, not DC

Apr 15, 2009 - Now, in my experience, there aren't that many cherry blossoms in Nebraska this time a year. Or statues of Civil War generals. Or, uh, White Houses. But for whatever reason, that's the backdrop the Chamber of Commerce has chosen for their new anti-Employee Free Choice Act attack ad in the state, an ad whose theme of is supposedly "You can't let Washington tell Nebraskans what to do." Read more...

1199SEIU Wins Largest Union Victory in Boston-Area Hospital in Two Decades

Apr 14, 2009 - More than 800 healthcare workers at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, the largest medical center in the Caritas Christi Health Care chain, voted last Thursday to unite together with thousands of healthcare workers in 1199SEIU. Read more...

Dennis Rivera and Michael Bloomberg: Health Care Reform is a Must

Apr 14, 2009 - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and SEIU Healthcare Chair Dennis Rivera have published a joint op-ed on the Huffington Post with a simple message: health care reform must happen this year, period. Read more...

Service-Sector Workers Increase Wages and Benefits with Unions

Apr 14, 2009 - A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that nationally, unionization raises service workers' pay 10.1 percent (about $2.00 per hour), compared to non-union service workers, and increases the likelihood that the worker will have health insurance and a pension. Read more...

Video: Why Working Families Need the Employee Free Choice Act

Apr 13, 2009 - In their own words, workers speak out about how the current system to form unions is broken--and why working families need the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act: Paving the Road to Economic Recovery

Apr 09, 2009 - The Center for American Progress Report (CAP) is out, and the results are definitive: labor unions are a crucial part of fixing our economy. Read more...

President Obama Creates Office of Health Reform

Apr 08, 2009 - By executive order, President Obama established the White House Office of Health Reform today. According to the order, it "will provide leadership to the executive branch in establishing policies, priorities, and objectives for the Federal Government's comprehensive effort to improve access to health care, the quality of such care, and the sustainability of the health care system." Read more...

NYT: We Should Have a Public Health Insurance Option

Apr 08, 2009 - The New York Times is out in front with an early endorsement of a public health insurance option as part of any plan to fix health care: A new public plan - to offer consumers greater choice, keep the private... Read more...

Ezra Klein: Fixing Health Care Shouldn't Mean Choosing Between Two Extremes

Apr 07, 2009 - Rather than deciding as a society how much will be spent in the coming year and then figuring out how best to spend it, we abdicate collective responsibility and let individuals fend for themselves. So although Britain and Canada have decided that no one will go without, even if some must occasionally wait, the U.S. has decided that most of those who can't afford care simply won't get it. Read more...

Senator Schumer: Competition Works for Health Care

Apr 06, 2009 - That's where Senator Schumer comes in. During the coming months, as the plans for health care reform unfold, his job is to make sure Congress is looking out for patients and not profits by including a public health insurance option into the mix. Backing him up will be President Obama and the soon-to-be-Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. And, of course, all of us. Read more...

New TV Ad for the Employee Free Choice Act: "Fabric of America"

Apr 03, 2009 - Politico reports on a new ad for the Employee Free Choice Act that debuts this weekend. Read more...

Moving Forward: Congress Passes President Obama's Budget

Apr 03, 2009 - Today, we moved a little bit closer to fixing health care. Nothing about it was easy, but Congress has passed a budget that includes a historic commitment to health care reform. It follows the president's directive to establish a health reform reserve fund to cover the cost of health care without raising the deficit. Consider this a promise to the American people that real change is coming this year. Read more...

"Remembering King, Realizing the Dream" March and Rally in LA April 4th

Apr 02, 2009 - The 5,000 member SEIU-SOULA (Security Officers United in Los Angeles) Local 2006 will join community organizations in a three-mile march to commemorate the 41st anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's death on April 4th in LA. Read more...

Detroit Nurses Win Wage Collusion Settlement to Boost Recruitment

Apr 02, 2009 - Nurses in the Detroit area are celebrating a $13.6 million settlement reached with St. John's Health System in a class action lawsuit brought to expose attempts by area hospitals to hold down wages for nurses despite an ongoing shortage of RNs willing to work in acute care hospitals. Read more...

Budget Coming As Soon As Today

Apr 02, 2009 - The AP is reporting that Congress is expected to take a final vote on a budget resolution as early as today. Both the House and Senate Budget Committees released their own proposals last week that protect the key investments President Obama had requested for fixing health care and restoring the economy. Read more...

What happened when I talked about a union

Apr 01, 2009 - In 2007 alone, more than 29,000 workers were fired or disciplined for union activity. Trisha Miechur, a Certified Nurse Assistant at a ManorCare nursing home in Easton, PA, is one of those workers. Read more...

National campaign launches to ensure 2010 Census counts all Latinos

Apr 01, 2009 - Today Ya Es Hora, a coalition of Spanish-language media and Latino organizations, briefed national media on the third phase of its historic civic engagement campaign, HAGASE CONTAR! (It's Time, Make Yourself Count!), which launch a grassroots media and education campaign to supplement Census Bureau efforts to reach the traditionally hard-to-count Latino community. Read more...

Joe the Plumber: Clueless on the Employee Free Choice Act

Apr 01, 2009 - "Joe the Plumber" campaigned across Pennsylvania to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act - the only problem is, he has no clue what he's talking about. When asked a basic question about the bill - that majority signup currently exists as a way for workers to join unions - Joe the Plumber's mental pipes got clogged. Watch this great video Read more...

Joe the Plumber Fights Employee Free Choice; Real Plumbers Fight Back

Apr 01, 2009 - Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher is back, still missing a plumbing license. That's not stopping him from lecturing actual plumbers -- some of them, I believe, actually named Joe -- about how unions somehow are conspiring to destroy civilization as we know it. Read more...

The Union Advantage for Women

Mar 31, 2009 - In 2007, women made up 45 percent of union members--and by 2020, women will be the majority of the unionized workforce. Women have a great deal to gain from unionization, as union victories work to pave the way for workers to bargain for affordable family health care, fair wages, improved working conditions, and a better life for their families. Read more...

'West Wing' actors join workers, members of Congress to unveil "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act" campaign

Mar 31, 2009 - On Tuesday, March 31, Hollywood "West Wing" stars Martin Sheen and Bradley Whitford descended upon the nation's Capitol to join workers, union leaders and members of Congress for the unveiling of a new ad and grassroots campaign. Read more...

Jet-Setting CEOs

Mar 31, 2009 - Right now, Colorado CEOs are flying to Washington, DC to march on the offices of Colorado Senators Michael Bennet & Mark Udall. The CEOs - accompanied by corporate lobbyists - will demand that our senators refuse to level the playing... Read more...

Empowering Workers through Employee Free Choice

Mar 31, 2009 - Today, the Politico debuted a special section online and in print about the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Tell the Treasury: Fix Bank of America, Fire CEO Ken Lewis

Mar 31, 2009 - Firing GM's CEO is a positive step towards restructuring this critical American industry. But the Obama Administration needs to apply the same lesson to the financial sector: replace failed leadership and shepherd the industry into a new era. Sign our petition to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner calling for Ken Lewis to be replaced as Bank of America CEO. Read more...

Nurses Win $13.6 Million Settlement Aimed at Boosting Recruitment, Retention in Detroit-Area Hospitals

Mar 31, 2009 - Nurses in the Detroit area are celebrating a settlement that has been reached with St. John's Health System of a class action lawsuit brought to expose attempts by area hospitals to hold down wages for nurses despite an ongoing shortage of RNs wiling to work in acute care hospitals. Read more...

Bank Workers Worldwide Speak Out Against "Hard Sell" to Customers

Mar 30, 2009 - In a teleconference briefing today, UNI Finance Global Union gathered bank employees from the U.S., UK, Brazil, and Denmark for a "special insider media briefing" on short-term, profit-driven banking procedures that put customers and economies at risk. Read more...

Making Work Pay with the Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 30, 2009 - Almost as soon as she begin her new job as a housekeeper at Jorgensen's motel, Amy Swanson knew that the workplace conditions she and her coworkers were subjected to were untenable. There was no access to affordable healthcare and her wages were pitifully low. She and the other employees of the Helena, Montana motel had no job security, and little to no say in what their schedules would be from week-to-week. Read more...

SEIU, Blue Green Alliance Urge Climate Change Legislation in 2009

Mar 30, 2009 - On Friday, four labor unions and two environmental organizations representing six million people announced their support for comprehensive cap-and-trade climate change legislation in 2009. The Blue Green Alliance's goal is nothing less than to transform the U.S. economy through global warming solutions and create millions of family-sustaining green jobs in the clean energy economy. Read more...

Rep. Donna Edwards Answers Questions about the Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 29, 2009 - Congresswoman Donna Edwards stopped by the blog Firedoglake.com Saturday afternoon to talk with supporters. The Employee Free Choice Act was the topic of many questions from commenters. Here's what Donna Edwards said. Read more...

The DREAM is back!

Mar 27, 2009 - Yesterday, the DREAM came alive again as S.729 and H.R.1751--the new DREAM Act--was introduced to Congress. The DREAM Act would correct a flaw in our immigration laws that currently provide no path to legal status for young people who were brought to the U.S. years ago as undocumented immigrant children. Read more...

Bailout Watchdog Team Drops by "Secret" Financial Services Roundtable Meeting

Mar 27, 2009 - Despite efforts by the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR)--the lobbying organization for banking and financial industries--to keep the location of their spring meeting secret, a group of spirited protesters found them yesterday in Washington, D.C. at the luxury hotel Read more...

Medical Outrage: Investigation of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Mar 27, 2009 - One of the founding principles at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston has been the quest to "treat patients compassionately" -- a commitment that caregivers have devoted their lives to fulfilling. Unfortunately, hospital administrators at BIDMC haven't always shared the same commitment to compassion, or to the "transparency and honesty" so often touted in glowing press releases and glossy pictures provided to the media. Read more...

Landmark Nurse Wage Class Action Suit Moves Forward

Mar 26, 2009 - The landmark lawsuit filed by Detroit nurses over efforts by hospitals in their area to collude to hold down wages for RNs is moving forward. Federal Judge Gerald Rosen rejected arguments from Mount Clemens General Hospital in Michigan that the landmark suit has no merit and ordered the case to proceed. Read more...

Helping Laid-Off Workers Afford Health Coverage

Mar 26, 2009 - Laid-off workers can get much of their healthcare insurance paid for through a new law that makes changes to the health benefit provisions of COBRA, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Read more...

Arlen Specter: Don't Cave to Big Business

Mar 25, 2009 - We need Congress to act as swiftly on real economic recovery for working people in America as they did to bail out Wall Street. Senator Specter can bring this change - but he needs to hear from you now. Read more...

Statement from SEIU President Andy Stern on the Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 24, 2009 - In the middle of this economic crisis, passing the Employee Free Choice Act is exactly the right thing to do to give workers the chance to level the playing field. Read more...

