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...

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...

Women's health care in the news

Oct 06, 2009 - If Republicans and right-wing talking heads had their way, the only "women's issue" up for discussion in relation to health care reform would be how to best circumvent a woman's right to choose. While that has gotten a great deal of attention, more and more news outlets are picking up on the myriad of other problems associated with women's health care today. 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...

UPDATE: SEIU Healthcare Minnesota President arrested at peaceful protest

Oct 05, 2009 - Over 100 SEIU members and HCAN supporters engaged in an act of peaceful civil disobedience this morning outside the headquarters of UnitedHealthcare Group. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota president, Julie Schnell, and several other SEIU members were among the six protestors arrested for engaging in a sit-in in front of the UHG office in Minnetonka, Minnesota. 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...

Bet Gov. Fortuño isn't eating scrambled eggs for breakfast this week

Oct 02, 2009 - According to reports, Governor Fortuño's personal security detail has been significantly beefed up since an incident on Tuesday when a protester threw an egg at him. The governor was holding a press conference in Fajardo to tout his new project for the improvement of the boats that carry passengers to the islands of Vieques and Culebrain. As the governor announced that the boats would be repaired in Fajardo, praising it as initiative to create jobs, one of the workers affected by the Gov.'s mass layoffs hurled an egg at the Governor's head, shouting "Hypocrite, how dare you talk about jobs when you're getting rid of them!" 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...

If we do nothing, states pay the price

Oct 02, 2009 - Over the past few months, we've been reminding folks that the "the cost of doing nothing is too high." How high, exactly? Glad you asked. Read more...

Bankrupt mother of two seeks room in insurance CEO mansion

Oct 02, 2009 - CIGNA CEO Ed Hanway owns a beach home valued at $13.6 million. Stacie Ritter, mother of twin girls who were diagnosed with cancer, does not. Ed Hanway made $120.5 million between 2003 and 2008. During the same period, Stacie Ritter was driven into bankruptcy by the cost of her daughters' medical bills, all while being covered by CIGNA. Ed also has $28,881,000 in unexercised stock options. That's enough to pay for 65,638 shots of the human growth hormone that Stacie's twins need to grow properly. 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...

Six Months from Census, Ya Es Hora Launches

Oct 01, 2009 - The 2000 Census, despite producing a net over-count of the total population, produced an undercount of Latinos of around 3 percent (or one million people,) which cost billions in lost federal funding. The ya es hora, ¡HAGASE CONTAR! campaign will enhance the Bureau's efforts to count Latinos through a sustained and aggressive community education initiative to mobilize hundreds of local organizations. Read more...

Labor Leaders Pronounce Puerto Rican Labor Secretary's Position "Vacant"

Oct 01, 2009 - The second civil act of disobedience in three days protesting the Fortuno administration's massive lay-offs ended a little over an hour ago, when Puerto Rican labor leaders pronounced the Labor Secretary's position "vacant" after Secretary Miguel Romero failed to show up at his office for a meeting. The leaders from the labor coalition All of Puerto Rico For Puerto Rico and union members from SEIU-affiliated locals SPT and UGT who carried out the action narrowly missed the police anti-riot unit that entered the building, positioning itself in the 20th floor to reach the 21st floor where the labor leaders had carried out their sit-in to demand to have their voices heard by Secretary Romero. Read more...

Polls show Republicans just don't get it (but we already knew that)

Oct 01, 2009 - Sometimes, doesn't it just seem like Republicans are out of touch with the American people? Yesterday, Sen. Orrin Hatch proposed an amendment focusing on ensuring that abortions are not paid for with taxpayer money. While it was voted down 13-10, the Senate Finance Committee spent precious time debating an amendment that was frankly irrelevant. 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...

Watch Anna Burger's testimony at hearing on Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Sep 30, 2009 - SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger is testifying before the House Financial Services Committee this morning at a hearing on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. You can watch online starting now here http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr_092309.shtml. Anna should be speaking shortly before 11:00 a.m. Read more...

Pregnant? Don't look to your insurance company for help

Sep 29, 2009 - Last week, during debate in the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Jon Kyl publicly declared "I don't need maternity care" and thus insurers should not be required to cover it. While Sen. Debbie Stabenow quickly countered with "I think you mom probably did," the exchange does bring up an important issue about maternal care. Read more...

Pennsylvania health care workers show spirited support for health care reform

Sep 28, 2009 - Sometimes, all you really need to get your point across is a giant puppet or two. No, seriously: last week, members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania staged a march and rally outside the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce. To better illustrate their point, they brought along two giant puppets and acted out a short skit illustrating the ongoing battle between Chamber of Commerce greed and health insurance reform. Read more...

Fun Video: Students Want Better Food

Sep 28, 2009 - When food comes to you wrapped in plastic, you just know it's going to be delicious, right? Students in San Francisco are begging to differ. Assisted by the SFUSD Student Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee, these students have produced a short film about the state of school lunches and what's being served to them as "food." 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...

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...

Insurance Industry 101: Deny coverage to keep profits high

Sep 24, 2009 - Congressman Stupak and insurance industry whistle-blower Wendell Potter co-hosted a telephone press conference today to further discuss insurance industry abuses. While various Congressional subcommittees have held hearings on the topic, it's clear that we are only beginning to scratch the tip of the iceberg. 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...

Missed the scrubs delivery rally? Watch what happened

Sep 24, 2009 - At yesterday's Scrubs delivery rally, health care workers described how they see our broken health care system fail patients every day. Their heart breaking stories, coupled with strong support statements from Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Sen. Harry Reid, are just the latest in an endless series of reasons why we must pass real health care reform soon. Read more...

Senate Finance Committee: 14 amendments down, 550 to go

Sep 24, 2009 - At the rate the Senate Finance Committee is moving through amendments, they will be finished with the markup in about 40 days. During those 40 days, 353,840 more will lose their insurance and 3,384 more people will die because they lack coverage, all because of Republican committee members' stall tactics. 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...

The Latest from HAARM - Singing Health Care!

Sep 23, 2009 - HAARM, Healthy Americans Against Reforming Medicine, presents an alternate proposal for the health care crisis: a singing fish. This product is not actually going to be given away to those living within the United States. Or anywhere else. Read more...

Scrubs campaign returns to Washington

Sep 23, 2009 - Nurses, doctors and other health care workers spend their days providing life-saving medical care. But, as they a busy providing care at hospitals across the nation, the fight over health insurance reform rages on, often without them. Read more...

Affordability rules discussion on first day of Senate Finanace markup

Sep 22, 2009 - Affordability was the word of the day during the Senate Finance Committee's first markup session yesterday. In order to prepare for today's voting, committee members made their opening statements and reviewed the Chairman's Mark presented by Sen. Baucus. 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...

Finance Committee begins voting on amendments

Sep 22, 2009 - Last week, Sen. Max Baucus and the Senate Fiance Committee finally produced their long-awaited version of the health care reform bill. The introduction of this bill brings us closer then we've ever been to passing comprehensive health care reform. But, there is still a lot of work ahead. 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...

Immigration advocates working to silence FAIR, a known anti-immigrant hate group

Sep 20, 2009 - This week anti-immigrant extremists from FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform)--a known hate group--were silenced by vigils and pro-immigrant rallies demanding an end to the hate. To counter FAIR's "Hold Your Feet to the Fire" week of lobby activities in Washington, hundreds of activists held vigils at the Capitol to condemn the hateful rhetoric. In the beginning of the week, SEIU joined America's Voice, Center for New Community, and the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) to launch a Roll Call print ad denouncing FAIR for poisoning the immigration debate with bigoted, xenophobic hate speech. 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...

Michelle Obama joins Echo Chamber on Domestic Violence as a "Pre-Existing Condition"

Sep 18, 2009 - Thanks to all of you who took action this week to raise the issue of domestic violence as a "pre-existing condition" in eight states and Washington, DC. You emailed and called, and people are taking notice--including Michelle Obama. The First Lady mentioned the issue of domestic violence as a "pre-existing condition" in her speech on women and health care today. Watch it here. Read more...

Remember The Lunch Ladies?

Sep 18, 2009 - Click here.... Read more...

Rep. Watson questions insurance execs on why domestic violence is a pre-existing condition

Sep 17, 2009 - You emailed and called, and it looks like one lawmaker took notice. Rep. Diane Watson was so horrified to learn about the possibility of coverage denial to domestic violence victims that she both noted it in her written statement and included it as a large part of her questions to the insurance executives who testified before the Domestic Policy Subcommittee. Read more...

Insurance companies go before Kucinich panel

Sep 17, 2009 - In a room filled almost to capacity with K street lobbyists and company lawyers, executives from the nations top six insurance providers testified before the Domestic Policy subcommittee during day two of the subcommittee's hearings. 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...

Kucinich panel witness pleas: "Let me be a Daddy"

Sep 17, 2009 - Yesterday, we reported about the first day of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee hearings on how insurance companies are getting in between patients and their care providers. Two of the witnesses who testified shared their personal stories of delayed care and abuse in the hands of their insurance companies. Read more...

Kucinich committee witnesses present testimony on insurance company abuse

Sep 16, 2009 - "Patients are not mere anecdotes," said Dr. Linda Peeno, former review physician for Humana, during her testimony before Rep. Kucinich's Domestic Policy Subcommittee. But many insurance companies claim just that - that people who've managed to get their story before Congress and the media are exceptions, not the rule. Moving from the suffering of patients to the bloated profits of insurance companies, the panel clearly proved that vast reforms are needed now, before the situation gets any more out of control. 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...

Remember The Lunch Ladies?

Sep 15, 2009 - In a few weeks, the Child Nutrition Act is set to expire. Now is the time to get the word out. Today, we're releasing a new video that explains the Child Nutrition Act and why it's important - in a retro style that you might remember from your own days at school. 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...

SEIU nurses stand strong with the President

Sep 14, 2009 - Following up on his address to Congress on Wednesday, President Obama spoke to a group of nurses gathered in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The participating SEIU nurses, who came to DC on very short notice from all over the country, said they felt honored to represent SEIU at an event focused on such an important issue and thrilled to be involved in such an intimate gathering with the President. Read more...

Republican Senators Vetoed Insurance Protection for Domestic Violence Victims

Sep 14, 2009 - In DC and eight other states, health insurance companies can deny coverage to victims of domestic violence because they have a "pre-existing condition." While that statement alone is gasp-worthy, the story gets even more appalling: this issue had a chance to be ended - once and for all - in the Senate HELP Committee in 2006. Ten Republican Senators voted against it, including Senators Alexander, Burr, Ensign, Enzi, Frist, Gregg, Hatch, Isakson, Roberts and Sessions. 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...