Healthcare Equality Project Launches

Mar 24, 2009 - More than 20 coalition partners in 13 states and Washington, DC, launched the Healthcare Equality Project on Tuesday. The coalition--which includes Congress members, physicians, nurses and community advocates--will urge Congress to pass healthcare reform that addresses the serious and pervasive inequalities in America's health care system. Read more...

Don't Play Games with Atlantic City Casino Dealers

Mar 24, 2009 - The new Gaming Workers Council brings together four of the nation's largest labor unions to put the combined force of 15 million union members behind casino unionization drives across the country. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) Gaming Division, SEIU, UAW and AFL-CIO are standing together on behalf of workers in the casino industry, concentrating on jump-starting stalled contract talks in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Detroit and Connecticut. Read more...

Top 5 Things to Know About Healthcare Equality

Mar 24, 2009 - The healthcare system Americans deserve will deliver quality affordable health care to ALL no matter the color of their skin, the language they speak, economic status, or geographic location. The longer we wait, the worse it gets. Read more...

Half of California's state workforce covered by new contract agreement

Mar 23, 2009 - SEIU Local 1000 members voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract providing the strongest layoff protections and furlough limits state workers have ever had. The agreement affects 95,000 California workers and limits some of the emergency measures imposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to bridge the state's $42 billion budget gap. Read more...

Obama Says: 'I Will Help You' Find Health Care for Son

Mar 23, 2009 - SEIU Local 721 member Robin Lewis, who works for the LA County Dept. of Children and Family Services, told President Obama directly how important health care reform is for her son, Kolin. Read more...

Why Obama's Budget Matters

Mar 23, 2009 - The first step is making sure the President's budget gets the support it needs from leaders in Congress. His budget makes a huge down-payment on reforming healthcare this year, and toward erasing the disparities that have resulted in unequal care. We need to show our strong and unequivocal support for the Presidents budget. Already, Obama has done more to reform health care than George Bush did in eight years. Read more...

Rep. Miller, Sen. Harkin Statement Opposing "Alternative" to Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 23, 2009 - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) today said that a proposal unveiled by three companies this weekend as an alternative to the Employee Free Choice Act would further undermine workers' rights on the job. Read more...

TN: Emergency Health Care Meetings Tomorrow

Mar 20, 2009 - We're organizing four emergency meetings tomorrow, March 21, to make a plan of action for how we can urge Tennessee Congressmen Jim Cooper and Bart Gordon to help pass President Obama's budget. Read more...

Taxpayer money shouldn't be used to lobby against working peoples' interests

Mar 20, 2009 - Rather than focusing on paying the American people back, the recipients of TARP funds are instead using their resources to lobby against measures that would improve the lives of their new investors--us. Read more...

Security Officers nationwide hitting the streets in support of the Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 20, 2009 - After attending the National Worker Mobilization in Washington D.C. March 8-11, security officers returned to their home cities and spread out to talk to non-union security officers about the Employee Free Choice Act. Hundreds of security officers represented by SEIU spoke with more than 500 officers who currently don't have a union in 12 cities, signing them up to take action on the important worker legislation. Read more...

President Obama Reiterates Support for Making it Easier for Workers to Organize

Mar 20, 2009 - At the Costa Mesa town hall meeting this week, Obama reiterated his support for making it easier for workers to form unions to restore balance and improve millions of Americans' economic standing. Read more...

Wall Street Journal: Employee Free Choice Act "does not remove the secret ballot"

Mar 20, 2009 - Corporate front groups' one-line attack on the Employee Free Choice Act is the false claim that it somehow eliminates the secret ballot option for workers to join unions. But in this morning's Wall Street Journal, the paper's ed board admitted that argument just isn't true. Read more...

SEIU, CNA/NNOC Announce Transformative Agreement

Mar 19, 2009 - SEIU and the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) today announced the signing of a transformative cooperation agreement. The two unions will work together to organize hospital workers throughout the country who don't yet have a union voice, with CNA/NNOC as the leading voice for RNs, and SEIU as the leading voice for all other hospital workers. Read more...

Take Back the Economy Actions: AIG Building Management Reacts

Mar 19, 2009 - Our action at the DC headquarters of "Bailout King" AIG just finished, but not before we obtained an internal email from building management in anticipation of our event. Read more...

Take Back the Economy Actions: Arrests at Peaceful Protest in Rhode Island

Mar 19, 2009 - We got word that our peaceful protest for TakeBackTheEconomy.org in Rhode Island was stopped by police with 8 arrests. Read more...

Sometimes 'Sorry' just isn't enough: Fix CNBC Now!

Mar 18, 2009 - Responsible journalism that holds Wall Street accountable has been sorely lacking from news giant CNBC, who in recent months has seemed to be doing PR for Wall Street--instead of investigating and debunking lies to report the behind-the-scenes facts the public needs to know. Read more...

From Reno to Capitol Hill

Mar 18, 2009 - This week has been quite the whirlwind. I left my home in Reno to join coworkers from my hospital (and hundreds of other SEIU members from across the country) to talk to our elected officials in Washington, DC about the need for the Employee Free Choice Act, and why giving workers a voice will help get our country back on track. Read more...

SEIU Workers on Why They Want a Union

Mar 17, 2009 - With corporate interest groups going on the attack around the Employee Free Choice Act, workers are now speaking out about why they want to join a union and the employer resistance and intimidation they've encountered when trying to organize their workplace. Watch SEIU workers share their stories about why the Employee Free Choice Act matters to them. Read more...

No economist needed to see the flaws in Secretary Geithner's latest TALF proposal

Mar 17, 2009 - SEIU's Anna Burger issued a statement yesterday commenting on Treasury Secretary Geithner's latest TALF proposal to invite private equity and hedge fund investors to a fire sale of bank assets--a fundamentally flawed plan Burger says is no more than a "return to the very same policies and practices that triggered the financial crisis in the first place." Read more...

10,000 to Protest at Major U.S. Banks and Firms, including AIG, Bank of America, and Citigroup

Mar 17, 2009 - With almost daily revelations of abuses by Wall Street giants, some 10,000 Americans will participate in over 100 actions in over 30 states on Thursday, March 19 to push the solutions needed to rebuild the economy on sound, strong footing. Read more...

Had enough of corporate irresponsibility?

Mar 16, 2009 - Word broke yesterday that despite being crowned the "Bailout King," AIG is going to pay out more than $400 million in bonuses. We've had enough. On Thursday, March 19, thousands of people nationwide will demonstrate outside major banks and demand real change. Read more...

New Sheriff in Town: Labor Secretary Solis Takes Oath of Office

Mar 16, 2009 - On Friday morning, former California Rep. Hilda Solis was officially sworn in as Secretary of Labor by Vice President Joe Biden at the U.S. Dept. of Labor headquarters. The confirmation of Hilda Solis as labor secretary is a momentous occasion that SEIU and organized labor had been anticipating--and fighting for--since Barack Obama first nominated her in mid-December for the position. Read more...

America's Recession-Resistant Jobs

Mar 16, 2009 - For the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs or feared for their job security in the past couple of months, one might think there are simply no jobs to be had in this current economic down spiral. Although no job is 100 percent secure, it's encouraging to know that there are job sectors that are still in need of educated employees right now. Read more...

SEIU Supports New Bill to Ease Debt for Nursing Students

Mar 13, 2009 - Iowa Congressman Tom Latham and Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill on Thursday aimed at easing the debt burden on nursing students and combating America's nursing shortage. Read more...

O'Reilly Responds

Mar 13, 2009 - Bill O'Reilly refused the challenge to come walk a day in our shoes, because he's already "been to those places." While he may have visited Billings, Montana, we seriously doubt he's spent a day there caring for a sick patient, or keeping an office building secure in Chicago. Read more...

SEIU, Coalition Partners Launch Retirement USA Initiative

Mar 11, 2009 - SEIU partnered with The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and the Pensions Rights Center to launch Retirement USA, an initiative working for a new retirement system that, along with Social Security, will provide universal, secure, and adequate income for future retirees. Read more...

What is the media saying about yesterday's Employee Free Choice rally?

Mar 10, 2009 - Yesterday, hundreds of workers from across the country rallied at the offices of major corporate industry associations to expose the huge scope of their DC lobbying against measures that could help working people in today's economy. We've compiled a short round-up of the media coverage surrounding SEIU's demonstrations - here are a few highlights. Read more...

Poll: Voters Want a Public Health Insurance Plan

Mar 10, 2009 - The numbers are in. A recent poll conducted by Lake Research indicates that 73% of voters want to see a public health insurance option as part of health care reform in 2009. And guess what? It's smart fiscal policy, too. Read more...

Hundreds Demonstrate at Chamber of Commerce, Industry Trade Groups To Expose Massive Anti-Worker Lobbying

Mar 09, 2009 - We've just returned from Lafayette Park - right across the street from both The White House and the Chamber of Commerce - where hundreds of workers from across the country joined with labor, religious and community leaders to stage one amazing rally. Read more...

Janitors Call On Banks to Use Taxpayer Money to Create Jobs, Not Reward CEOs

Mar 09, 2009 - On Thursday, hundreds of Chicago janitors and supporters rallied at Fifth Third Bank in Schaumburg to call for good jobs and an economic recovery that works for everyone, not just the people at the top. Janitors marched from Woodfield Mall to the bank, chanting loudly and holding purple banners reading "Value Work." Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Introduced Tomorrow in House, Senate

Mar 09, 2009 - The Politico reports that tomorrow both houses of Congress will introduce the Employee Free Choice Act, which allows workers to decide for themselves how they'd like to form a union rather than management making that decision for them. Read more...

Can My Boss Do That?

Mar 06, 2009 - When workers face job loss, they often don't know where to turn for answers. They may be improperly denied their last paycheck, not given the proper amount of notice, or told by their employer that they cannot collect unemployment benefits. New website "Can My Boss Do That" will act as an online clearinghouse to help people understand their rights and protections on a state-by-state basis. Read more...

VIDEO: SEIU Attends White House Forum on Health Care Reform

Mar 06, 2009 - President Obama made his commitment to quality, affordable health care crystal clear yesterday at his White House Forum. After attending the forum, SEIU President Andy Stern, Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, and SEIU Healthcare Chair Dennis Rivera had this to say... Read more...

SEIU in the White House

Mar 06, 2009 - Yesterday, Andy Stern, Anna Burger, and Dennis Rivera were back at the White House for the president's forum on health care. They were there to represent the two million SEIU members that have been fighting so hard for so long to see real changes in the health care system. Check out their video from the north gate. Read more...

Unemployment Climbs Further to Hit 25-Year High

Mar 06, 2009 - There's no place to hide, as workers from coast to coast, in almost every sector, are being affected as companies forced to cut their costs slash jobs. As the economy shed 651,000 jobs during the month of February, all 50 states reported increased unemployment for the first time on record. Read more...