Senator Harkin on Employee Free Choice: "It's personal to me"

Sep 14, 2009 - More than 300 activists from 15 states converged on Capitol Hill on September 10, 2009 to tell their elected leaders that workers need and deserve meaningful labor law reform. Senator Tom Harkin kicked off the lobby day at a morning press conference with a moving speech to the state delegations. 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 Remembers September 11 Victims

Sep 11, 2009 - On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, 61 SEIU members were killed. Eight years after this tragedy, we remember their lives as seen through the eyes of their friends, relatives, and co-workers. 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...

New Energy vs. Old Energy: Some members of Congress may not be smarter than cavemen

Sep 09, 2009 - A new coalition unveiled yesterday called "Clean Energy Works" is calling out members of Congress who voted "no" on the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Clean Energy Works brings together environmental and religious organizations, business groups, grassroots activists, SEIU and other labor unions--63 groups in all--to push for legislative action on global warming this year and combat the attacks against climate action. 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...

Academy Award Actors are against Canadian death panels & socialist medicine too

Sep 09, 2009 - Since the current health care system in this country is a joke, Funnyordie.com decided to have a little fun poking at the Republicans. In this witty video sent to us by the humor website, Academy Award nominee Thomas Haden Church stars as Gus Porter, a rugged, American mountain man who treks into Canada while hunting bear. Unfortunately for Gus, the bear strikes first. Alone and mauled in a foreign land, Gus must confront his beliefs about health care when rescued by those 'socialist' Canadians. 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...

School Food Service Workers = Superheroes?

Sep 08, 2009 - In both the worlds of fiction and reality, "lunch ladies" (or as they're professionally known as, school food service workers) are taking a stand to create a better tomorrow. Read more...

Progress towards protecting American workers

Sep 08, 2009 - Labor Day is a time to reflect on the achievements of the American worker and our nation's commitment to helping all families pursue the American Dream--especially now that many are facing difficult times, as the result of the recession and the anti-worker agenda carried out by the previous administration. In a short period of time, President Obama and the 111th Congress have been working hard to undo many of the policies that have harmed our nation's workers; showing time and time again that they stand on the side of working families. Read more...

Obama, Biden Reaffirm Support for Employee Free Choice Act

Sep 07, 2009 - At Labor Day rallies in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, President Obama and Vice President Biden today reaffirmed their support for the Employee Free Choice Act as a top priority of the Administration. Read more...

President Obama's Labor Day Message

Sep 07, 2009 - As working Americans take the day off from work, attend healthcare send-off rallies or parades, and spend time with family and friends this Labor Day weekend, many of us will be thinking about the state of working America. In his prepared 2009 Labor Day message, President Obama explains his proposal to help ensure a lifetime of hard work leads to a comfortable retirement. 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...

Surgical masks not enough to protect healthcare workers against H1N1 influenza virus

Sep 04, 2009 - SEIU has backed the first and only comprehensive, scientific review that offers guidelines to protect healthcare workers caring for patients with a suspected or confirmed case of the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus (Swine Flu). The union is calling on state and local Health Departments to adopt preventive measures to protect healthcare workers from H1N1. 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...

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 shows executive compensation at bailed-out banks is 40% higher than peers

Sep 02, 2009 - A new study out today from the Institute of Policy Studies shows the extent to which Wall Street's continued practice of paying out big figure bonuses to the architects of our economic collapse continues. The study found that the CEOs of the 20 financial firms that have received the largest bailouts were paid nearly 40 percent more last year than other CEOs--and the average CEO pay was 430 times larger than for the pay received by the average workers. 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...

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...

Miami Beach Security Officer Loses His Job for Speaking Out About Forming a Union

Sep 01, 2009 - Security guards employed by Security Alliance in the Miami Beach area have been experiencing intimidation, scare tactics and harassment at the hands of their employer for exercising their rights to organize. And when one officer went on the record to express frustration over he and his coworkers' unsuccessful efforts to form a union in their workplace, his reward for having the courage to speak up was...losing his job. Read more...

Obama and DOL look out for workers' health and safety

Sep 01, 2009 - Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor formally made good on a promise to kill a proposal introduced by President Bush in his final days of administration that would have made it more difficult for the government to write new worker protection rules. OMB Watchreports that the controversial proposal was, essentially, "an attempt to regulate regulations" by creating an "additional mandatory step to an already complicated rulemaking process." 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...

In Case you Missed it: August 31st Round-up

Aug 31, 2009 - In case you missed it....news from around the union on remembering Ted Kennedy, MassVOTE's new petition to change state law, demanding action on immigration reform, the FDIC's new rules to try to protect taxpayers from another economic calamity, setting the record straight on Glenn Beck's lies about Van Jones and buying union made. 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...

SEIU Members in New Jersey Endorse Governor Corzine

Aug 28, 2009 - SEIU members in New Jersey today announced their strong support for Governor Jon Corzine as the clear choice for working families this fall. Members from SEIU New Jersey State Council, 1199SEIU, 32BJ, Local 518, Local 617 and the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) cited Governor Corzine's strong record of expanding healthcare for New Jersey families and his continued leadership to help families recover from the greatest crisis since the Great Depression as reasons for their support. Read more...

1199SEIU pays respect to Sen. Kennedy on his final motorcade trip through Boston

Aug 28, 2009 - Yesterday in Massachusetts, hundreds of tearful SEIU members in lined the streets of Boston clutching purple signs with a simple message: "Thank You Teddy." 1199SEIU joined other labor organizations and tens of thousands of grateful citizens who lined the route from Kennedy's home on Cape Cod to the JFK Presidential Library - saluting the Senator as he made one final trip through his beloved city of Boston. Read more...

Woman's Son Denied Coverage Because of Acne

Aug 27, 2009 - Yes, you read that right. Take a moment. Collect the pieces of your shattered brain. And let me repeat: This woman's son was denied health care coverage because her insurance company said his acne was a pre-existing condition. We need reform this year. It's time to wake up. 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...

RNC: If you can't convince them, confuse them

Aug 27, 2009 - This week, some registered Republican voters in Colorado received a survey from the RNC entitled "2009 Future of American Health Care." The authors of this survey, however, seem completely unconcerned with what Republican voters actually think about healthcare. 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...

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...

Boycotting Fox News' Glenn Beck

Aug 26, 2009 - Glenn Beck is doing his best to usher in a new era of fear mongering and histrionics every weeknight on his self-titled Fox News show--and it's up to us to push back. If you haven't already, join the call to hold Glenn Beck and Fox News accountable for Beck's race-baiting and hateful rhetoric. Read more...

Jul 23, 2009 - Starting tomorrow, the Federal minimum wage is increasing from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour, the last part of the 2007 minimum wage legislation passed by Congress. 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...

Obama on primetime to urge action, not politics, on healthcare

Jul 22, 2009 - For millions of Americans, real hope for changing the status quo of the 46 million Americans who don't have health insurance or can't afford the plan they have now is closer than ever. Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET, President Obama is holding a primetime news conference on health care. He's going to lay it all out there: where we are, where we're going, and why health insurance reform matters. Read more...

US Senator Gillibrand: Increase Reimbursement Rate for School Lunches

Jul 22, 2009 - Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is using her clout to back legislation to make school lunches healthier. Among her ideas is to increase the federal reimbursement rate for the National School Lunch Program, which currently stands at $2.68 for a free lunch. 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...

13,000 Home Care Attendants Vote to Form Union to Improve Services for Seniors, People with Disabilities

Jul 22, 2009 - Placing Missouri on a path toward improved healthcare for thousands of its seniors and people with disabilities, 13,00 home care attendants in Missouri's consumer directed home care program have voted to join the Missouri Home Care Union, a statewide union of home care attendants. 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...

TODAY: Dr. Dean's Emergency Call with Nurses and Doctors

Jul 21, 2009 - Health care legislation passed huge hurdles in the House and Senate last week, but threats to this legislation appear to be growing with each day. Because of this, Dr. Howard Dean has issued an emergency conference call on Wednesday, July 22 with nurses and doctors to discuss elements of the House and Senate bills, and how they will impact health care professionals. Read more...

Al Franken raises the SEIU roof

Jul 21, 2009 - Al Franken, like many ex-performers, knows when to arrive at stage right at the critical moment of a new play. Six months into the new Obama administration as we now get ready to pass for the first time in 223 years, a healthcare bill and in the coming months, the Employee Free Choice Act, Sen. Al Franken's presence and strong leadership in the Senate couldn't have come at a better time. 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...

Questioning millionaire compensation: Doctors put the Bronx's St. Barnabas Hospital under the microscope

Jul 20, 2009 - "With so much of our economy in flux, now more than ever, the people of New York need to be reassured that the institutions we rely on are worthy of the trust that we put into them," said Dr. L. Toni Lewis, president of the Committee of Interns and Residents. Visit www.examinebarnabas.org. 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...

Momentum keeps building for Health Care Reform

Jul 17, 2009 - Not a single workday passed this week without major health care news spilling onto cable news networks, blogs and newspapers. 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...

SEIU Member-Endorsed Judy Chu Candidate Wins in California

Jul 15, 2009 - Yesterday, California Democrat Judy Chu won a special election in District 32 with almost 62% of the vote to become the newest member of Congress. "She's a dynamic leader and a woman of action, who stands up and fights for her beliefs, whether outside on a picket line with workers or inside the corridors of power," said Courtni Pugh, Executive Director of SEIU California State Council. 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...

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...

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...

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...

Sotomayor confirmation hearings reminder America is still the land of opportunity

Jul 13, 2009 - The life story of Judge Sonia Sotomayor is, quite literally, a remarkable retelling of the American Dream. Her personal story of achievement has given her a rare insight into the lives of people who get up and go to work each day to make a better life for their families. Watch the Sotomayor confirmation hearings live here. 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...

AIG bonus requests: Is this some kind of joke?

Jul 10, 2009 - Upon hearing the news that bailed-out insurer AIG plans to reward top executives $2.4 million in bonuses next week, SEIU's first reaction was...sheer and utter disbelief. As in, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING US. How is it possible that the same company that received the largest of all taxpayer bailouts, at a total cost of $173 billion to the American people, would decide it's a good idea to reward themselves for doing such a fantastic job of losing more money? 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Standing in solidarity to protect Democracy in Honduras

Jul 07, 2009 - SEIU is standing in solidarity with sister organizations in Honduras--the Unitary Central of Honduran Workers (CUTH), the Confederation of Honduran Workers (CTH), the General Workers Central (CGT), and the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA), which represents over 45 million workers in the hemisphere--in condemning the military coup that resulted in the illegal ouster of democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya. 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...

End the war on home care

Jul 02, 2009 - A U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction last week ordering the state of California to halt pay cuts for the state's 400,000 home care workers. Now that a court has ruled against the Governor and his cuts, we need to ask him to reverse course on these short-sighted cuts. 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...

Senate HELP Committee Releases Complete Health Care Bill

Jul 02, 2009 - For months, we've been standing firm on our call for Congress to deliver a health care bill that does a few, simple things. It has to lower health care costs for patients, businesses, and governments. It has to improve the quality of care for patients. And it has to make sure that every American, regardless of who they are or how much money that make, has access to affordable care. Today, we have that bill. Read more...

For shame, Citigroup!

Jul 02, 2009 - The Financial Times reported yesterday that Citigroup is raising credit card interest rates on 15 million customers. 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...

Time's up: SEIU members and Californians crank up the heat on Schwarzenegger

Jul 01, 2009 - Governor Schwarzenegger has indicated that his idea of "shared sacrifice" is to force the entire budget burden on working families and those who can least afford it. He has refused to support a budget that contains his own previous proposals for modest oil extraction fees and insurance fees that would fund critical public safety services. SEIU Local 1000 is liveblogging from their rally at the Capitol in Sacramento. 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...

Working families need Al Franken in the U.S. Senate

Jun 30, 2009 - The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that Al Franken won the state's U.S. Senate election last November against incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.). 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...

House takes historic Leap toward clean energy economy; Obama touts new (sexier) light bulb standards

Jun 29, 2009 - On Friday, Congress took an extraordinary step forward on efforts to curb global warming. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the first-ever bill designed to advance a clean energy economy that creates green jobs, boosts national security and protects our planet. Read more...

You Ask, The President Answers

Jun 29, 2009 - President Obama is hosting an online discussion this Wednesday, at 1:15 p.m. EDT, on health care reform. He's soliciting questions from people via Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Get involved in the discussion by submitting your own question. Read more...

Canadian court rescinds Weyburn Wal-Mart workers' union certification

Jun 29, 2009 - Workers at Weyburn first voted for union representation over four years ago, and Wal-Mart stalled and threw up every road block they could to keep the workers from getting a fair deal. And now, a Saskatchewan judge has essentially ruled that because labor laws have changed since the Weyburn Wal-Mart workers legally won union representation, these workers are no longer represented by a union. 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...

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...

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...

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...

Groups Launch Ads in Support of House Clean Energy Bill

Jun 23, 2009 - As Congress marshals us closer to a clean energy economy that creates green jobs, boosts national security and protects our planet, SEIU and coalition groups including the Blue Green Alliance and Sierra Club launched a major advertising campaign last week, urging Congress to pass and strengthen the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Read more...

Catholic Bishops and Labor Unions Announce Agreement on Respecting the Rights of Healthcare Workers

Jun 22, 2009 - The new report, "Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Healthcare and Unions," renews the Bishops' call to Catholic health care employers to support the rights of workers to choose to join a union free from intimidation or harassment. 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

"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...

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...

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...

500 Workers at Boston's Caritas Carney Hospital Vote to Join 1199SEIU

Jun 12, 2009 - Workers at Boston's Caritas Carney Hospital, part of Caritas Christi Health Care and the largest community-based hospital system in Massachusetts, voted overwhelmingly to join 1199SEIU. In April, more than 800 workers at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston also voted to join 1199SEIU. Read more...

Change to Win Campaign Spotlight: "Cure CVS"

Jun 11, 2009 - The plentiful number of CVS store locations is a high convenience factor most consumers appreciate--but the more you learn about the way the company is run, the less welcoming that development may seem. 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...

SEIU Study Reveals $34.7 billion in "The Hidden Branch of Government": Unfulfilled California Vendor Contracts Canceled

Jun 10, 2009 - Yesterday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order calling for all unfulfilled state department vendor contracts to be canceled. Schwarzenegger's recognition of the vendor waste is just the tip of the iceberg--SEIU Local 1000 believes the California government is hiding $34.7 billion in some 13,600 vendor contracts. Read more...

Senate HELP Committee releases draft of Healthcare Reform legislation

Jun 09, 2009 - It's been 15 years since Congress and our President last tried to fix the health care crisis in America. Today, the draft of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee's bill of health care reform legislation was released: the Americans Health Choices Act. 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...

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...

Quickening the Pace of Progress: Obama's Roadmap to Recovery

Jun 08, 2009 - At a Cabinet meeting on Monday, President Barack Obama promised to speed federal money into hundreds of public works projects this summer, vowing that 600,000 jobs would be created or saved in the second hundred days--four times the number created or saved in the first 100 days. Read more...

Janitors in midst of 7-Day hunger strike protesting Cisco Systems

Jun 05, 2009 - For two days now, dozens of janitors janitors, members of faith and community supporters have had absolutely nothing to eat, only drinking water as they determinedly camp out outside of Cisco's corporate headquarters in San Jose. The janitors at Cisco Systems first began protesting the corporation--which currently has more than $34 billion in cash assets on hand--when contractor ABM Industries Inc. laid off more than 40 percent of its total janitorial workforce in February. 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...

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...

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 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...

This Saturday, it begins

Jun 03, 2009 - President Obama indicated this week that he wants a health care bill that provides quality, affordability, and accessibility--and that the key to achieving all three of those goals is the public health insurance option. Let's be clear - this is big news for health care reform. 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...

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...

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...

SEIU Vows to Block Governor Schwarzenegger's Assault on Home Care

Jun 02, 2009 - Governor Schwarzenegger gave a speech to the joint session of California legislatures this morning on the state's budget, pressing lawmakers to resolve the state's financial crisis, advocating a federal solution to do so that will devastate seniors, people with disabilities and the in-home care providers they depend on to survive. SEIU intends to fight the Governor's callous and immoral budget proposals and advance real solutions that enhance state and federal revenue, instead reducing funds for home care and other vital services Californians need. Read more...

Delivering Your Petitions to NBC Washington on Rick Scott's Infomercial: Watch the Video

Jun 02, 2009 - On Sunday, a group of DC residents delivered all 68,000 of your petitions to the NBC studios in Washington, demanding Rick Scott's phony infomercial be pulled. You should have seen the look on the producer's face when she saw the boxes of signatures waiting for her in the lobby. 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...

Survey Results: The American Dream and the New Progressive Majority

Jun 02, 2009 - Change to Win released the results of the seventh in its ongoing series of American Dream surveys today, measuring views on how strong majorities of working Americans view the economy, the role of government, the American Dream, and the action agenda that is at the heart of the new progressive majority. Read more...

On June 6th, thousands of people are organizing for health care reform

Jun 01, 2009 - On June 6th, thousands of people just like you are beginning to organize for healthcare reform by hosting or attending a Healthcare for Organizing Kickoff with Organizing for America. We can win healthcare reform in the same way we won the election: building support one block, one neighbor, one conversation at a time. Please join us by signing up today. 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...

Take Action: SEIU Steps Ups with Open Left to Support a Public Healthcare Option

Jun 01, 2009 - SEIU has stepped up a campaign that allows Open Left readers a unique way to fight for the public option while simultaneously supporting Open Left: we will donate $1 to Open Left for every person who signs up for their healthcare campaign. 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...

Over 68,000 Petitions Signed to Tell NBC and Meet the Press Not to Air Rick Scott's Phony "Documentary"

May 29, 2009 - This evening we received word that over 68,000 people (and counting!) have signed the petition calling for NBC not to air Rick Scott's "infomercial" attacking a public healthcare option that's set to air after Meet the Press on the network this Sunday. 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...

Senator Vitter: You Can Run (for Re-Election) but You Can't Hide (from Your Voting Record)

May 29, 2009 - In a recent fundraising email, Senator Vitter attacked SEIU for exposing his votes against working families. But it's nothing compared to the hardships he's caused to middle and low-income Louisianans with his votes as the Junior Senator of Louisiana. Helene O'Brien, President of SEIU Local 21LA issued the following statement in response to Senator Vitter's most recent fundraising email. 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...

Wal-Mart Responsible for Black Friday Trampling Death

May 28, 2009 - So what's the punishment for shocking corporate negligence that results in the death of a worker like in the case of Wal-Mart temporary employee Jdimytai Damour? OSHA hit them with the maximum fine allowable by law -- $7,000. 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...

Stop Schwarzenegger's Cruel Cuts

May 27, 2009 - Two years ago, President Barack Obama walked a day in the shoes of SEIU home care worker Pauline Beck. Today, Pauline and home care workers across California face pay cuts of up to 33% -- from $12.10 an hour down to $8. Please send a message to the Governor telling him you strongly disagree with his misguided priorities--we're not going to let this happen without a fight. 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...

Thousands Gather in LA to Protest Cuts to California Home Care: Flickr Photo Slideshow

May 26, 2009 - Closing down streets, rally participants sent a clear message to Governor Schwarzenegger and Sacramento legislators that proposed cuts to the state's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, which delivers in-home care to more than 400,000 seniors and people with disabilities, will not be tolerated. Check out the Flickr photo slideshow from the rally here. Read more...

Joe the Plumber, now Jane the Patient?

May 26, 2009 - First, it was Rick Scott's Conservatives for Patients' Rights--which was essentially a front group for, um, Rick Scott. Now we've got Patients United Now (PUN), a front group of Americans for Prosperity (reminder: sponsor of the Joe the Plumber tour and world-class climate change deniers). Seems you can't have too many groups crying "CANADA!" in a crowded cable market. Read more...

Judge Sotomayor's Nomination to the Supreme Court an Extraordinary Choice for Today and Tomorrow

May 26, 2009 - President Obama said he would appoint people to our courts who not only had brilliant legal minds, but who also understand how the law impacts the everyday lives of working families. Today he has fulfilled that promise by nominating U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. 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 California Members Help Defeat Ballot Measures with Dangerous Cuts to Public Services

May 22, 2009 - By overwhelming margins, California voters rejected the false solutions on five ballot measures in the May 19th statewide special election, sending Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature back to the drawing board. SEIU members helped defeat several propositions that would have hobbled the state's public services with devastating cuts to community-based mental health services, health care, education and child welfare. Read more...

43 Members of Congress Write in Support of Hartmarx Workers

May 22, 2009 - Yesterday, 43 Members of Congress issued a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, asking him to weigh in on Wells Fargo's attempt to liquidate nearly 4,000 jobs at Hartmarx, a unionized suit manufacturer whose customers include President Obama. 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...

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...

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...

Boardroom Shakeup at BofA?