Tell Bill O'Reilly: Walk a Day in Our Shoes

Mar 06, 2009 - This week Bill O'Reilly launched a baseless attack on members of the Service Employees International Union. SEIU members responded to O'Reilly by inviting the "news" man to walk a day in their shoes and find out what it's like to work in a real job. Watch this video response to Bill O'Reilly, and then sign our petition to O'Reilly to walk a day in the shoes of an SEIU member. Read more...

Let's Dance

Mar 05, 2009 - Let's dance. That's what Vice President Joe Biden told union members today in Florida. What's got the Vice President ready to tango? The Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

SEIU's National Worker Mobilization for Employee Free Choice

Mar 05, 2009 - On Monday, religious leaders, and community allies will join hundreds of workers for a 3 p.m. rally across from the Chamber of Commerce to tell corporate CEOs to stop standing in the way of an economy that works for everyone. Read more...

Taking Cover: Analysis Shows Business Trade Groups Carrying Corporate Campaign Against Employee Free Choice While Companies Distance Themselves

Mar 05, 2009 - New analysis of lobbying disclosures shows that the corporate lobbying effort against the Employee Free Choice Act is being waged largely by industry trade associations and front groups rather than by individual companies. Read more...

Massachusetts Nursing Home Caregivers Overcome Union-Busting at Its Worst

Mar 04, 2009 - When executives at Northern Berkshire Healthcare received word that the nursing home staff at Massachusetts Sweet Brook Care Centers petitioned to join 1199SEIU in January, they wasted no time before launching an anti-organizing campaign. Their thinly veiled effort to strip caregivers of their voting rights didn't fool anyone--including the National Labor Relations Board, who issued its decision in favor of workers at Sweet Brook Nursing Home , ruling that the long term care workers will be eligible to vote in an upcoming union election. Read more...

Standing Up for Homecare Workers in Washington (Video)

Mar 04, 2009 - I attended a hearing at the Rayburn building about "Family Friendly Policies". A very brave woman named Rebia Mixon Clay told a very compelling and powerful story about the vicissitudes of she faces every day as a home health care Worker. Ms. Mixon Clay, was succinct, on point and eloquent. In a very personal and uplifting way she brought home the plight of many people in this country. Read more...

SEIU's 'Top Choice' is Nominee

Mar 02, 2009 - Moments ago, President Obama announced his nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services. SEIU has deployed unprecedented resources and staff toward winning health care reform this year--and we're excited to have a proven advocate for quality, affordable care at the helm of Health and Human Services. Read more...

Los Angeles Healthcare Unity Rally

Mar 02, 2009 - On Thursday, Feb. 26--the same day the president's budget was presented to Congress--several hundred SEIU members from around the Los Angeles area rallied to support the president's vision to fix healthcare. The workers gathered outside SEIU UHW-W's Commerce office and were joined by congressional candidate Judy Chu. Read more...

What We've Been Waiting For: A Pro-Working Family Labor Secretary

Mar 02, 2009 - During the course of the last few weeks, more than 30,000 people asked the United States Senate to support a pro-working family Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis. Thanks to all of your efforts, she was confirmed and sworn into office just a few days ago. You can check out all we've done to support Hilda Solis here. Read more...

Green Jobs: "Clear Path to a Stronger Middle Class and a Stronger American Economy"

Feb 27, 2009 - The world is facing a historic opportunity to rebuild our global economy through investments in sustainable projects that will create new jobs, reduce our dependence on oil and protect our planet after decades of mismanagement. Read more...

Speaker Pelosi: We Will Fix Health Care This Year

Feb 26, 2009 - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was on the Rachel Maddow Show last night to discuss, among other things, the timeline for health care reform. Read more...

Obama's Speech: A Health Care Milestone (Video)

Feb 24, 2009 - I just finished watching Obama's address to Congress with a group of SEIU nurses. I won't name names, but some of us have tears in our eyes right now. For us, this is a moment more than a decade in the making. When our movement started, having a president who would speak so honestly and passionately about the need to fix health care was something we dreamt about, but it was hard to imagine. Read more...

Community Members, Advocates and 1199SEIU Members Fight Queens Hospital Closings; Cuts to NY Healthcare

Feb 24, 2009 - Hundreds of healthcare workers, members of 1199SEIU and elected officials marched down Queens Boulevard on Saturday to rally against the imminent closures of two local hospitals: the Saint John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica. The two hospitals are in danger of shutting down after its operator, Caritas Healthcare, filed for bankruptcy and notified the two hospitals' 2,500 employees that both facilities would close their doors by the end of February. Read more...

What Residency Looks Like: Announcing the Winners of CIR/SEIU's Photo Contest

Feb 24, 2009 - A picture is worth a thousand words, so CIR/SEIU Healthcare decided to hold their first-ever photo contest, asking for photos submissions taken by members representing what it's like to be a resident physician on any given day. Read more...

Why Healthcare Can't Wait

Feb 23, 2009 - "Through the years, there have been many issues where labor and business don't see eye to eye. Here's one where we firmly agree: the need to fix healthcare, now, not in spite of the economic crisis, but because of it. For this reason, we are proud to stand together with President Obama as he reinforces the urgency of health care reform in the State of the Union speech before Congress," SEIU's Andy Stern and Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler write on The Huffington Post. Read more...

Members Speak Out at Oscar-eve Protest of MPTF Seniors' Home Closure

Feb 22, 2009 - More than 250 caregivers, members of the entertainment industry and family members of the facility's elderly residents gathered together outside an "The Night Before" Oscars' MPTF fund-raiser Saturday night at The Beverly Hills Hotel to protest the impending closure of the fund's long-term care facility. Read more...

Burger King Backs off Opposition to
Employee Free Choice Act

Feb 20, 2009 - Burger King Backs off Opposition to Employee Free Choice Act... Read more...

California Workers and Allies Rally for Easier Unionization

Feb 20, 2009 - SEIU members, community leaders and supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act rallied in San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento and Santa Rosa yesterday, arguing that a real economic stimulus package for California should make it easier for workers who want a union at work to have one. Read more...

VIDEO: My First Week in Washington DC with SEIU

Feb 20, 2009 - I've always been impressed with our nation's capitol. The huge buildings, sweeping landscapes, and grand stone staircases - it's all so big, it makes me a little disoriented and, gulp, small. But all those buildings are filled with people. And if there's anything I've learned as a nurse - people are people. We all eat and sleep and want to make the world a better place. Read more...

Thanking Members of Congress for SCHIP Support

Feb 20, 2009 - SEIU joined with several groups to launch a $10 million ad campaign to applaud Members of Congress for voting to expand and strengthen the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Read more...

New TV Ad Urges NY Gov. Paterson to Use Medicaid Stimulus Funds

Feb 19, 2009 - The Healthcare Education Project (HEP), a joint initiative of 1199SEIU and the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) has begun airing two new television ads urging Governor David Paterson to use a portion of the nearly $11 billion in Medicaid funding New York State will receive under the federal economic stimulus package to avoid massive health care cuts to hospitals, nursing homes, and home care. Read more...

Motion Picture Television Fund CEO named "World's Worst" as Silver Screen Seniors Face Eviction

Feb 19, 2009 - MSNBC's Keith Olbermann gave the Motion Picture Television Fund's president and chief executive Dr. David Tillman the title of "World's Worst" person last night, for closing the retirement home for film-industry employees for no good reason. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Gives Workers a Fair and Democratic Chance to Form Unions

Feb 18, 2009 - The Employee Free Choice Act, the legislation supported by President Obama and large majorities of both houses of congress will not eliminate secret ballots in union representation (period). Read more...

Tracking the Stimulus: money + media coverage

Feb 17, 2009 - Keeping in line with his campaign's theme of accountability and transparency, the Obama administration has put up a new website to help people track how the economic stimulus money is spent. Read more...

'King Size Combo:' New Report Reveals Broad Toll on Taxpayers by Bailed-Out Bank Goldman Sachs and Its Holdings in Burger King

Feb 17, 2009 - As Congress and the Obama administration look to hold major banks that have received billions in federal bailout funds better accountable for their corporate practices, a report released today by SEIU on Goldman Sachs and its holdings in Burger King finds that the true total of taxpayer subsidies some of the banks are enjoying extends well beyond the monies they've taken through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Read more...

Why Health Care Reform Can't Wait

Feb 17, 2009 - Fixing health care isn't just possible this year - it's absolutely necessary. Every day, people are losing their jobs and their health care. The swelling ranks of uninsured threaten to put more strain on state programs and push the entire system to the breaking point. Read more...

Public Support for the Employee Free Choice Act

Feb 17, 2009 - Want to get an idea of the public support of the Employee Free Choice Act? The latest public poll showed 73% support the bill while only 21% oppose it; that's not quite as stark as the contrast on the Hill earlier this month, but Congress should get the picture anyway. Read more...

VIDEO: MSNBC Exposes Source of Health IT Smears

Feb 13, 2009 - Your efforts to uncover the misinformation campaign against health IT are gaining major traction in the mainstream media. MSNBC dug further into the smear tactics being used against health IT on last night's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." Read more...

SEIU Members Deliver Petition Signed by 22,500 in Support of Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor

Feb 12, 2009 - Last week, SEIU President Andy Stern sent a video message out to the SEIU community via email, calling on Congress to confirm Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor and urging people to sign on in support. Yesterday, we delivered the names of these signees to Senators Kennedy and Enzi. Read more...

Ken Lewis, What's Really In Your Company's Best Interest?

Feb 12, 2009 - Yesterday, in a congressional hearing about major banking institutions' use of TARP funds (a.k.a. the "bailout" funds approved by Congress last fall), something that can only be described as "enraging" occurred. When pressed by Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), Bank of... Read more...

President Obama Reaffirms Support for the Employee Free Choice Act as part of Economic Recovery

Feb 12, 2009 - President Obama again Wednesday affirmed his support for the Employee Free Choice Act, critical legislation that will make it easier for workers to bargain with their employers for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. This is the latest in a... Read more...

Celebrating Black History: special edition computer desktop wallpapers

Feb 12, 2009 - As part of SEIU's 12th annual celebration of Black History Month, our talented SEIU Creative Services team has designed four special-edition computer desktop wallpapers for use on your Mac or PC. Download them now and you can celebrate Black History Month all month at work or at home. Read more...

Update: Health Care Provisions in the Economic Recovery Act

Feb 12, 2009 - The Speaker of the House has released a report outlining the key points of the compromise the House and Senate have reached on the Economic Recovery Act. There's lots of good news for health care. Read more...

How to get the change we need

Feb 12, 2009 - Call Senators Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and thank them for supporting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Tuesday and urge them to vote for it on final passage as part of an economic solution for America's families. Read more...