May 20, 2009 - The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the feds are pressuring Bank of America to bring in directors that have more banking experience. What a novel idea! The folks in charge of overseeing the nation's largest bank should actually have some experience working with...banks. Read more...

Senate Overwhelmingly Passes the Credit Cardholder Bill of Rights

May 20, 2009 - Yesterday the Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass the Credit Cardholder Bill of Rights, which will strengthen consumers getting raw deals from the Big Banks. "Until we hold credit card companies accountable for intentionally trapping consumers into debt from which they cannot recover, we will continue to put the overall health of our economy at risk," said SEIU's Anna Burger after the vote. 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...

Don't balance the budget on the backs of the mentally ill: Vote NO on Prop. 1E

May 18, 2009 - In 2004, the citizens of California voted to pass legislation intended to take a new pro-active approach to improving community-based health services for the state's most historically marginalized and vulnerable population: people struggling with mental illness. Now Gov. Schwarzenegger and state legislators want to pass a ballot measure, Prop. 1E, which raids $230 million a year from funds voters intended to direct to mental health services. Read more...

Making a House Call at Independence Hall

May 16, 2009 - Nearly 100 doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals gathered Friday in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in support of quality, affordable health care for all. 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...

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...

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...

TPM Café hosting online forum on "the crime wave no one talks about"

May 14, 2009 - This week, the TPM Café Book Club is addressing the hosting a running discussion of Kim Bobo's book, Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid --And What We Can Do About It. Read more...

National RN Day of Action

May 13, 2009 - Hundreds of nurses from SEIU, CNA and UAN convened in Washington, DC today for a national RN day of action. The day's activities included a morning nurses' conference, followed by a march to Upper Senate Park that grew in size along the way, gathering 500 nurses and another 500 patient advocates to rally for comprehensive health care reform. 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

First-time jobless claims drop

May 07, 2009 - The number of workers who filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week fell unexpectedly---a possible sign that job losses in the U.S. could be moderating. 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...

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...

Recap & Pics: May 1st Immigration Rallies in NYC and Chicago

May 06, 2009 - Gray skies and rainy conditions in NYC and Chicago didn't deter thousands of community and labor activists from marching on May 1st to call on Congress and the Obama administration to reform the immigration system by providing a path to citizenship for 12 million undocumented workers. Read more...

Go Chuck!

May 05, 2009 - Today, SEIU President Andy Stern joined with a panel of health care advocates, insurance industry reps and other stakeholders at Sen. Baucus' second roundtable on health reform. The topic: reforming health care coverage. Read more...

Our Letter to Bank of America's New Chairman

May 05, 2009 - Last week, Bank of America's CEO, Ken Lewis, was ousted by the company's shareholders from his position as chairman of the board. At the same time, nearly 100,000 of you signed "taxpayer proxy cards" calling for Lewis' removal as CEO. 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...

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...

New video shows anti-worker tactics Wal-Mart uses against employees

May 01, 2009 - A new documentary by UFCW that tells the story of Wal-Mart's war on their own workers. In the video, ten workers from coast-to-coast detail the company's response to their organizing efforts (hint: it's not exactly warm and fuzzy). 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...

Los Angeles City Council Votes 13 to 1 in favor of Employee Free Choice

May 01, 2009 - Hours before the Bank of America: Enough action in Los Angeles April 28, the city council voted 13 to 1 for a resolution supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

May 1st marches across the country signal "new day" for immigration reform

Apr 30, 2009 - This May 1st, thousands of workers, labor leaders and community activists are taking it to the streets to demand justice for all workers and pressure Congress to pass humane reform that puts an end to the Bush administration's immigration policies. Read more...

Today's Hearing on Immigration Reform is Big Step Forward

Apr 30, 2009 - Today, SEIU Vice President Eliseo Medina testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security at a hearing on the need for passing comprehensive immigration reform in 2009. 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...

Video: 90,000 "Taxpayer Proxy Cards" Delivered to Bank of America

Apr 29, 2009 - Earlier, we delivered your 90,000 "Taxpayer Proxy Cards" to Bank of America, directly before the annual shareholder meeting. Read more...

Pictures from Today's Rally in Charlotte

Apr 29, 2009 - Fresh in from North Carolina, here are some picture's from today's event outside of the Bank of America annual shareholder's meeting, where we presented Bank of America with over 90,000 "Taxpayer's Proxy Cards." Read more...

Bank of America: In The Doghouse?

Apr 29, 2009 - For a while, we've been saying that people are a little ticked at Bank of America's practices. We apologize to our canine friends, who, it appears, are also joining the movement for real 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...

The Billboard That Haunts Ken Lewis' Dreams

Apr 29, 2009 - If you're in Charlotte, NC today, be on the lookout for this giant, moving billboard. Read more...

Bank of America Blog Roundup, April 29th 2009

Apr 29, 2009 - Our Take Back The Economy campaign is picking up some steam on the web, with a good number of blogs covering our events from yesterday and today. Read more...

Video: SEIU President Andy Stern Speaks at Rally in NYC

Apr 29, 2009 - We've just received video from the New York City's Take Back The Economy event, where SEIU President Andy Stern and event attendees delivered a "Taxpayer's Proxy" card to the Bank of America headquarters. Watch the video here. 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...

Live from Charlotte: Bank of America ATM Fees Begin off the Plane

Apr 28, 2009 - I just landed in Charlotte for our Take Back the Economy action outside the Bank of America shareholder meeting. I needed to get cash, but the only ATM in sight is Bank of America. Read more...

Congratulations, Madame Secretary

Apr 28, 2009 - The Senate has confirmed Kathleen Sebelius as the next HHS Secretary. Read more...

Video: Take Back The Economy Rally in Washington, DC

Apr 28, 2009 - Today, SEIU's Executive Vice President, Eliseo Medina, led a rally in front of a Bank of America branch near the White House. Watch it here. Read more...

Bank of America: "shortfall of billions of dollars." What you can do.

Apr 28, 2009 - This morning the Wall Street Journal reports on the first look at those financial stress tests. The results? Bank of America has a "shortfall [that] amounts to billions of dollars." Bank of America is what the Wall Street Journal called... Read more...

Andy Stern's Statement on Senator Arlen Specter

Apr 28, 2009 - Statement from SEIU President Andy Stern on Sen. Specter's announcement that he is switching political parties to become a Democrat. Read more...

BofA Stressed Out?

Apr 28, 2009 - The official stress test results don't come out until next week, but if BofA fails, the government may have to pour tens of billions more into the bank. Ken Lewis' mismanagement of the bank already has taxpayers on the hook for up to $199.2 billion. Read more...

Today is Equal Pay Day for Women

Apr 28, 2009 - Today, April 28, is Equal Pay Day, marking the point in 2009 when the average woman's wages finally catch up with what the average man earned in 2008. 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...

Bank of America: So, About that "America" Part of Our Name

Apr 27, 2009 - While the US taxpayer has been more than generous towards Bank of America, giving the bank up to $199.2 billion in federal assistance, CEO Ken Lewis hasn't exactly returned the favor. 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...

TV Ad: America Wants Green Jobs

Apr 24, 2009 - SEIU and coalition partners MoveOn Political Action, Blue Green Alliance, AFL-CIO, Environmental Defense Fund and the League of Conservation Voters launched an ad this week called "America Wants Green Jobs," to highlight good, green jobs in the clean energy economy. Read more...

When $45 Billion is Really $199.2 Billion

Apr 24, 2009 - If you've been following the news, you know by now that Bank of America is in debt to the American taxpayer in the amount of $45 billion - the amount of TARP funds (aka "bailout money") that they received since last year. But it turns out that a figure that you likely haven't heard - 199.2 billion - paints a bit more of an accurate number on how much Bank of America will most likely "borrow" from the American people. 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...

Is Your Union Going Green?

Apr 23, 2009 - In the greening of the economy, workers and low-income people are not a liability or a line item--they are a part of the solution. SEIU members and their local unions across the country are leading the way in new green initiatives to promote energy efficiency and quality green jobs. Read more...

Wake-up Call: Abuse of Hispanics Workers Will Continue Without Immigration Reform

Apr 21, 2009 - Under Siege: Life for Low-Income Latinos in the South, a report released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), surveys a mix of legal residents, undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens in the southeast U.S. and finds Latinos routinely subject to racial profiling, harassment by law enforcement and workplace abuse. 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...

SEIU Master Trust Demands Investigation of Billions in Payouts for Executives in 29 of its Portfolio Companies

Apr 21, 2009 - In letters addressed to the Boards of Directors of 29 major companies in its investment portfolio, the SEIU Master Trust--a consortium of pension funds with approximately $1.3 billion in assets--demand that the companies' boards overhaul their executive compensation structure so top executives do not reap bonuses and other incentivized pay rewards regardless of the companies' performance. Read more...

Mary Kay Henry Named Among "Top 25 Women in Healthcare"

Apr 20, 2009 - The latest issue of Modern Healthcare lists the Top 25 Women in Healthcare, naming our very own Mary Kay Henry as one of those on the front lines to reforming our healthcare system to provide quality, affordable healthcare for all. 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...

First Wal-Mart Workers in North America Gain Union Representation

Apr 16, 2009 - It took nearly four years, but unionized workers at a Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Wal-Mart store have finally won their first collective agreement--the first of its kind in North America. 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...

Labor Groups United to Unveil Unified Immigration Reform Framework

Apr 14, 2009 - Today, the Change to Win federation and AFL-CIO unveiled a unified framework for comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The proposal endorses legalizing the status of tundocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. and opposes the adoption of employers' incentive to hire undocumented workers rather than U.S. workers. 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...

SEIU to Chamber of Commerce: Stop Using Taxpayer Bailout Funds to Undermine Working Families

Apr 14, 2009 - On their blog yesterday afternoon, the Chamber of Commerce admitted to accepting dues from member companies who have received taxpayer bailout money. The Chamber of Commerce must stop accepting taxpayer funds to lobby against taxpayer interests that would improve the lives of hardworking Americans. 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...

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...

Watch MSNBC's "Ed Schultz Show"

Apr 08, 2009 - Yesterday evening, MSNBC's The Ed Show featured SEIU's Stephen Lerner about the importance of employee free choice. 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 Specter on the Employee Free Choice Act: Then and Now

Apr 07, 2009 - This morning Senator Arlen Specter appeared on MSNBC's and spoke about his new position on the Employee Free Choice Act -- which he formerly co-sponsored and now announced he will not even allow for debate on the bill. 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...

Free Sebelius!

Apr 03, 2009 - It's with great disappointment that we received news this morning that an "unnamed Republican Senator" put a hold on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary. At a time when the U.S. economy is collapsing under the elephantine costs of our broken health care system, how is it that one anonymous Senator can obstruct filling the leadership post of our nation's top health agency? 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...

SEIU's Andy Stern to be honored at 11th annual Keepers of the Dream Awards

Apr 01, 2009 - Tonight, April 1st, SEIU President Andy Stern will be recognized for his social and political advocacy work by Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network (NAN) at the 11th annual Keepers of the Dream awards. 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...

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...

White House Report: The Costs of Inaction

Mar 30, 2009 - The White House issued a report on health care this morning that serves as a sobering reminder of the urgent need for reform. Released online at HealthReform.gov, the report documents the widespread effects of the health care crisis across the United States. 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...

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...

Really? Joe The Plumber? Really?

Mar 27, 2009 - We've got some news that will leave you scratching your head and wondering, "when will he go away for good?" Joe the Plumber, who is neither Joe (his name is Sam) nor a licensed plumber has accepted an opportunity to become the new symbol and embodiment of the front groups campaigning against Employee Free Choice. 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...

Small Business Owners Weigh In on Free Choice

Mar 25, 2009 - On Monday, the Senate Republican Conference held an Anti-Employee Free Choice hearing in Washington. The goal? Using the hearing as a mechanism to publicly trash components of Free Choice. 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...

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...

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...

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...

Putting Our Money Where Their Mouths Are

Mar 19, 2009 - Rather than focusing on paying the American people back, America's biggest banks have, instead, used their resources to lobby against measures that would improve the lives of their new investors - us. Here's a quick look at a few of these groups. Read more...

Surprise! Rush Gets It Wrong on Free Choice

Mar 18, 2009 - The always-entertaining leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh, had these words to say about Employee Free Choice today: "One day, Tony Soprano will walk in with a lead pipe and he will start beating people upside the head to vote to unionize." 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...

Congressman Boren and Cintas Hanging You Out to Dry

Mar 17, 2009 - Corporate special interests are spending *millions* of dollars on lies, propaganda and twisting arms -- all in a desperate, greedy bid to keep hard-working Oklahomans like you from sharing in the American Dream. And Rep. Dan Boren is more than happy to help those corporate interests. 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...

About That New "Study" Funded by Front Groups that Oppose Free Choice...

Mar 13, 2009 - This week, opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act have been pointing to a fundamentally flawed study, whose findings claim that the US will lose 600,000 jobs in the year 2010 if the Employee Free Choice Act passes. The findings of the study itself, we found, have no external validity. 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...

Missouri Home Care Workers Take Next Step to Form a Union

Mar 12, 2009 - Following on their hard work last November passing ballot initiative Proposition B to create a statewide Quality Home Care Council, Missouri home care attendants today filed for a union election with the State Board of Mediation. The more-than-16,000 workers who care for people with disabilities and seniors in Missouri's consumer-directed independent provider program will unite to form a new SEIU-AFSCME local union. Read more...

Recession reaching all the way to Sesame Street

Mar 12, 2009 - It looks like even beloved Muppet characters Big Bert and Ernie aren't safe in this economic chaos, as Sesame Workshop, the non-profit producer of Sesame Street, announced Wednesday it is laying off one-fifth of its 355-member workforce. Read more...

Ten Things You Should Know About the President's Budget

Mar 11, 2009 - President Obama recently unveiled his budget for getting America back on track - and it includes a significant downpayment toward fixing health care. As usual, opponents of reform are on the attack, attempting to turn our national discussion on health care into an uninformed, schoolyard brawl. Just check out Rep. Zach Wamp's recent appearance on MSNBC: Read more...

Level the Playing Field with Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 11, 2009 - Last night, SEIU's Stephen Lerner was on MSNBC's Hardball and had a great exchange with Chris Matthews that explains our case for the Employee Free Choice Act. Lerner delves into the hypocrisy of business groups' new "campaign" of allegedly standing up for workers' rights. Read more...

"Crackpot Economics" from Big Business

Mar 11, 2009 - Corporate-backed opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act are out with their latest Big Lie. A coalition of industry groups commissioned a "study" that claims the unemployment increases as more workers join unions. 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...

New York Nurses Celebrate Landmark Legal Settlement

Mar 09, 2009 - Nurses in Albany, NY reached a settlement in a class action case with Northeast Health, a network which has seven locations throughout the region and provides care for approximately 175,000 people each year. The $1.25 million deal is the first settlement of five national lawsuits aimed at stopping hospitals from allegedly conspiring to depress nurse wages, with similar class-action lawsuits are moving forward in Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, and San Antonio. 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...

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...

What a Week for SEIU's "Scary Movie"

Mar 06, 2009 - Since "Scary Movie - The Horror of the Employee Free Choice Act" was unleashed, it's been watched on YouTube more than 100,000 times, with 350+ comments from viewers who wanted to share their thoughts and opinions. We wanted to share some of our favorite comments from YouTube with you - check them out. 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...

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...

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...

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...

New Report on Illegal Workplace Firings Shows Clear Need For Employee Free Choice

Mar 04, 2009 - Today, a report issued by the Center for Economic and Policy Research points to a fairly disturbing (not to mention illegal) trend during the 2000s: if you looked at all of the campaigns to earn unions, you'd find that more than one-fourth of them have been "marred by an illegal firing" of at least one worker as he or she fought for representation in the workplace. Read more...

President Obama: "We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act"

Mar 04, 2009 - President Obama demonstrated once again that he stands firmly with working families in supporting passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Here's what he said yesterday to the AFL-CIO... Read more...

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics, Backs Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 02, 2009 - Make that three Nobel laureates in economics. Joseph Stiglitz, an American economist, professor at Columbia University and Nobel laureate in economics, has added his name to the growing list of now-40 economists who endorsed the Employee Free Choice Act via a full-page ad in the Washington Post last week. 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...

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...

Who Dares Mess With GOP Chairman Michael Steele?

Feb 26, 2009 - The GOP's new chairman, Michael Steele, has been making the media circuit rounds over the last few days. One of his TV tactics has been to throw red meat at the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Take a look at this FOX News interview where Steele reveals he's open to retribution for Republicans who are brave enough to choose the best interests of their constituents over obstruction: Read more...

Change to Win and AFL-CIO File Complaint Against Marcus Foundation, Center for Union Facts

Feb 26, 2009 - Huffington Post's Sam Stein and AFL-CIO's Seth Michaels are both reporting on the latest news concerning the now-infamous Bank of America-sponsored conference call against the Employee Free Choice Act. In a joint complaint to the IRS, Change to Win and the AFL-CIO are alleging that the actions that took place on that call were illegal - under the tax code governing the tax-exempt status of the organizations that participated in the call. Read more...

Andy Stern Interviews on USA Today and Huffington Post

Feb 25, 2009 - Today, interviews with SEIU President Andy Stern have been published in both USA Today and the Huffington Post. In both, Stern talks about the Employee Free Choice Act, discussing timeline and strategy for the piece of legislation. Read more...

White House Budget Suggests "Health Care is a Go"

Feb 25, 2009 - Today, news reports suggest that the president intends to make a serious investment in fixing, once and for all, our broken health care system. According to the Associated Press, the White House budget includes $634 billion for health care over the course of 10 years. 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...

Anna Burger to Tim Geithner: No More TARP Funds for Businesses that Use Bailout to Lobby

Feb 24, 2009 - As reported by Elana Schor at TPMDC, the labor federation Change to Win (of which SEIU is a part of) is "taking a major step today in the effort to restrict bailed-out bank lobbying." Of note is a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner from SEIU Secretary-Treasurer and CtW Chair Anna Burger, which calls for Principal Financial Group's $2 billion TARP application to be denied due to their lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

It was March 10, 1968: Listen to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speech at 1199SEIU

Feb 23, 2009 - "I'm often disenchanted with some segments of the power structure of the labor movement but in those moments I begin to think of unions like Local 1199," said Dr. King in one of his last speeches at SEIU Local 1199 to union members and supporters before his assassination in 1968. 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 - Under pressure from SEIU activists and allies like Brave New Films, Jobs with Justice, and the Coalition for Social Justice this week, Burger King scrambled to respond to allegations that it lobbied against the Employee Free Choice Act while paying its workers poverty wages. In a statement issued Friday, Burger King apparently backed off its opposition to the 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...

In Blow to State's Working Families, CA Legislature Approves New Budget Plan

Feb 19, 2009 - As the California Legislature passed a budget package today, Gov. Schwarzenegger applauded legislators as having the "courage to stand up and put the needs of Californians first." SEIU members have a different viewpoint of the budget plan, which includes $14 billion in budget cuts that will affect crucial social programs. 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...

Sebelius Rumors Spur Buzz, Reactions

Feb 19, 2009 - Last night, the New York Times broke news that Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is President Obama's top pick for heading up the Health and Human Services agency. Gov. Sebelius brings significant experience to the role - serving for eight... 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...

SEIU's Anna Burger: Economic Stimulus and How it Will Work

Feb 17, 2009 - "President Obama really wants to make sure the voice of people are heard in Washington and that as we develop economic policies, they work for people across our country: for workers, for business, for the economy as a whole," says SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger in a MarketWatch video interview on Friday. Read more...

What Burger King and Goldman Sachs Are Costing Our Country

Feb 17, 2009 - What Burger King and Goldman Sachs Are Costing Our Country 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...

Video and Pics: Bank Bailout Hearing Action

Feb 12, 2009 - Yesterday, as bailout bank CEOs entered the Rayburn House building to testify before Congress on how they used bailout funds, they were greeted by the playful chants and clever signs of SEIU members. Check out video and photo slideshow of the demonstration here. 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...

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 Urges Full Senate Vote On Rep. Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor

Feb 11, 2009 - SEIU President Andy Stern issued the following statement on the importance of today's vote by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Representative Hilda Solis' nomination as U.S. Secretary of Labor. 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...

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...

Andy Stern on Leadership: "Big Business, Big Failures"

Feb 09, 2009 - "Too many leaders tried to justify their own or companies behavior rather than admit that the system they promoted that had made them wealthy, while creating gross inequities, and economic calamities was flawed," wrote SEIU President Andy Stern last week on the Washington Post's "On Leadership" online forum. 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...

SEIU's Andy Stern: Confirm Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor

Feb 06, 2009 - President Obama nominated Congresswoman Hilda Solis in December to be our next Secretary of Labor, but conservative Republicans are blocking her confirmation simply because she supports working people. SEIU is pushing hard for Hilda Solis to be confirmed as Secretary of Labor and taking action to urge others to join in. 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...