Introducing SEIU's Member Lobbyists

Feb 11, 2009 - Nine SEIU members and workers from key states across the country have relocated to Washington, DC for a three-month long stint as a grassroots lobbyist on Capitol Hill. Stay tuned for updates, as our members report to us on what they're hearing about health care, the Employee Free Choice Act and restoring economic strength to Main Street. Read more...

SEIU's Mary Kay Henry: "Equality is a Labor Value"

Feb 11, 2009 - "The fight for the freedom to marry is dear to me, for safeguarding my own partnership and for realizing the same goals of social and economic justice that we advance every day at SEIU and in the labor movement," writes SEIU's Mary Kay Henry today, in a blog post for Freedom to Marry Week. Read more...

Caregivers Defend Health IT

Feb 11, 2009 - Yesterday, we told you about Rush Limbaugh's rant against the measures to improve health IT in the Economic Recovery Act. Normally, Rush goes largely unnoticed by most of the general public. But his irresponsible comments about health IT have hit... Read more...

Watch the Senate Banking Committee Hearing on TARP Oversight

Feb 11, 2009 - A group of SEIU members are on the Hill this morning, calling on Congress to prevent companies that are receiving massive taxpayer subsidies from spending money on lobbying that may pit their corporate interests, and the interests of highly compensated CEOs, against taxpayers' interests. Watch the C-SPAN hearing live as these CEOS are called on by Congress to account for the taxpayer money they've received. Read more...

Senate Approves Economic Stimulus Bill

Feb 10, 2009 - As President Barack Obama neared the end of his FL town hall appearance today on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, news broke that the economic stimulus bill had successfully cleared the Senate by a vote of 61 to 37. Read more...

Senate Moves Forward On Stimulus Package

Feb 10, 2009 - The Senate last night moved forward on the Stimulus Package, voting 61 to 36 to end debate and bring the measure on a vote today. Read more...

Sen. John Kerry on Employee Free Choice & Small Businesses

Feb 09, 2009 - Senator John Kerry has an op-ed published this weekend on the Employee Free Choice Act. He begins his opinion piece with a strong defense of unions and their value to the US economy, while adding in a full frontal assault on the Big Business interests that are actively trying to prevent American workers from having rights and prosperity. Read more...

Marching for Employee Free Choice Act in LA

Feb 07, 2009 - On Thursday, hundreds of workers marched 10 miles in the rain from downtown Los Angeles to the Federal Building to call on Congress to rebuild America by passing the Employee Free Choice Act. All along the route, workers highlighted some of the issues facing working men and women all across the county -- from facing foreclosure to the struggles of workers fighting to earn a living wage and join a union Read more...

Unemployed Americans stretch from sea to shining sea

Feb 06, 2009 - The job loss numbers released on February 6 by the Labor Department show employers slashed 598,000 jobs in January--the deepest cut in payrolls in a single month since December 1974. Read more...

U.S. Senate Should Move Forward with Solis Nomination for Secretary of Labor

Feb 05, 2009 - "Hilda Solis is the right choice for Secretary because she understands personally the challenges workers face in a global economy and the need for a bold new agenda that expands healthcare for everyone and gives American workers a greater choice and a greater voice, said Andy Stern SEIU President Andy Stern, urging the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to move ahead with a scheduled vote on the nomination of Hilda Solis for secretary of labor Read more...

Good Jobs, Green Jobs: Help Wanted

Feb 05, 2009 - Green job creation and training is happening right now, all over the country, fueled by the belief that it is possible to ease the intensity of our climate crisis and employ more people to work in better jobs (all at the same time). Read more...

Flickr photo slideshow from Employee Free Choice petition delivery rally

Feb 04, 2009 - To see photos from the Employee Free Choice petition delivery rally, watch SEIU's Flickr slideshow here. Read more...

Contrast on the Hill: Country Club CEOs vs. Hardworking People on the Employee Free Choice Act

Feb 04, 2009 - In the halls of Congress, CEOs having their "Executive Lobby Day" are spreading lies and misinformation in order to keep wages down and perpetuate inequality. How do we know this? Because we went into one of their presentations at a CA country club and captured video of how they talk about defeating the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Corporate America's Chicken Little Strategy

Feb 04, 2009 - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) have adapted a Chicken Little strategy. When confronted with legislation to improve American workers' lives, the Chamber and NAM invariably threaten economic ruin and rampant government control. Read more...

Senator Daschle's Resignation

Feb 03, 2009 - Sen. Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination today for Secretary of Health and Human Services. In a statement released by the White House, Sen. Daschle stated: "If 30 years of exposure to the challenges inherent in our system has taught me anything, it has taught me that this work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction. Right now, I am not that leader." Read more...

HCAN Poll: Americans are Ready for Reform

Feb 02, 2009 - Health Care for America Now, one of SEIU's partner coalitions released the results of a poll that shows broad public support for comprehensive health care reform. According to the poll, there is "intense and widespread voter support for the choice of a public health insurance plan as part of comprehensive, national health care reform." Read more...

Republicans Choose Obstructionism Over Stimulus

Jan 30, 2009 - "Many in the House Republican leadership talked a big game about hearing the message of change Americans so clearly delivered in November, but when it came time to vote they showed they care more about playing the old game of obstructionist opponents than fixing out economy," said SEIU's Anna Burger on The Hill's Congress Blog today. Read more...

SEIU Ad Praising Sen. Reid's Work on Behalf of Nevada's Working Families

Jan 30, 2009 - SEIU believes in rewarding work and in tune with motto, we're rolling out a new television ad campaign today in support of Senator Harry Reid's work on behalf of Nevada's working families. Read more...

For the Truth on Arbitration, Look at Companies' Actions - Not Words

Jan 30, 2009 - The corporations and their front groups that oppose the Employee Free Choice Act say that the use of arbitration to help workers and companies reach agreements will hurt business and put federal bureaucrats in charge. That's what they say...Now here's what they do: in fact, companies use arbitration all the time to resolve disputes because they like that it's fast, fair, and inexpensive. Read more...

Obama and Biden Launch Middle Class Working Families Task Force

Jan 30, 2009 - Today President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden announced the creation of the Middle Class Task Force, which the White House blog says is "targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America." Read more...

On Heels of Senate SCHIP Vote, SEIU Calls On Congress to Keep Rebuilding the American Dream

Jan 29, 2009 - Today, Congress took a first and important step to rebuilding the American Dream," said SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger as Senators from both parties worked together to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). "We applaud the Senate for strengthening the children's health insurance program and ensuring no child must wait for care." Read more...

Our Job Is Just Beginning

Jan 29, 2009 - "Four Million Down, 40 Million to Go:" After three days of debate on a series of amendments to the bill, the Senate passed the bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Program on Jan. 29. This program will ensure that millions of children, many of whose parents have lost their employer-provided health care coverage through layoffs and cutbacks, will be able to receive doctor check-ups, dentist visits, and preventive care. Read more...

In 2008, More Than 88,000 Workers United in SEIU

Jan 29, 2009 - The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual union membership report yesterday that showed an increase in union membership nationwide for 2008 -- the largest growth rate on record since 1983. Growth in SEIU -- 88,926 members -- accounted for nearly 21 percent of the national growth. Read more...

New TV Ad Campaign Targets House Republicans Completely Out of Touch with Working People in America

Jan 29, 2009 - SEIU and coalition groups Americans United for Change, MoveOn.org Political Action and AFSCME unveiled a new television ad campaign that aims to to pressure key and potentially deciding votes in Congress and build momentum behind President Obama's "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act". Read more...

House Republicans' Vote on Economic Recovery Package: "Completely Out of Touch with Working People in America"

Jan 28, 2009 - The only solution House Republicans offer to our economic crisis is tax cuts, but tax cuts only work for people who are working. People who have lost their jobs and watched their futures go up in smoke don't want more hot air ... they want action and got it today from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Read more...

Caring for the Caregivers - NY Times Editorial

Jan 28, 2009 - Informed by SEIU research and experience, a New York Times editorial this morning unfortunately reveals that one of the fastest-growing areas within the health care field - home care for the elderly - is also one of the lowest paid and most exploitable. Read more...

Union Women, Labor Leaders & Online Activists Advocate for Solis Confirmation

Jan 28, 2009 - Stop delaying confirmation of Rep. Solis as secretary of labor: As Obama said in his inaugural address, "let's put away childish things" and get on with the workings of government. Read more...

1199SEIU and Boston-Area Allies Reach Historic New Accord to Improve Health Care for Community, Patients and Workers

Jan 28, 2009 - 1199SEIU, the Area Trades Council and Caritas Christi Health Care, the largest community based health system in Massachusetts, yesterday announced a historic and groundbreaking new accord ensuring fair union voting conditions for the system's employees when they are deciding whether to form unions. Read more...

For Aliquippa Caregivers, Relief is On the Way

Jan 27, 2009 - Earlier today, we reported on a group of caregivers in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania who were fighting for weeks worth of unpaid wages from their former employer, Commonwealth Medical Center. State media outlets covered the story throughout the week, including this report... Read more...

A capitol idea: SEIU stirs things up in Sacramento

Jan 27, 2009 - To stir up the waters, hundreds of SEIU members from 1021 and other California locals converged on the State Capitol on Friday to demand an end to the legislative standoff that has made this year's budget so late it's actually early for next year. Read more...

Nurses, Caregivers Left Out in the Cold

Jan 27, 2009 - A story is brewing in southwestern Pennsylvania. There, in a little town called Aliquippa, PA, nurses, aides and other frontline caregivers have been denied weeks in backpay, after their employer--Commonwealth Medical Center--filed for bankruptcy and had its license revoked... Read more...

Kids' Health on the Line

Jan 26, 2009 - There is strong public support for SCHIP, and strong bipartisan consensus. Our kids are our future, and if there's one message that young voters and immigrant voters sent last November, it's that they are so over the tired appeals to categories and ideologies that divide us. SEIU President Andy Stern weighs in on the reauthorization and strengthening of the Children's Health Insurance Program on the National Journal - read it here. Read more...

Stronger Economic Future for America Requires Long-range Vision

Jan 26, 2009 - "The millions of working people reeling from the severe economic recession need a recovery package that not only addresses the crisis and relieves the pain, but also lays the groundwork for a stronger and fairer future," writes SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger on Politico's The Arena, commenting on what kind of stimulus plan this country needs to get our economy back on track. Read more...

Former US Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich on the Employee Free Choice Act

Jan 26, 2009 - In an editorial for the Los Angeles Times today, former US Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich gives his advice on how we can reverse this deepening recession and give middle class Americans the greatest opportunity for a better life. Read more...