Member Testimony: It happened to me, and it can happen to you too

Feb 05, 2009 - You never think that it could happen to you, but in today's economy it's getting harder and harder to know who's got your back. That's why today I'm in Washington D.C. lobbying my U.S. Senators and urging them to vote for the Economic Recovery Act, which will provide the emergency financial help our states need so they won't have to balance the budget on the backs of workers. Read more...

What We Won for Kids' Health

Feb 05, 2009 - Yesterday, health care advocates nationwide celebrated a major victory for our movement. President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) into law. President Obama characterized the bill as a "down payment" on winning quality, affordable health care for all Americans, not just our children. 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...

Thousands Rally on Capitol Hill to Turn Up the Heat on Employee Free Choice Act

Feb 04, 2009 - Thousands of union members and allies gathered on Capitol Hill today for a rally to kick off the delivery of 1.5 million signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act to members of Congress, where union members gave first-hand testimony about their efforts to form a union. Read more...

Statement by SEIU President Andy Stern on Obama Administration Plans to Limit Executive Pay at Firms Receiving Bailout Money

Feb 04, 2009 - As we've seen with firms like Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, not only do big banks take billions in taxpayer bailouts and still allow bonuses, they're also taking taxpayer money and working against measures like the Employee Free Choice Act that would help hard-working taxpayers gain a voice to help restore the middle class. 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...

Video: Tellers Make Change at Bank of America

Feb 03, 2009 - Last week, as reported on our blog, , concerned citizens across the country participated in events where they talked directly to employees and Bank of America customers on what's happening with their company and why their CEO needs to be fired. We've put together a video from some of these events. Read more...

Celebrate Black History with SEIU!

Feb 02, 2009 - For the 12th year, SEIU is set to celebrate Black History Month with a program of dynamic speakers, education and entertainment. This year's theme is "The Challenge of Change --A Look at the Course of Black History." 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...

Vice President Biden on Employee Free Choice: "This Year"

Feb 02, 2009 - Last week, in a CNBC interview with John Harwood, Vice President Joe Biden talked about the timeline for passing the Employee Free Choice Act. 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...

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...

MSNBC Reports on Bank of America's Anti-Worker Conference Call

Jan 30, 2009 - Reaction to Sam Stein's recent Huffington Post article on Bank of America's anti-Employee Free Choice conference call has been sweeping. Wednesday night, on MSNBC show 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., host David Shuster reported on the call during his "Hypocrisy Watch" segment. Airing some of the tape from the call, Shuster makes a special comment. 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...

Tellers Make Change: Go to Bank of America Today at Noon

Jan 29, 2009 - Today, we're asking you to go to a Bank of America location to talk directly with employees about what's happening with their company - and why their CEO should be fired. Read more...

Statement of SEIU President Andy Stern Regarding Growth in Union Membership in 2008

Jan 28, 2009 - The Bureau of Labor Statistics annual union membership report shows that the share of workers belonging to a union rose in 2008. Growth in SEIU--88,926 members--accounted for nearly 21 percent of the national growth. 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...

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...

Audio Leak: Bank of America Hosts Anti-Employee Free Choice Conference Call

Jan 27, 2009 - Sam Stein, the political reporter for the Huffington Post, just published a vital article on corporate America's fight against the Employee Free Choice Act. Entitled "Bailout Recipients Hosted Call to Defeat Key Labor Bill," Stein writes about a conference call - hosted by Bank of America - and audio of the event that he's managed to obtain. Read more...

Time to Go: Bank of America must fire CEO Ken Lewis

Jan 27, 2009 - Over the last few months, it's become abundantly clear that Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis just doesn't get it. The era of greed and irresponsibility is over. Bank of America tellers make about $24,000 a year. That's less than what the CEO of a company bought by Bank of America paid for his curtains during the $1.2 million redecoration of his personal office. Enough is enough. Today, we're calling on Bank of America to fire CEO Ken Lewis. 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...

CA Security Officers win historic victory as Kaiser Permanente replaces irresponsible contractor

Jan 23, 2009 - Security officers who work for Kaiser Permanente medical facilities won a big victory over irresponsible security contractor Inter-Con. -- a company that used threats, intimidation and termination tactics for three years against struggling officers supporting efforts to join a union. Read more...

Obama Staffing Up, Calling Meetings for Health Care

Jan 22, 2009 - Politico reports that President Barack Obama plans to convene a White House working meeting to address the nation's health care system sometime in the late winter or early spring--the latest signal from the Obama Administration that health care will be a top priority in 2009. Read more...

President Obama on America's Workers in the Washington Post

Jan 21, 2009 - Just prior to taking office, President Barack Obama gave an in-depth interview with the editorial board of the Washington Post, in which he reiterated his strong support for America's workers and the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

"Yes, Workers Can"

Jan 19, 2009 - Statement by SEIU President Andy Stern on Inauguration of President Barack Obama: "Words seem inadequate when I try to capture what the inauguration of Barack Obama means to working people..." Read more here. Read more...

Anna Burger Statement on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Jan 19, 2009 - Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger issued the following statement in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: "Today we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and honor the timeless values he has taught us all - courage, compassion, fairness and community service." 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...

Pictures: Actions at Bank of America HQs Across the Country

Jan 16, 2009 - Yesterday, activists descended on Bank of America headquarters in Los Angeles, Charlotte, New York City, and Boston to present our demands of the campaign. 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...

Security Officers Seeking to Form Union With SEIU Score Major Victory Over Irresponsible Contractor

Jan 16, 2009 - Security officers responsible for protecting patients and staff at Kaiser Permanente medical facilities nationwide won a major victory over an irresponsible security contractor after a three-year struggle where officers seeking to join SEIU faced threats, intimidation and termination for union support. Kaiser Permanente replaced the irresponsible contractor, Inter-Con, with a new contractor called Securitas, a company that is union in many industries and client sectors throughout California. Read more...

New TV Ads Renew Call to Action to Make Our Economy Work for Everyone

Jan 15, 2009 - A new national TV campaign launched today by American Rights at Work in support of the Employee Free Choice Act continues the call to action that it's time our economy worked for everyone. The ads feature workers making their case for the legislation and focus on the fact that Employee Free Choice will grant working people the power to bargain for better wages, benefits and increased job security. Read more...

CBS News: Where Did The Bailout Billions Really Go?

Jan 15, 2009 - In October, the federal government gave Bank of America and Merrill Lynch a combined $25 billion in bailout funds. According to the Wall Street Journal, the move was designed "to keep money flowing through the financial system, ensuring that banks continue lending to companies, consumers and each other." Unfortunately for the taxpayers footing the bill, Bank of America appears to have had another agenda. Read more...

Images of Hope: Art Exhibit at SEIU HQ Jan. 19 - 22

Jan 14, 2009 - SEIU is hosting the Change That Works open art exhibit SEIU art exhibit at headquarters in Washington, DC from January 19 through January 22. The works of art to be displayed were commissioned by acclaimed street artist Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic Obama "HOPE" image. The exhibit shines a spotlight on artists across the country using their voices to amplify and motivate the grass roots movement for social justice and political action 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...

The First Step: House Passes Children's Health Insurance Plan

Jan 14, 2009 - I don't often get emotional when I watch C-SPAN, but I just saw something I've been waiting to see for two years. The U.S. House of Representatives, after receiving hundreds of your phone calls, passed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. Read more...

Unraveling the Arguments Against a Public Plan

Jan 13, 2009 - USA Today dove head first today into the increasingly crowded pool of newspapers who are taking a stand for fixing our nation's broken health care system. The paper examines one key piece of Obama's health care proposal--: offering a public plan that would compete with private insurers to provide the best services and benefits at a competitive cost to consumers. 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...

Divided We Fail Launches Next Phase of National Campaign to Fix America's Health and Economic Crises

Jan 13, 2009 - Today leaders of the country's top consumer, business and labor groups launched the next phase of Divided We Fail, a national movement to bring health and financial security to every American. Read more...

Media Reports: Hilda Solis Headed Towards Confirmation, Has Bipartisan Support

Jan 12, 2009 - Last Friday, President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for Secretary of Labor, Rep. Hilda Solis, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to confirm her appointment. We've compiled a short round-up of the media coverage surrounding Secretary-designate Solis' confirmation hearings. From Washington-insider publications like the National Journal, to local papers like the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the consensus is clear: Hilda Solis appears to be headed towards confirmation, and her eagerness to begin working on behalf of all the working people in our great nation has earned her bipartisan support. 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...

Unemployment Skyrockets, Making 2008 Worst Jobs Year since WWII Era

Jan 09, 2009 - Economists were already braced for bad news in this morning's December 2008 employment report from the Department of Labor, but the numbers released were even worse than expected. 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...

SEIU President Andy Stern Statement Supporting the Confirmation of Representative Hilda Solis as U.S. Secretary of Labor

Jan 09, 2009 - SEIU President Andy Stern issued a statement today supporting the conformation of Representative Hilda Solis as U.S. Secretary of Labor, saying "Her confirmation will give working families confidence that we can rebuild our country so hard work is rewarded with fair pay, strong benefits and a secure retirement." 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...

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...

Reports From Your Health Care House Meetings

Jan 07, 2009 - The reports are coming back from your health care meetings, and can't be more impressed. From everything you've said, it looks like your meetings were substantive, full of ideas and expertise, and were a rousing success. We thought we'd share a small sampling of the ideas that you've submitted to us from your group discussions. Read more...

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

Jan 05, 2009 - Two million-member labor union to involve millions of Americans in an intensive state-by-state campaign to help President-Elect Obama enact Change That Works. Read more...

Anna Burger: 2009 Will Be the "Year of the Middle Class"

Jan 05, 2009 - "By rebuilding the American Dream for millions of families and rewarding work instead of one's wealth, greed or market manipulation, we can strengthen our economy for generations to come," says SEIU's Anna Burger, giving us her boldest political predictions for 2009 on Politico's The Arena. Read more...

SEIU In The News: January 5, 2008

Jan 05, 2009 - SEIU In The News - January 5, 2008: Coverage of the union in national and local press outlets and blogs Read more...

The Employee Free Choice Act: What's At Stake

Jan 05, 2009 - In 1980, the United Labor Unions set out to organize employees at Detroit fast food chains in the hopes of sparking a nationwide movement to unionize the workforce in this fast-growing industry. As a rookie organizer working on the campaign, I learned firsthand what is at stake when workers stand up for better wages, healthcare, and a voice on the job. Read more...

New SEIU Ads Put Focus on Employee Free Choice Act

Jan 05, 2009 - This morning SEIU unveiled online advertising to promote the New York Times' recent support of the early passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. The ads are running on the websites of The Hill, Roll Call, Politico, the Washington Post, and progressive blogs Read more...