Economist Paul Krugman's Open Letter to President Obama

Jan 24, 2009 - Paul Krugman, a Nobel-prize laureate in Economics, professor at Princeton University, and a columnist for the New York Times has published an extraordinary piece in the latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine. In it, he writes an open letter to President Obama, giving his advice on some steps that he'd advise the new president to take in order to get our economy back on track. Read more...

Tell Gov. Schwarzenegger We Need Real Budget Solutions in California Now

Jan 23, 2009 - Today Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina spoke at a rally in Sacramento, California where over 1,000 SEIU members from across the State came together to speak out for real solutions to the state's budget crisis. Read more...

Why Smart Investments Include Health IT

Jan 22, 2009 - This week, the National Journal asked health care advocates and experts to weigh in on the issue of health IT as part of the larger economic recovery package. Read Andy Stern's response here. Read more...

SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina on Supporting & Uniting Long Term Care Workers

Jan 21, 2009 - "We have a new U.S. President who openly promotes unions and a nation poised for change. Will the labor movement be ready to seize the moment? We must be. In my own union, SEIU, the largest union in California and... Read more...

Obama's Inaugural Address: A Moment to Define A Generation

Jan 21, 2009 - Obama delivered his Inaugural Address in a decisive and inspiring manner, calling for no less than the remaking of America and summoning generations, new and old, to return "to a new era of responsibility." Read more...

Talking Health Care with Russell Simmons

Jan 18, 2009 - SEIU is here at the Sundance film festival with playwright, poet, actor and activist Sarah Jones, who is camped out in the Variety Lounge to discuss health care with filmmakers and celebrities. On Friday, Jones sat down for a few minutes with hip hop pioneer and philanthropist Russell Simmons to talk about fixing our broken health care system. Read more...

Momentum for the Employee Free Choice Act

Jan 16, 2009 - Claims by corporate interest groups that the Employee Free Choice Act is losing support and won't be voted on simply ignore the facts. President Obama and Congress are committed to rebuilding America's middle class through quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Fixing COBRA Cannot Wait

Jan 16, 2009 - With unemployment at a 16-year high, expect the ranks of the uninsured to swell, putting more strain on state programs that help those in need. COBRA - if made to work - can literally be a lifeline. Read more...

Manifest Hope: DC Online Contest Winners Selected for Inauguration Art Gallery

Jan 16, 2009 - SEIU partnered with Manifest Hope: DC, MoveOn PAC and Obey Giant to launch a nationwide online contest last month to gather the best artwork celebrating the grass roots campaign that helped elect Barack Obama as president. The 15 winning entries-- selected from a pool of over 1,000 submissions--have been announced. Read more...

SEANC to Congress: Support NC Economic Recovery

Jan 16, 2009 - Yesterday, Executive Director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEIU Local 2008) Dana Cope sent out an email update to SEANC members and activists, urging them to take action alongside Gov. Perdue in taking measures to reform the critical economic situation in NC. Read more...

CEOs: We'll take our ball and ship it overseas

Jan 15, 2009 - Business leaders and CEOs are developing a new strategy to combat the Employee Free Choice Act: threaten to take jobs overseas and divest from America. Failed Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney said as much this morning: It is an idea... Read more...

On Heels of Strong Bipartisan House Vote, SEIU Urges Senate to Vote Yes for Children's Health and Pass SCHIP

Jan 14, 2009 - "There is no time to waste. Strengthening the children's health insurance program offers a lifeline to families struggling to survive during this unprecedented economic downturn," said SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger as Democrats and Republicans came together in the U.S. House of Representatives to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Read more...

Obama Transition Team Member David Bonior: "Get a Hold of Inequality" with the Employee Free Choice Act

Jan 14, 2009 - On this weekend's edition of Meet the Press, former Rep. David Bonior, a member of President-elect Barack Obama's economic transition team, talked about ways the next Administration can help get the economy back on track. One proposal sorted by President-elect Obama and 60 percent of the public is the Employee Free Choice Act, which will help employees bridge the gap of wage inequality in the country today. Read more...

What's in a name? The Employee Free Choice Act

Jan 13, 2009 - Under the Employee Free Choice Act, workers' freedom to choose to form a union would be restored. Read more...

The Economic Argument for the Employee Free Choice Act

Jan 13, 2009 - As the new administration and Congress works to lift the U.S. economy out of the economic crisis, we've been working on some analyses on how our country has recovered economically since the 1940's. Economic success occurs when rising wages spur consumer spending, and new research makes a solid case as to why the Employee Free Choice Act would be a "stimulus" that gets our economy back on track. Read more...

Member Voices: "Giving workers a hand on the wheel"

Jan 13, 2009 - Here's a great op-ed from an SEIU nurse about the free and fair election she and her coworkers had when they formed a union at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas thirteen years ago....and why their election process experience was a "special exception to a broken rule." Read more...

Yet Another Corporate Front Group: "Save Our Secret Ballots"

Jan 12, 2009 - Meet the new Right-to-Work-for-less laws: state ballot initiatives to mandate "secret ballot" elections for union votes, trying to preempt the Employee Free Choice Act. On December 30, 2008, a new coalition calling itself the "Save Our Secret Ballot" (SOSB) coalition emerged onto the scene, announcing an under-the-radar state-level campaign to amend the state constitutions of Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Nevada and Utah to require a secret-ballot election for union representation. Read more...

Facts Fact Roundup: Employee Free Choice Act

Jan 09, 2009 - We're already hearing - and seeing - good things from Congress about their priorities for 2009. Read more...

Hilda Solis Will Stand for Justice, Open Doors for Millions of Workers in America

Jan 09, 2009 - "At this critical juncture in our great nation, I cannot think of anyone more qualified than Representative Hilda Solis to re-establish the U.S. Labor Department's priorities of justice, fairness, and equal opportunity for all workers," said SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina today, in his statement of support for Representative Hilda Solis's confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Labor: Read more...

Member Voices: "My Journey to Home Care as a Profession"

Jan 09, 2009 - As a caregiver for someone with little income and a terminal illness, it's easy to see that our healthcare system is broken...The first step in healthcare for all is taking back control of our healthcare from the pharmaceutical and insurance companies that profit from keeping us all unwell. Read more...

SEIU President Andy Stern Statement on President-Elect Obama's Economic Speech

Jan 08, 2009 - SEIU President Andy Stern issued the following statement following President-elect Obama's speech on the economy at George Mason University. Read more...

New SEIU Television Ad Promotes Health Care Reform as Top Domestic Priority

Jan 08, 2009 - SEIU launched a new TV ad buy today about the importance of healthcare reform in regaining the economic prosperity of this nation. Read more...

Andy Stern on 'Early Victories' in Fixing Health Care

Jan 08, 2009 - This week, the National Journal invited key health care advocates and experts to respond to the following question: What early health care victories should President-elect Obama and Congress seek before Washington works on broad health care reform legislation? Read Andy Stern's response here. Read more...

Six Diverse Groups Unite in Nationwide Call for Health Care Reform as Key to Economic Reform

Jan 08, 2009 - Six organizations representing consumers, physicians, insurers, patients and pharmaceutical research companies are banding together to launch a new multi-million dollar national television advertising buy. Read more...

Obama To Give Economic Address Today at 11 a.m.

Jan 08, 2009 - President-elect Barack Obama's office announced the details of his major speech on the economy Wednesday afternoon, advocating "urgent action" on his economic stimulus plan. Read more...

The Only Way to Mass Prosperity

Jan 07, 2009 - "There is no historic precedent for mass prosperity absent mass collective bargaining. The model cannot be constructed," writes Harold Meyerson, making the case Employee Free Choice in a Washington Post op-ed today. Read more...

SEIU Unveils Major National Campaign to Bring Economic Solutions to Main Street

Jan 07, 2009 - As Congress begins consideration of an economic recovery package supported by President-elect Obama, the two million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is launching a new state-by-state effort to bring economic solutions to Main Street by ensuring passage of the economic recovery package, passing comprehensive healthcare reform and ensuring workers have freedom to choose a voice at work. Read more...

Family Child Care Providers Ask Court to Compel Funding for Quality Day Care

Jan 06, 2009 - Family child care providers today filed suit in Washington State Supreme Court to compel funding of their arbitration decision and collective bargaining agreement in the Governor's 2009-2011 budget, SEIU Local 925 President Kim Cook announced. Read more...

SEIU to Congress: Act Now To Relieve Pressure on Working People

Jan 06, 2009 - Thousands of members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) this week will make calls, send emails, and set up lobby visits to urge Congress to act as swiftly on real economic recovery for working people in America as they did to bail out Wall Street. Read more...

McScrooged Actions: Flickr Photo Slideshow & Video Clips

Dec 30, 2008 - SEIU members and supporters went to almost 100 McDonald's locations around the country on December 18 to speak directly with employees about free choice. We wanted to share some photos and video with you all from McDonald's visits that took place in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Detroit and Washington, DC. Read more...

Your Health Care Meet-Ups: All Over The News

Dec 29, 2008 - Despite the busy holiday season, Americans throughout the country - from caregivers like nurses, doctors and pharmacists to ordinary health care consumers - have been gathering to hold their own health care meetings. You've brought your friends, your family, like-minded individuals, and even those who have different points of view together to share their ideas and input on health care reform that comes from the ground up. News report after news report has been gracing our inboxes over the holiday season - from national papers like the New York Times to small, local papers from your areas. Read more...

NY Times Endorses Employee Free Choice: "The Labor Agenda"

Dec 29, 2008 - There's a great editorial today from the New York Times on unions and the Obama administration's commitment to labor - giving basically a full-throated endorsement of the Employee Free Choice Act and why it is such an important part of an economic recovery program. Read more...

New Poll Shows Widespread Support for SCHIP Expansion to Cover Legal Immigrant Children

Dec 23, 2008 - Encouraging news from a poll released yesterday, which shows that more than two-thirds of the public (82 percent) supports SCHIP renewal and for extending children's health benefits to legal immigrant children. Read more...

1199SEIU Website and Magazine Win National Labor Media Awards

Dec 22, 2008 - SEIU1199's Our Life and Times magazine and local union website www.1199seiu.org won a total of eight awards in this year's journalism contest of the International Labor Communications Association (ILCA). Read more...

Andy Stern on Bloggingheads.tv: The Future of Labor

Dec 22, 2008 - Andy Stern appeared on Blogging Heads TV today to talk about why we need the Employee Free Choice Act and stimulating our economy. Watch clips from the appearance below or the entire thing over at Blogging Heads TV. Read more...

How did your McScrooged action go today at McDonalds?

Dec 18, 2008 - We hope your action at McDonald's today went well! Please tell us any comments on how it went and upload photos and video here as well. Read more...

Houston Janitors and Responsible Corporate Leaders Help Address Crisis for Thousands of Low-Wage Workers with Groundbreaking New Health Clinic

Dec 17, 2008 - Houston janitors are joining elected and community leaders today to unveil the "Houston Service Workers Clinic"--a partnership between janitors, responsible corporate leaders and health care providers that offers a groundbreaking model for providing low-cost, quality health care for low-wage workers. Read more...