SEIU Partners with Manifest Hope for Inauguration Art Gallery

Dec 30, 2008 - SEIU, MoveOn PAC, and Obey Giant are partnering with Manifest Hope:DC in launching a nationwide contest to gather the best work celebrating the grass roots campaign that helped elect Barack Obama as president. The contest is calling for entries of visual artwork that convey the urgency of encouraging a national dialogue focused on heathcare reform, the green economy and workers' rights. Read more...

Wal-Mart Gets a Makeover So It Can Fight Economic Recovery

Dec 29, 2008 - 'Twas the night before Christmas when Wal-Mart told the world it decided to settle 63 lawsuits to the tune of $640 million; most of those lawsuits alleged that Wal-Mart "underpaid its employees." So what prompted the usually greedy Grinch to give more than half a billion dollars to its employees? It must've been a passing wind of Christmas Cheer, right? Not quite. 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...

Reasons for Hope for the Uninsured

Dec 29, 2008 - This morning, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an editorial focusing on the uninsured and the incoming Obama Administration. The editorial board's conclusion? That "a can-do spirit and sense of urgency from a president-elect who wants 'change' are the best things America's uninsured have going for them." 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...

Sen. Ben Nelson: Anti-Free Choice Ads are "Smear tactics that insult me and my fellow Nebraskans"

Dec 22, 2008 - SEIU calls on "Americans for Job Security" to engage in an honest conversation with Nebraskans about their positions rather than trying to mislead Nebraskans. Read more...

SEIU In The News: Weekend Round-up

Dec 22, 2008 - SEIU In The News: Dec. 19 - Dec. 22, 2008 Read more...

Touring DC Labor Online

Dec 22, 2008 - What's free and fun to do in DC over the holidays? A tour of current and historic labor sites! The brand new online DC Labor Map uses familiar Googlemaps technology to help you quickly and easily find dozens of fascinating labor art and historic labor sites, as well as union hotels and restaurants, international and local union organizations. Read more...

A Labor Secretary Working Families Can Count On

Dec 19, 2008 - "If jobs and incomes are our yardsticks, then the success of the American worker is key to the success of the American economy," said President-elect Barack Obama at a Chicago press conference earlier today as he announced the nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis for secretary of labor. Read more...

ON LEADERSHIP: Andy Stern Explores Vision and Motivation with WaPo's Steven Pearlstein [Video]

Dec 19, 2008 - SEIU President Andy Stern talks about Wal-Mart, Obama's many strengths and people skills and and changing the status quo in a Washington Post video interview with Steve Pearlstein, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Commentary. Read more...

A New Year's Resolution for America's Working Families: Creating An Economy that Works for Everyone

Dec 19, 2008 - Big Business is working overtime ... not to help get our troubled economy get back on track, but to prevent American workers from freely being able to join unions and bargain for better wages, health benefits and job security. And to those wondering about big business' alleged concerns about preserving workers' right to a secret ballot, rest easy: The Employee Free Choice Act does NOT eliminate the right to a secret ballot election. Read more...

Arizona Gov. Signs Order to Give Over 25,000 State Employees a Voice

Dec 18, 2008 - Breaking News for State Employees: Gov. Napolitano just issued an executive order that will give state employees in Arizona the same freedom to vote to form an employee organization that most Arizonans already possess. 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...

SEIU President Andy Stern Hails Nomination of
Hilda Solis to Lead Department of Labor

Dec 18, 2008 - SEIU President Andy Stern issued the following statement in response to reports that President-elect Barack Obama will nominate Representative Hilda Solis as U.S. Secretary of Labor. Read more...

Everyone Coming Together for Health Care House Meetings

Dec 18, 2008 - In addition to the nearly-250 SEIU discussions that have been scheduled, over 4,200 meetings have been scheduled nationwide. It's clear that the Obama team is trying to build some consensus among all parties. This makes it more than vital that caregivers like you attend these events. We're in the trenches every day, and our expertise absolutely needs to be heard. Read more...

SEIU Janitors and Business Leaders Unveil New Model for Making Health Care More Accessible And Affordable for Thousands of Low-wage Workers

Dec 17, 2008 - In a city where one in three residents live without health care, the unveiling today of a new clinic in Houston that will offer low-cost, quality care to over 5,300 of the area's commercial office janitors is an innovative step in the right direction. Read more...

SEIU In The News: Dec. 16 - Dec. 17, 2008

Dec 17, 2008 - SEIU In The News: Dec. 16 - Dec. 17, 2008 Read more...

SEIU Statement on Bush's Proposed H2A Changes That Will Put U.S. Farm Worker Jobs in Jeopardy

Dec 17, 2008 - "The Bush Administration's proposed changes to the H2A guest worker program are the wrong policies at the wrong time by making it easier for big business to exploit some of the lowest-paid workers in the country," said SEIU Executive VP Eliseo Medina in a statement released today. Read more...

Over 200 Health Care Meet-ups Scheduled And Counting

Dec 16, 2008 - Last week, we wrote about the opportunity for you to become a health care leader in your community by hosting a health care meet-up near you. Thursday, December 18th at 3pm EST, we'll be hosting a conference call for people who have signed up to be hosts. 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...

SEIU In The News: Weekend Clips Round-Up

Dec 15, 2008 - SEIU In the News: Weekend Round-up 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...

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...

Blue Green Alliance Expands to Include SEIU, CWA and National Resources Defense Council

Dec 15, 2008 - The Blue Green Alliance press conference is the highest priority for a few of us this morning. This unique group formed initially by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club has recently grown to include the National Resources Defense Council, the Communications Workers of America and SEIU. 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...

Anna Burger: The Economic Recovery Program Our Nation Needs

Dec 12, 2008 - Anna Burger has a piece in the Huffington Post today, making the point that the Employee Free Choice Act is key to any economic recovery program: Read more...

Americans Working More, Playing Less

Dec 12, 2008 - If you're feeling a little more worn out and weary at this time of year than usual, it could be because leisure time for American workers decreased by 20 percent this year, according to a new study released this week. 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...

Video: Fact Check on Anti-Free Choice Advertisement

Dec 10, 2008 - "There have been many attacks on the Employee Free Choice Act by corporate-funded front-groups who are trying to spread myths and misrepresentations to confuse people," says SEIU staffer Ari Yampulsky. See the video fact check that addresses a recent anti-free choice advertisement. Read more...

VIDEO: Former Senator Tom Daschle Gives Major Healthcare Speech

Dec 10, 2008 - Sen. Tom Daschle, leader of President-Elect Obama's health policy team, is speaking live right now in Denver on fixing America's health care system, at the 2008 Colorado Health Care Summit. Watch and listen now. Read more...

McDonald's isn't lovin' free choice for its employees

Dec 10, 2008 - Read more...

Labor Tackles Tough Topics at UN Climate Change Conference

Dec 10, 2008 - Earlier this morning at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, what is always the 800-pound guerilla in the room for labor and environment was introduced: coal. Coal miners, those employed in coal-related industries, entire towns and even states for which coal is the economic life blood all feel threatened by the movement for cleaner energy sources. 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...

Employee Free Choice Act Fast Facts Update: The Facts on the Secret Ballot

Dec 10, 2008 - Hardly. Most CEOs don't want to give workers the freedom to decide for themselves whether to join together for a voice at work. It's not surprising, especially when you consider that CEOs are now paying themselves an average of 344 times more than workers. Read more...

No Surprise Here: New Report Names Wal-Mart as One of the World's Five Worst Labor Rights Violators

Dec 10, 2008 - As human rights advocates around the world celebrate International Human Rights Day, the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has released "Working for Scrooge: 5 Worst Companies for the Right to Associate," a list of the five worst multinational corporations for union organizing. Find out which corporations top the list here. Read more...

Tell McDonald's: Don't Oppose the Employee Free Choice Act

Dec 09, 2008 - Over the weekend news broke that the fast food giant is organizing its store owners to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. McDonald's has reportedly even formed an "internal response team...to actively participate in the opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act." Read more...

Statement of SEIU President Andy Stern: "Big Three Bailout Should Be Part of Wider Economic Solutions"

Dec 08, 2008 - "Today, amidst global economic insecurity, members of Congress and the White House are debating how and how much taxpayers will come to the aid of America's ailing auto industry." Read the entire statement from SEIU's Andy Stern now. 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...

Labor's Place at the Table at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Dec 08, 2008 - For the second consecutive year, SEIU is participating in the Labor Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking place this week in Posnan, Poland. Union representatives from Mexico, India, the U.K., the U.S., Korea, Sierra Leone and elsewhere are making sure that the concerns of and effects on working people the world over are an essential part of every discussion at the conference. Read about their work and experiences on the SEIU blog. 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...

The Employment Situation? Not Good

Dec 05, 2008 - The U.S. Department of Labor announced at 8:30 a.m. today that another 533,000 jobs were lost in November; catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent--and bringing the grand total number of jobs lost this year to a whopping 1.7 million. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Fast Facts Update: It's the Economy

Dec 05, 2008 - On Wednesday, December 3rd, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm released a statement calling for the quick passage of 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...

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...

Employee Free Choice Fast Facts Update

Dec 03, 2008 - In the current economic climate, the American public is eager to see Congress take action to strengthen the middle class and restore our nation's economy. To help working families improve their standard of living and get our economy back on track, Congress should pass federal legislation known as the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

SEIU In The News: Dec. 3, 2008

Dec 03, 2008 - SEIU In The News: Dec. 3, 2008 Read more...

Gallup: Americans Remain Broadly in Support of Labor Unions

Dec 03, 2008 - The question "Do you approve or disapprove of labor unions?" was first asked in 1936, a year after Congress passed the Wagner Act establishing the right of most private sector employees to join unions, to bargain collectively with their employers, and to strike. Seven decades later, Americans have maintained a generally favorable view of unions, with the most recent update from Gallup showing a 59 percent of those surveyed back unions, while only 29 percent disapprove of them. 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...

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...

Add Your Voice for Change

Nov 26, 2008 - You've probably seen that Obama's transition team has launched a website, Change.gov, to stay in touch as they prepare to move into the White House. Yesterday evening, they launched a new section inviting citizens to weigh in on the state of health care in America. 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 Staff News Update: New Division Director for Property Services

Nov 24, 2008 - Laphonza Butler will become the Division Director for Property Services as of November 25, 2008. 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...

SEIU's Anna Burger Responds to Obama's Efforts to Fix Economy

Nov 21, 2008 - In today's edition of Politico's The Arena, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger comments on what can be done about the nation's economic policy. 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...