"Freezin' for a Reason" in West Hartford, CT

Dec 17, 2008 - Public schools bus drivers in CT working without a contract since May protest employer's delays; demand higher wages and affordable health insurance Read more...

SEIU Reaches Agreement with Wackenhut

Dec 16, 2008 - SEIU has reached an agreement with The Wackenhut Corporation, the second-largest security company in the United States and a subsidiary of G4S plc. The agreement brings an end to a long dispute and establishes an agreed upon framework to work together in interest of security officers. Read more...

Share Your Voice, Be a Health Care Leader in Your Community

Dec 15, 2008 - Beginning this week, SEIU health care professionals, leaders and members will hold discussions with the Obama transition team about making comprehensive, affordable health care a reality for everyone in America. Read more...

Washington Hispanic Publishes Op-Ed by SEIU Local 32BJ Director: "Giving Workers the Choice on Unions"

Dec 15, 2008 - "Although most workers would like to join a union, very few ever get the chance to vote. In fact, employers have been stifling the efforts of workers to lawfully organize a union through elections," writes Jaime Contreras, Director of the Capital Area of 32BJ. "The Employee Free Choice Act restores a fair and even balance between workers and their employers. The bill also creates a process for resolving contract disputes and cracks down on companies that punish workers for exercising their rights." Read the full op-ed. Read more...

SEIU Kids First

Dec 15, 2008 - Read more...

Long Island College Hospital Interns and Residents Win Vote to Join CIR/SEIU

Dec 15, 2008 - Last week, interns and residents at Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Brooklyn, NY unanimously voted to join the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) of SEIU Healthcare. Resident physicians at LICH will work with CIR to ensure that vital services like maternity and pediatric care remain open. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Fast Facts Update: Spotlight on Mark McKinnon

Dec 15, 2008 - On December 9th, the Washington Post quoted Mark McKinnon on the Employee Free Choice Act. What the Post failed to mention is that McKinnon is an advisor and spokesman for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI), a big business front group formed months ago solely to fight the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Workers at Smithfield Meatpacking Plant Vote for Union

Dec 15, 2008 - In an incredible piece of news that's been a long time coming, workers at Smithfield Tar Heel in North Carolina, the world's largest meatpacking plant, voted for union representation yesterday with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Fast Facts Update: Restoring the Middle Class

Dec 12, 2008 - Did you hear about the corporate CEOs who just agreed that paying themselves 344 times more than their workers was hurting our economy by undermining consumer spending power - and have decided to reduce their pay and offer workers a raise and better benefits? Read more...

Daschle Officially Named as Next HHS Secretary

Dec 11, 2008 - President-elect Obama today officially nominated former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and Director of the White House's new Office on Health Reform. Read more...

McDonald's isn't lovin' free choice for its employees

Dec 10, 2008 - Read more...

Andy Stern: The Sensible Approach to Fixing Health Care

Dec 10, 2008 - Andy Stern weighed in this morning on the National Journal's health care blog. He talked about cutting through the argument between two extremes that has halted progress on health care reform and finding a middle ground solution that addresses the crisis head-on. Read more...

SEIU Members to Hold March, Rally Supporting the Freedom to Join Unions and Emphasizing the Need to Fix the Broken Health Care System

Dec 10, 2008 - This Thursday, more than 500 members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will hold a rally at the Denver Convention Center to highlight the urgent need for health care reform and legislation that will protect workers' rights to have a voice on the job. Read more...

Reporter Wins Media Award for Coverage of Security Officers' Fight for Affordable Health Insurance and Fair Wages

Dec 09, 2008 - At the first annual Minnesota Ethnic and Community Media Awards last week, a reporter won top honors in the Community Services division for her three-part series in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder that covered the contract battle and groundbreaking one-day strike waged by SEIU Local 26 security officers in Minneapolis in early 2008. Read more...

ER Caregivers: We're A Little Concerned, Here

Dec 08, 2008 - A new study funded by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality sought to measure how truly widespread the problems that face our emergency rooms are, seeking to measure ER caregivers' opinions on physical environment, staffing, inpatient coordination, and "information coordination and consultation." The results were far from a surprise... Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Fast Facts Update: All About Majority Sign-up

Dec 08, 2008 - The corporate misinformation campaign is already running strong--spreading lies and distortions about the Employee Free Choice Act. One blatant mischaracterization suggests that this common sense proposal is somehow a "radical" change to federal labor law. Read more...

West Hartford School Bus Drivers to Protest Employer's Failure to "Drive Up" Standards

Dec 06, 2008 - For the bus drivers working for West Hartford Public Schools' student transportation contractor, their top priority has been the safety and security of the children in their care. Read more...

Join the Healthcare Debate at Change.gov

Dec 05, 2008 - Already, discussions have begun, including a growing health care debate at Change.gov, the Obama transition team's website. You and I know that for any health care initiative to truly succeed, nurses need to be included - and the Gallup poll proves it. Now's the perfect time to put our credibility to use. Each of us needs to lend our much-needed caregiver expertise to the discussion Read more...

Health Care Reform: We're Ready NOW

Dec 05, 2008 - Today, I heard the incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services talk about "word clouds" in a major policy speech. I saw the next presidential administration organizing online discussions and house parties instead of lobbyist luncheons and corporate fundraisers to... Read more...

Student Petition Backs Janitors at College

Dec 05, 2008 - A delegation of students at Langara College delivered a petition to the school's administration yesterday demanding the school intervene to protect the rights of workers who clean the campus. Read more...

Statement by SEIU Healthcare Chair Dennis Rivera Pledging Support for Former Senator Daschle, Obama Transition Team Efforts to Fix Health Care

Dec 05, 2008 - We look forward to doing our part to promote this vital effort across the country. Read the entire statement from SEIU's Dennis Rivera now. Read more...

Enemies of Change: Refuting Arguments against the Employee Free Choice Act (Pt. 1)

Dec 05, 2008 - You and I know that the same people and corporations who have destroyed our economy, shipped jobs overseas and created the largest gap in pay between workers and CEOs oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare Launches Online Version of Newsletter

Dec 04, 2008 - Current and past issues of SEIU Healthcare News are now available online. The newsletter is issued bi-weekly to keep SEIU, members, activists and friends informed of efforts around the country to deliver quality care to patients and give healthcare workers a voice on the job. Read more...

Wal-Mart's Failure to Protect Its Workers: An Unfortunate Symbol

Dec 04, 2008 - Jdimytai Damour, a temporary Wal-Mart worker, became a symbol to millions of low-wage workers last Friday when he died a needless death because Wal-Mart failed to take the necessary precautions to protect him. He became a symbol of those workers quietly yielding to unsafe working conditions because they have no voice. Read more...

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm Reaffirms Commitment to Employee Free Choice Act

Dec 04, 2008 - "Yesterday, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm reaffirmed her commitment to protecting workers' free choice for a voice at work by calling for quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

In Your Words: Fixing Health Care

Dec 04, 2008 - Last week, I told you about our opponents' latest low-road tactics in their fight to stop health care reform; and I invited you to shine a little light on their ploy by writing letters to your local newspapers. The response was amazing. Read more...

Award-Winning Video on SEIU Labor Leader Eliseo Medina Shows Evolution of Immigrant Rights Movement

Dec 04, 2008 - Today, the Santa Fe Film Festival will screen Tribute to Eliseo Medina, a short film documenting SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina's remarkable career. From a 19-year-old grape picker to his leadership today as one of the most important labor and immigrant rights leaders in the country, Medina's story shows us the power of "yes we can" thinking and reminds us how grassroots campaigns can change the course of history. Read more...

With 30-hour shifts, the doctor is ALWAYS in

Dec 04, 2008 - SEIU Healthcare members understand that long hours and little sleep are a dangerous fact of life for RNs and physicians alike. For years, we've worked to shine a light on the dangers of long hours to patient care and to the well-being of health care workers. A recent study by the Institute for Medicine (IOM) is a welcome addition to the advocacy work being done by CIR/SEIU Healthcare members to limit extended shifts for residents. Read more...

Addressing the Real Cost of Healthcare Reform

Dec 03, 2008 - "The failures of our current system are already costing us billions. If we do nothing and let health care continue on its current course, the cost would be greater than the cure," writes SEIU President Andy Stern yesterday on NationalJournal.com's Health Care Expert Blog. Read more...

Obama Restates Employee Free Choice Act Support

Dec 03, 2008 - Barack Obama's transition team reiterated the president-elect's strong support for the Employee Free Choice Act late yesterday, the Huffington Post reports. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare's Resident Physicians Comment on "Extended Shifts" Report

Dec 03, 2008 - In response to the Institute of Medicine report, "Resident Duty Hours: Enhancing Sleep, Supervision, and Safety," SEIU's Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) released a statement yesterday calling for stronger limits on extended resident work. Read more...

SEIU Convention Passes Resolutions Supporting the Rights of People with Disabilities

Dec 03, 2008 - Read more...

Fiscal Relief to State and Local Governments

Dec 02, 2008 - Listen to some key comments on the need for immediate fiscal relief to state and local governments --- from leading experts on states budget and tax policy who met with SEIU local leaders recently. Read more...

WaPo: 5 Myths About Our Ailing Health-Care System

Dec 02, 2008 - There's a great opinion piece in last Sunday's Washington Post that dispels 5 myths about America's health care system. Written by Shannon Brownlee and Ezekiel Emanuel (incidentally, the brother of incoming Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel), the article debunks... Read more...

For Women, Joining a Union is like Going to College

Dec 02, 2008 - Some great news for working women came out today. A new study shows that joining a union raises a woman's wages and benefits on par with having a college education. Read more...

State Public Service Workers Want to Revitalize Economy

Dec 02, 2008 - At a November 24 meeting between members of Connecticut's Congressional delegation and representatives of State public service workers, everyone agreed that all levels of government must be part of the solution, not part of the problem, to tackle Connecticut's growing economic crisis. Read more...

SPECIAL REPORT: Haiti Stole My Heart

Dec 01, 2008 - In light of the devastation in Haiti and the suffering of so many people in the aftermath of two hurricanes and two tropical storms, the Nurse Alliance of SEIU Healthcare leaders made a decision to offer support. Two SEIU Healthcare Florida members volunteered to travel to Haiti on a healthcare mission - their stories are truly inspiring. Read more...

Snapshots of Our SEIU Healthcare Heroes

Dec 01, 2008 - There were thousands of SEIU Healthcare heroes that left their families and their jobs to join fellow members on the election trail. Here are just a few of their stories: Read more...

A New Beginning for America's Working Families

Dec 01, 2008 - Time and time again, President-elect Obama inspired Americans with the phrase, "You are the people you have been waiting for." SEIU members took that message to heart and worked tirelessly this past election for our families, for our communities and for our future. Read more...