New Television Ad Highlights Need for Employee Free Choice Act

Nov 20, 2008 - As the nation's current economic crisis continues and wages stagnate, the American public is hungry for measures to strengthen the middle class. A new nationwide television ad campaign serves as a reminder that we need the Employee Free Choice Act to level the playing field for America's workers by giving them a fair and direct path to form unions. 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...

Wal-Mart Watch to Join Efforts to Give Workers a Voice on the Job

Nov 19, 2008 - Wal-Mart Watch, a leading critic of the nation's largest employer and architect of an independent public education campaign to expose the truth about Wal-Mart's business practices, announced today that it is merging its operations into the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to join the effort to pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that Wal-Mart's employees and other workers around the country will have the choice to form a union to advocate for better wages and benefits. 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 Members Congratulate Mark Begich on His Election to the U.S. Senate

Nov 19, 2008 - Members and leaders of the nation's strongest and fastest growing union, Service Employees International Union, this morning extend their congratulations to Mark Begich on his election to the U.S. Senate. SEIU made 68,279 calls in support of Begich and look forward to working with him in the 111th Congress. Read more...

SEIU Funding & Leadership Out-Ranks Dozens of Groups During Presidential, Senate Races

Nov 18, 2008 - SEIU Financial Support & Leadership Out-Ranks Dozens of Groups During Presidential and Senate Races Read more...

Help SEIU President Andy Stern Bring Your Story to Capitol Hill at Senate Hearing on Health Care Reform Tomorrow

Nov 18, 2008 - Yesterday afternoon, SEIU International President Andy Stern sent out an email to healthcare activists asking for input on the testimony he will be offering on the combined impact of the health care and economic crisis on working families at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance at 10:00 a.m. tomrorow, November 19. Read more...

Fulfill Your College Goals with an SEIU Scholarship

Nov 17, 2008 - Unions help working families fulfill their dreams in many different ways. At SEIU, this includes yearly college scholarship opportunities. Applications available starting Nov. 17, 2008. 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...

Anna Burger on Meet the Bloggers

Nov 14, 2008 - Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger was on Meet the Bloggers today, talking about the Employee Free Choice Act. Watch it now: 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...

Passage of Proposition B for Quality Home Care Ensures Choice to Live at Home for Seniors, Disabled

Nov 12, 2008 - Seniors, people with disabilities, attendants, and home care advocates celebrated the passage of Proposition B, the Quality Home Care Act, as a major victory in the effort to ensure quality home care services for Missouri's growing senior population and its citizens with disabilities. 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...

SEIU Statement in Support of New Blueprint to Solve Health Care Crisis by Senator Max Baucus

Nov 12, 2008 - SEIU, the nation's largest labor union for health care workers, issued the following statement in support of the diagnosis of and prescription for mending our broken health care system released by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) today. Read more...

Workers Recount Their GOTV Efforts for a New Economic Agenda

Nov 11, 2008 - Union members from SEIU and the Change to Win federation gathered at a press conference Friday to tell their stories of hope and optimism to promote a new era for positive government and a progressive agenda for worker-driven economic growth. Read more...

Putting Healthcare on the Map

Nov 07, 2008 - This week, we're celebrating. SEIU members, local and International staff across the country knocked on doors and called voters to help get out the vote and move millions of Americans to the polls to bring home victory for Barack Obama. Read more...

Anna Burger to Join Governors Sebelius and Napolitano at Obama Town Hall Meetings in Indiana Monday

Oct 27, 2008 - On Monday, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger will moderate town hall meetings with Governors Kathy Sebelius of Kansas and Janet Napolitano of Arizona in West Lafayette, Indianapolis, and Terre Haute, Indiana for Barack Obama. Read more...

SEIU's Massive Ground Campaign for Obama, Pro-Working Family Candidates

Oct 27, 2008 - I wanted to quickly share something from this morning's USA Today piece "Groups spend millions bypassing TV, radio" by Matt Kelley: Read more...

Victory for Residents of Lake County, Indiana

Oct 22, 2008 - After weeks of court battles, Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Kavadias Schneider concluded that early voting in Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago will go on without interference - a complete victory for the thousands of residents facing challenges getting to the polls on Election Day. Read more...

SEIU Members Launch New TV Ad on Gordon Smith's Role in Digging Our Economic Hole

Oct 22, 2008 - Today, SEIU announced a new television ad, titled "Hole," that will air on cable and broadcast across most of Oregon through the end of October. Read more...

California SEIU Members Head to Nevada to Mobilize Voters for Obama

Oct 22, 2008 - This weekend, with only 11 days remaining before voters head to the polls, hundreds of SEIU members from across California will put down their brooms, badges, briefcases, and blood pressure cuffs and pick up clipboards and walk lists as they head to Nevada to mobilize voters for Barack Obama. Read more...

SEIU Members Launch New TV Ad On Sununu's Support For Bush's Economic Policies

Oct 22, 2008 - Today, SEIU announced a new television ad, titled "Register," that will air statewide on cable and broadcast throughout New Hampshire. The ad highlights John Sununu's record of support for George W. Bush's economic policies that helped to create America's current economic crisis. Read more...

SEIU President Andy Stern to Join Senator Biden On Colorado Bus Tour

Oct 21, 2008 - Today, SEIU President Andy Stern will join Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden on a bus tour in Colorado with stops in Greeley and Commerce City. Read more...

SEIU: John McCain v. George W. Bush

Oct 16, 2008 - Working families who have suffered through eight years of Bush's failed policies - hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, tax cuts for the richest Americans, stagnant wages, record food and gas prices, retirement accounts losing trillions of dollars - face more of the same from a McCain Administration, asserts a new online ad by SEIU. Read more...

Working Families Want to Hear Real Solutions, Not Attacks from McCain

Oct 15, 2008 - At tonight's debate, SEIU members say that John McCain needs to stop the attacks and finally address the need for affordable healthcare for all and an economy that puts working people first. Read more...

Thousands of Indiana Voters Regain Right to Vote Early

Oct 15, 2008 - Today, after more than a week of legal struggle between an SEIU-backed coalition of labor and civil rights groups and the Indiana GOP, hundreds of Indiana voters began casting early voting ballots in East Chicago, Gary and Hammond, Indiana. Read more...

SEIU Members Stepping Up Their Efforts for Obama-Biden Ticket

Oct 15, 2008 - With just three weeks to go until Election Day, SEIU members across the country are stepping up their efforts to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden so they can bring about the change working families need. Read more...

SEIU Names Commission on Ethics and Standards

Oct 09, 2008 - The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) today named the members of the SEIU Commission on Standards and Ethics, which was announced last month. Read more...

SEIU Stands with Hoosiers to Ensure Voting Rights, Prevent Disenfranchisement in Indiana

Oct 06, 2008 - Voters in Indiana earned a victory in their efforts to enjoy equal access to early voting sites today as Judge Lorenzo Arredando of the Lake County Circuit Court blocked Republicans' attempt to bar Gary, East Chicago and Hammond from hosting their own early voting sites--while early voting has already begun in Crown Point. Read more...

Wash U. Worker Tells Candidates What Her Family Needs to Hear Tonight

Oct 02, 2008 - As the candidates prepared for tonight's Vice-Presidential debate, hundreds of workers at Washington University were preparing the campus, setting up the stage, and after the candidates and crowd go home, standing by to clean it all up. Pat Waters is one of those workers. 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...

New Report Shows McCain Plan Would Take Away Health Benefits of 415,000 In Wisconsin

Oct 01, 2008 - A new report released today by the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF) shows that Senator John McCain's proposed health care plan would threaten the employer-based health benefits of 3.3 million people in Wisconsin and that as many as 415,000 people in the state could lose their health coverage. Read more...

Congresswoman Drake's Record of Voting Against Healthcare

Oct 01, 2008 - Today, Virginia Congresswoman Thelma Drake held a press conference accusing SEIU of distorting the facts about her record in a recently released television ad. Read more...

Anna Burger Tells Governor Palin to Stand Behind Her Words and Support Affordable Healthcare For All

Oct 01, 2008 - SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger responds to Governor Palin's comments on conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt's show crediting "good union jobs" for her healthcare and saying her own family had to choose between "paying out of pocket for catastrophic coverage or just crossing our fingers, hoping that nobody would get hurt, nobody would get sick." Read more...

"Dear Sarah..."

Oct 01, 2008 - My name is Marshall Clemons and I'm a school custodian in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I've been a custodian for 16 years and I'm proud of the work that I do to ensure that our students have a clean and safe place to learn. 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...

Video: Mark Warner Walks a Day

Sep 30, 2008 - Here's video from the Walk a Day in My Shoes 2008 with Former Governor Mark Warner and PCA Shareen Miller: Read more...

Stand Up for Main Street, SEIU Tells Senators

Sep 29, 2008 - With Congress continuing to debate a bailout of Wall Street banks, Senators will hear from voters this week calling for action on the economic priorities of Main Street. The two million-member SEIU (Service Employees International Union) announced today it will make 150,000 calls this week to Senators running for reelection, criticizing them for failing to take action on a broader stimulus package to ease the economic pain of working families. Read more...

SEIU Launches Website Redesign

Sep 29, 2008 - Today, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) re-launched its website, seiu.org, which now features fresh, daily content covering the broad spectrum of SEIU's political action, campaigns and local union activities. Read more...

Virginia Senate Candidate Mark Warner "Walks A Day in the Shoes" of SEIU Personal Care Assistant

Sep 26, 2008 - As part of SEIU's program to ensure that candidates running for political office know what life is like for working people, today Virginia Senate candidate and former Governor Mark Warner walked a day in the shoes of SEIU personal care assistant (PCA) Shareen Miller. Read more...

SEIU Members Offer John McCain 656 Billion Reasons To Participate in Tonight's Debate

Sep 26, 2008 - John McCain has yet to decide whether he will join Barack Obama at the first presidential debate tonight in Oxford, Mississippi. Read more...

SEIU Proposes Multibillion Cash Investment to Revive Economy, Launch New Era of Hope for Working Families

Sep 25, 2008 - With Washington moving toward a bailout of Wall Street banks, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) called for action on legislation that will launch a new era of prosperity and address the real economic concerns of America's working families. 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...

Nurses, Healthcare Workers Launch Massive Drive to Inform 1 Million Caregivers in Key States on Obama and McCain Healthcare Plans

Sep 24, 2008 - With women voters poised to play a pivotal role in the presidential election, a unique project of SEIU Healthcare will reach at least 1 million healthcare employees--a largely female workforce --through worker-to-worker communication on the candidates' views on healthcare issues. Read more...