Security Officers Protecting Downtown Boston Towers and Office Buildings Reach Agreement

Nov 26, 2008 - Over a thousand security officers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 615 in Boston announced a tentative agreement yesterday after opening negotiations last July with the three of the largest security companies in the area, Allied Barton, Securitas and Northeast Security. Read more...

Historic New Deal for 25,000 Massachusetts Home Care Workers to Improve Jobs; Boost Care

Nov 25, 2008 - Today, a new contract was finalized for 25,000 Massachusetts personal care attendants (PCAs) who will get a 15 percent pay raise, health insurance and paid sick time. Read more...

Here We Go Again

Nov 25, 2008 - You can hear the jaws dropping as people read James Pethokoukis' latest piece on health care in U.S. News' Capital Commerce blog. Pethokoukis takes partisan politics to a new level by urging Republicans to block any efforts by Obama (or any other Democrat) to fix health care. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota Hospital Workers Stand up for Retirement Security & Health Benefits

Nov 24, 2008 - More than 200 SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members who work at Regina Medical Center begin a 2-day strike today in the face of proposed 50 percent cut to their pension and an increase in overall healthcare costs. Read more...

Former SEIU Political Leader Appointed as Obama's Political Director

Nov 21, 2008 - This afternoon, Patrick Gaspard was named the White House political director for President-elect Barack Obama. Gaspard served as national political director for much of Obama's general election campaign and was named associate personnel director for the transition effort. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act News: "Re-establish the Middle Class" - November 21, 2008

Nov 21, 2008 - SEIU Local 32BJ leader Jaime Contreras makes the case for why America's economy needs the Employee Free Choice Act: In this economic crisis caused by corporate greed, working Americans are in urgent need of the immediate relief that union wages... Read more...

1199SEIU Lawrence Hospital Workers Win 2nd Contract

Nov 20, 2008 - After more than a year of on and off negotiations, the 1199SEIU members at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, NY finally have a second contract. Read more...

Watch Now: Andy Stern Brings Your Voice to Congress

Nov 20, 2008 - Pointing to the combined impact of the health care and economic crises on the lives of working families nationwide, SEIU President Andy Stern called on President-Elect Barack Obama and key leaders in Washington yesterday to work together to address the nation's ailing health care system in the short-term. Read more...

Former Senator Daschle to be Nominated for HHS Secretary

Nov 20, 2008 - Multiple news sources, including NBC News, are reporting that Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-ND) "has accepted President-elect Barack Obama's offer to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services," and will therefore be nominated to the position. In that role, Daschle would be in charge of the FDA, Medicare and Medicaid, among other programs. Read more...

Main Street, Not Wall Street, Should Fix Crumbling U.S. Infrastructure

Nov 19, 2008 - At its best, America's infrastructure has powered our economic prosperity, created well-paying jobs, and served the public interest. Read more...

Home Depot Founder to CEOs: You "Should Be Shot"

Nov 19, 2008 - In the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill in Congress that would give workers the free choice to form unions, we've seen some crazy hyperbole from greedy CEOs and their front groups who oppose free choice for workers. Home Depot founder and ex-CEO Bernie Marcus, for example... Read more...

SEIU President to Testify at Senate Hearing on Health Care Reform, Highlight Dual Impact of Health Care and Economic Crises on Working Families

Nov 18, 2008 - With pressure building to address the nation's ailing health care system, SEIU International President Andy Stern will offer testimony on the combined impact of the health care and economic crisis on working families and call for comprehensive health care reform at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance at 10AM Wednesday, November 19. Read more...

"Now is the time to roll up our sleeves..." Letter to the Editor from SEIU Healthcare Member

Nov 18, 2008 - "No matter if you voted for President-elect Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain, if you are a union member, small-business owner or retiree, we share one community. We need to play our part to help our elected leaders fulfill their campaign promises," writes SEIU Healthcare member Charlotte Anibas from Local 1199NW in a Seattle Times LTE. Read more...

Leading Massachusetts Physicians Voice Support for Free and Fair Union

Nov 17, 2008 - Free & Fair Elections = Quality Jobs, Quality Care Hospital workers across Boston are calling for free and fair union elections so they can have a voice in protecting patient care and improving jobs for working families. In an open... Read more...

SEIU Healthcare Chair Dennis Rivera Addresses Links between Nation's Failing Economy, Ailing Healthcare System

Nov 16, 2008 - "We have a president who has promised to prioritize health care and improve the lives of workers. We have a Congress that has committed to providing economic relief for families--including affordable health insurance," wrote Dennis Rivera, SEIU Healthcare chair in The Hill's Congress Blog. Read more...

Why Employees Need Free Choice to Join Unions: Let's Cut to the Chase

Nov 14, 2008 - The Saturday, Nov. 8th edition of The New York Times had a lengthy piece by Steven Greenhouse about the growing chorus for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would restore free choice for people who want to join a union. Towards the end of the article is a simple sentence that bears further examination, because it gets to the heart of why we need Employee Free Choice... Read more...

SEIU Canada: Comcare Home Care Workers Vote to Join Union

Nov 13, 2008 - Sudbury area home caregivers employed by Comcare Health Services voted overwhelmingly on November 10 to form a union, becoming members of SEIU Local 1 Canada. Read more...

PSA Campaign Aims to Address the Mental Health Consequences of Combat

Nov 13, 2008 - PSA Campaign Aims to Address the Mental Health Consequences of Combat Read more...

SEIU, Coalition Partners Urge Health Care Overhaul

Nov 13, 2008 - SEIU and its Divided We Fail partners AARP, the Business Roundtable and the National Federation of Independent Businesses published an open letter to President-elect Barack Obama in USA Today this week, calling for comprehensive healthcare reform in the new administration's... Read more...

SEIU Supports New Blueprint to Solve Health Care Crisis by Senator Max Baucus

Nov 12, 2008 - SEIU issued a statement in support of the diagnosis of and prescription for mending our broken health care system released today by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the chairman of the Finance Committee. Read more...

MO Home Care Attendants Help Pass Prop B to Improve Care

Nov 12, 2008 - Missouri personal care attendants joined with people with disabilities, senior citizens, and home care advocates to win approval of a ballot initiative that establishes a Quality Home Care Council that will strengthen the home care system in Missouri and also give attendants the freedom to form a union. Read more...

"How do you see the outcome of the presidential election changing the health care reform debate?"

Nov 12, 2008 - "This election showed that American workers are struggling with the rising cost of everything -- from food to fuel to housing to health care. They know that skyrocketing health costs are shrinking their paychecks, and if they lose their jobs they lose their health care." Read more...

What We've Done - And What We Need to Do

Nov 12, 2008 - We did it. Together, we knocked doors, called voters, and helped move millions of Americans to the polls for President-Elect Barack Obama. While we celebrate, too many Americans still can't afford the most basic, life-saving health care for themselves and their families. Read more...

Early Learning Teachers and Staff at EPIC Vote Overwhelmingly to Join SEIU Local 925

Nov 03, 2008 - Over 300 early learning teachers and staff at EPIC (Enterprise for Progress in the Community) voted 165 to 54 on Friday, October 24, 2008 to join SEIU Local 925. Read more...

More "Why this Election Matters"

Oct 28, 2008 - "I'm a healthcare worker,first of all. I see people come into the emergency room because they have no other access to healthcare. Read more...

Politics Matters

Oct 28, 2008 - More than 3,000 SEIU members and staff have been working in battleground states - with tens of thousands volunteering on weekends and evenings. Read more...

PA Nurses, Direct Care Workers Win Big for Patients

Oct 28, 2008 - It took seven years, but earlier this month, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives joined their Senate colleagues in passing legislation against mandatory overtime for health caregivers Read more...

Impact of Employee Free Choice Act: More Health Insurance, Pension Benefits Possible

Oct 21, 2008 - When Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act to allow people to freely join unions, more than 3.5 million people could receive health insurance and 2.7 million people could receive pension benefits, according to academic studies.... Read more...

Service Worker Unions Call for Stronger "Nutrition Safety Net" for America's Children

Oct 15, 2008 - As the historic economic crisis forces more American families to rely on school-based food programs, SEIU and UNITE-HERE, which together represent more than 250,000 workers in early care and education settings nationwide, are calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Congress today to strengthen the nutrition safety net for our nation's children. Read more...

On the Ballot: Missouri Consumers and Homecare Workers Aiming for Quality Homecare

Oct 15, 2008 - When voters throughout Missouri go to the polls on November 4, they will not only be choosing a new president and a new Congress. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare New Jersey Members Vote to Join with 1199SEIU

Oct 15, 2008 - The members of SEIU Healthcare New Jersey have voted overwhelmingly to unite with 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East and its 300,000 members. The merger is effective immediately. Read more...

SEIU Nevada RNs Settle Ground Breaking First Contract

Oct 15, 2008 - Registered nurses at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, NV recently reached a landmark tentative agreement with the hospital, establishing higher standards for quality patient care in Northern Nevada. Read more...

Mayo Clinic Workers Vote to Join SEIU Healthcare Minnesota

Oct 15, 2008 - Healthcare workers at four Minnesota hospitals, including three affiliated with the Mayo Clinic, voted resoundingly to merge with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. The vote had the highest turnout in the history of UNITE HERE Local 21. Read more...

Pennsylvania RNs win mandatory overtime ban

Oct 10, 2008 - It's been seven years in the making, but on Wednesday, Pennsylvania state legislation against mandatory overtime for nurses and healthcare workers passed its last hurdle on its way to the Governor's desk. Read more...

Vital Signs: Freda Blakerby, RN

Oct 08, 2008 - I became an LPN in 1983 and an RN in 1993. In 2003, at the age of 55, I became disabled by a genetic disease and lost my job. Read more...

SEIU DVD Exposes How McCain "Care" Leaves Seniors Behind

Oct 08, 2008 - More than 250,000 copies of the DVD "The Facts about John McCain's Health Care Plan" have been put in the hands of the nation's seniors in recent weeks, courtesy of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Read more...

SEIU Nursing Assistant Will Be In Town Hall Audience, Ready To Ask John McCain Why He Won't Provide Affordable Healthcare For All

Oct 07, 2008 - As the presidential candidates come on stage tonight for the second presidential debate, Jean Berg, a nursing assistant and member of SEIU Healthcare Florida, will be in the audience, waiting to ask John McCain why he wants to tax healthcare benefits and make it harder for families to afford coverage. Read more...

So... Now What?

Oct 03, 2008 - Written by SEIU International President Andy Stern Let's face it: the Bailout Bill doesn't get to the heart of what's wrong with our economy. Neither you, nor I, nor many of those who voted for it believe that this bill... Read more...

Confused Sarah Palin Contradicts John McCain on Unions

Oct 02, 2008 - Sarah Palin spoke with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier this week and - surprise, surprise - completely contradicted John McCain's virulent opposition to unions and the Employeee Free Choice Act.Palin credited "good union jobs" for why her family had... Read more...

HHS Report Details Nursing Home Violations; Nation's Largest Health Care Union Responds

Oct 01, 2008 - A report released Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finds that 94% of America's for-profit nursing homes have been cited for violating patient care standards. Read more...

New State-by-State Analyses: McCain Health Care Plan Would Hit Tens of Millions with Tax Increase, Force Others into Ranks of Uninsured

Sep 30, 2008 - A new series of state-level reports show presidential candidate John McCain's proposed health care plan would significantly raise taxes on tens of millions of working families while forcing millions of others to lose their employer-based health coverage. Read more...

NEW SEIU TELEVISION AD: Thelma Drake Is "Wrong for Veterans, Wrong For Virginia"

Sep 30, 2008 - A new television ad by SEIU details the multiple votes Congresswoman Thelma Drake has cast against improving health care for our nation's veterans, making the case that she is "Wrong for Veterans, Wrong for Virginia." Read more...

Watch Andy Stern on Meet the Bloggers

Sep 25, 2008 - Earlier this month SEIU President Andy Stern appeared on the weekly online talk show Meet the Bloggers to discuss the Employee Free Choice Act. Watch the episode featuring Stern now: Read more...

Be One in a Million for the Employee Free Choice Act

Sep 25, 2008 - A robust middle class. Economic growth and shared prosperity. The American Dream. None are possible unless workers have the free choice to bargain for a better life--in their workplaces and in our nation. Read more...

Working Together for Kids' Safety

Sep 25, 2008 - "With our union, safety is a must. Drivers do not have to worry about getting fired for refusing to drive a bus that is not safe. Management works with us to ensure that safety is everybody's top priority." Read more...

Members and Parents Working Together

Sep 25, 2008 - "With SEIU members and parents working together, we can fight for our children's future." -- Pat and Stan Sargent, Parents of two children with developmental disabilities in Connecticut Read more...

Working Together For Improved Services

Sep 25, 2008 - "We worked together with lawmakers and community members to pass Proposition 63 in California, which means that more children and adults will get the mental health services and support they need in their communities." Read more...

United for Quality Mental Health Services

Sep 25, 2008 - Across the country, SEIU members are working with employees, provider agencies, advocacy groups, clients, and others to turn things around and strengthen mental health services. Read more...

Position Statement on BSN Requirement for RN Practice

Sep 25, 2008 - There has been long-standing debate within the nursing profession about the minimum degree required for professional nursing practice. Recently the debate re-ignited in New York with proposed legislation that would mandate the BSN for future RNs to continue practice beyond 10 years. This debate is of critical concern to the more than 17,000 SEIU registered nurses who work in New York State as well as to RNs across the country. Read more...

What Is Pandemic Flu, and Is Your Worksite Ready for It?

Sep 25, 2008 - The possibility of a dangerous and widespread flu outbreak has gotten a lot of news coverage, sparked by cases involving the H5N-1 virus that have crossed from bird to humans. Read more...

Winning with Strategic Alliances

Sep 25, 2008 - SEIU hospital employees working in the Allina health system in Minnesota recently formed a new partnership with their employer--one that will give SEIU workers a voice in much of the decision-making that occurs at Allina's hospitals. Read more...

Activists, Fired Worker Protest Poor Resident Care and Working Conditions at Atria Senior Living During Annual Senior Housing Conference (version 2)

Sep 23, 2008 - Activists protested poor resident care and working conditions at Atria Senior Living during the 18th Annual Conference of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry (NIC) on Thurs., Sept. 11 at the swank Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. Former Atria worker Jojo Adeyemi also attempted to meet with Atria CEO John Moore to voice his concerns directly to the man at the top. Read more...

Statement By SEIU International President Andy Stern On Dual Impact of the Banking and Health Care Crisis on Working Families

Sep 23, 2008 - SEIU International President Andy Stern issued the following statement today regarding the combined impact of the banking crisis and rising health care costs on the nation's working families: Read more...

Janitors Fight Back

Sep 23, 2008 - Janitors work hard, but too often our companies don't reward our hard work. Too many companies fail to pay overtime or minimum wage, which are required by U.S. law. In response to this exploitation, janitors are fighting back. Read more...

Responsible Contractors

Sep 23, 2008 - "Responsible contracting"-policies that require janitorial contractors to respect the rights of workers and to pay decent wages and benefits-has become a major trend in recent years. Read more...

Campaigns

Sep 23, 2008 - or two decades, SEIU's Justice for Janitors movement has helped low-wage workers achieve social and economic justice and earn broad-based support from the public as well as religious, political and community leaders. More than 225,000 janitors in cities across the country have united in SEIU, America's largest union of property services workers. Read more...

About Us

Sep 23, 2008 - For two decades, SEIU's Justice for Janitors movement has helped low-wage workers achieve social and economic justice and earn broad-based support from the public as well as religious, political and community leaders. Read more...

Security Officers Uniting

Sep 23, 2008 - Today, more than ever, the safety and well-being of building tenants and the public depends on security officers. But too often, we find ourselves without proper training and proper compensation for the job we do. That's why security officers across the U.S. are coming together to form a union with SEIU, the country's largest and fastest-growing union of private security officers. Read more...

Improving Security

Sep 23, 2008 - Private security officers are a critical part of the network of first responders, but turnover among security officers is a major problem. Security officer turnover rates in non-union markets often average 100-300% per year - rates that rival the fast food industry. Read more...

Campaigns

Sep 23, 2008 - Today more than ever, the safety and well-being of building tenants and the public depends on security officers. But too often, we find ourselves without proper training and proper compensation for the jobs we do. Read more...

About the Industry

Sep 23, 2008 - Some private security firms are taking the low road, undermining efforts by security officers, building owners, and responsible security firms to improve standards in private security. Get the facts about the security industry, standards and enforcement, security companies, and security unions. Read more...

About Us

Sep 23, 2008 - We are the largest union of security officers in the nation, made up of over 25,000 officers who work for private security companies and 30,000 officers who work in the public sector. We have SEIU members in Chicago; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Minneapolis-St. Paul; New York; San Francisco Bay Area; Sacramento; Seattle; and other cities. Read more...

John McCain's Health Care Plan Based on Same Policies That Are Causing Wall Street Meltdown

Sep 22, 2008 - Every day, another financial institution shutters its doors. Over 600,000 thousand U.S. jobs have been lost so far this year. Gas, food, and health care prices are through the roof. The writing is on the wall: the American economy is teetering on the edge of collapse, and American families are paying the price. Read more...

Janitors Strike Against Cleaning Contractor to Defend Civil Rights at Two General Growth Properties Malls

Sep 09, 2008 - Low-wage mall janitors at Park Meadows Mall in Littleton, Colorado, and Southland Mall in Hayward, California, are walking off the job today to protest unfair labor practices committed by the Millard Group, which cleans malls owned by General Growth Properties, the nation's second largest mall owner. Read more...

Former US Labor Secretary Appointed Hearing Officer In Trusteeship of United Healthcare Workers-West

Sep 08, 2008 - The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) today announced the selection of nationally respected labor expert and former US Labor Secretary Ray Marshall to act as outside hearing officer in the International's proposed trusteeship over its Oakland-based local, United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW-W). Read more...

Nurse Alliance of SEIU Healthcare Mobilizing RNs and Medical Supplies to Gulf Coast Areas in Advance of Hurricane Gustav

Sep 01, 2008 - SEIU RNs Mobilize for Hurricane Gustav: SEIU Executive Vice President and Nurse Alliance Chair Dian Palmer, RN, issued the following statement regarding the work being done by SEIU nurses and leaders across the country in anticipation of the health impacts of Hurricane Gustav. Read more...

Strike Spreads in Silicon Valley, Bay Area

May 21, 2008 - Striking janitors are demonstrating outside the Intel shareholder's meeting this morning in Mountain View as concerned investors inside question the company's policies on issues that affect working families. Read more...

Day 1: Silicon Valley Janitors Walking Off the Job Today

May 20, 2008 - Janitors who clean some of the area's highest-profile corporations are trading their brooms for picket signs today. Hundreds of janitors are walking off the job at Cisco Systems, Yahoo, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and other high-tech and bio-tech corporations throughout the Silicon Valley. As the strike expands, it could spread to other parts of the Bay Area. Read more...

Advocates Call for Congress to Stand Up to Profit-Hungry Nursing Homes and Protect Seniors

May 15, 2008 - The nation's largest healthcare workers' union testified before Chairman Stupak's (D-MI-1) House Energy & Commerce Oversight Subcommittee today, calling for Congress to stand up to the powerful and profit-hungry nursing home industry and pass legislation that would improve the quality of care by ensuring that residents and taxpayers know who owns nursing homes, who is responsible for care at them, and how taxpayer funds are being used. Read more...

Statement from SEIU Local 1021 President Damita Davis Howard Regarding Governor Schwarzenegger's Budget Cuts

May 15, 2008 - SEIU Local 1021 President Damita Davis Howard released the following statement today in response to Governor Schwarzenegger's devastating budget proposal. SEIU Local 1021 represents 54,000 Bay Area health care and service workers and their families. Read more...

Open Hearings, Fact-Finding Today by SEIU Long Term Care Workers Continues Democratic Process Begun in 2006

May 06, 2008 - A democratic process involving several SEIU local unions that began in 2006 continues today with open hearings and fact-finding in California. SEIU members in California are in the process of examining how homecare and nursing home workers in the long term care profession should organize themselves in order to have the greatest strength to win for their families and the clients they serve. Read more...

Justice for Janitors Launches New Website TheIrvineCompanyWatch.org as Thousands Demonstrate Outside Buildings Owned by The Irvine Company in LA

Apr 30, 2008 - As contracts covering more than 16,000 California janitors expired this week, thousands of janitors marched and rallied outside buildings owned by The Irvine Company in Century City and in Orange County's Fashion Island while playing drums, waving brooms and chanting. Read more...

Security Officers Win First-Ever Union Contract

Apr 14, 2008 - -D.C. City Council Members and clergy joined with Local 32BJ today to announce agreements with the four top private security contractors in Washington D.C. on 4-year contracts providing nearly 1,500 private security officers with the higher wages, health care and other benefits they need to support their families Read more...

Left in the Dark and Facing Thousands in Rent Increases, Elderly Atria Senior Living Residents Protest, Call for Improvements

Jan 30, 2008 - Elderly residents at Atria Senior Living's Covell Gardens facility continued their protests over exorbitant rent increases on Wednesday, Jan. 30. Residents and family members detailed how skyrocketing rents have affected them, and pointed to recent problems with care and services at the facility. Read more...