Rebia Mixon Clay is a former real estate manager who quit her job to provide full-time care to her brother, who has cerebral palsy and is disabled. Here at SEIU, we had the pleasure of working with Rebia when she spent several months this year as one of our grassroots member lobbyists on Capitol Hill, advocating lawmakers to pass legislation to create change for working people, their families and communities.

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. In this video, Clay describes to us the potential effect on her family -- and her community -- if the budget for home health care gets lopped in half. "When you take jobs away from poor people," she said, "it's only going to create more poor people."

As the deadline for the Illinois for the state government to adopt a new revenue source or begin slashing human services continues to creep closer, pushback is increasing. On Thursday, a group of SEIU Healthcare Illinois members who provide state-sponsored child care, in-home care, veterans services and violence counseling held demonstrations with community advocates outside Illinois lawmakers' offices to show them first-hand why they ought to save the programs. Thursday's demonstrations are the first of many protests planned for coming weeks.

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.

"I knew I had to speak out," said Amy, sharing her story at a congressional briefing held by the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO) on Capitol Hill this morning. "Not only for my own family, but for my co-workers and future housekeepers who will work at Jorgensen's. There was no reason why my job had to be a job with low wages, no benefits and high turnover." Amy knew from past experience the best way to go about improving her workplace:

I already knew that workers could win by forming a union. Before I moved to Helena I worked in food service at Warm Springs State Hospital. Because we had a union we were able to win healthcare coverage, job security and wages that could support a family.

That's not asking for much. But for me it means everything. It means not staying up at night worrying about how I'm going to keep the electricity on and put food on the table. It means being able to take my daughter to the doctor when she is sick or just bring her in for a checkup.

Amy started talking to her co-workers about advocating for workplace standards, higher wages and respect on the job through forming a union. Once these discussions on gaining a voice at work were underway, the employers at Jorgensen's motel made it clear right away that they were not in favor of the idea, singling Amy out to try and intimidate the other housekeepers from supporting the union. They changed her work schedule so she could no longer always pick up her daughter after school. They cut her schedule from 40 hours between 20 and 25 hours per week--and then added more rooms to her daily cleaning schedule. She was under constant surveillance by management, which was hard to deal with, Amy says. "It was a very intimidating environment and it was clear they wanted me to quit, but that was not even an option for me to consider."

Employers routinely and flagrantly violate workers' rights when they try to form unions for a voice. Studies show that 25 percent of union organizing drives lead to employee firing, and that one out of every five workers who openly support a union are fired. Amy Swanson can attest to these facts firsthand, since it happened to her:

One week before my one-year anniversary, I was fired. I worked hard everyday to support my daughter, and I was fired for speaking out and trying to improve my job.

This should not happen in America.

Luckily I found another job a few weeks later as a food service worker at a school in Helena. The hours allow me to care for my daughter, but I still don't have a union and I can't afford the health coverage offered.

If enacted, the Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to form unions without having to go through what Amy experienced. She and her coworkers would have had the free choice to form a union to improve their jobs and better support their families, without encountering employer resistance, intimidation or termination. They would have been able to win a contract that would Amy to provide for her daughter the life she deserves.

Read more about employer-based intimidation in the workplace here and why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.

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Amy Swanson is a Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign. You can read more about the program here.

Note: Mike Kingsbury is an RN and a Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign. You can read more about the program here.

Yesterday, I sat for several hours in a House subcommittee meeting, waiting for a satisfying moment that never came. Scores of cameras, dozens of spectators, and the "Ladies in Pink" (who nearly got thrown out of the hearing for waving signs that said "Jail AIG") joined me as we waited for hours to hear from the CEO of AIG, Edward Liddy.

In the packed hearing, I listened as Congressman Barney Frank asked for - and Mr. Liddy declined to provide - names of the AIG executives who received bonuses. When pressed under threat of subpoena, he resisted, suggesting their lives would be threatened by the general public "if only we could get our hands on them."

Mr. Liddy, we are not an angry mob. We want justice, not blood. And, yes, we want the names of those whose million-dollar bonuses we all paid. We don't want to "string them up," we want to ask them what they know about shared sacrifice. The woman waiting in line with me at the hearing told about how, when things got rough, she lived on crackers and cheese and peanut butter. For most Americans, shared sacrifice doesn't mean giving up our European vacation - most of us have never been to Europe.

So, yes, give it back - every last dollar of the bonuses, every last dime of the bailout. But if, at the end of the day, all the money is paid back, all the criminals are prosecuted, AIG is on its feet again, but we still have the same system that caused this to happen - we still bailout banks but let workers lose their homes and their health care - I will still be mad.

I don't expect a million dollar bonus. I want a choice about whether to have a union. I want affordable health care. I just want to live in a country that works for working people.

While I'm glad I saw the beginnings of that in the hearing yesterday, I also saw the possibility that business might try to give us a "sacrificial offering," and hope we are appeased.

I know I won't be.

From our nation's capital,
Mike Kingsbury, RN

Note: Marvel is a Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign. You can read more about the program here.

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.

We met with Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid, and I felt he truly listened to my story of how difficult it was for nurses and hospital workers to win our union election because of our employer's attempts to intimidate and scare us. I told him forming a union was the only way we could stand up for our patients and ensure staffing standards that would protect patient care.

For me, it was very rewarding to meet and learn from face-to-face conversations that Reps. Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus had joined in Sen. Harry Reid's lead on the Employee Free Choice Act. It was an honor for me to be able to thank Senator Reid personally for his continued support of the workers of
Nevada.

It was a wonderful and inspiring sight to see our SEIU family visible all over Capitol Hill as we walked from meeting to meeting representing all American workers. I can't wait to come back and do it again!

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Marvel Bramwell is a registered nurse at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, NV.

Marvel has been a nurse since 1968. She began working at Renown Medical Center in March 2004 where, despite the hospital's opposition, she was part of the bargaining team to negotiate safe staffing ratios for patients. Nurses at Renown have had to hold two elections for recognition and waited a year before negotiating a first contract with their employer.

Corporate interests have been using every means at their disposal to lobby against Employee Free Choice, the legislation that would make it easier for workers to join a union. However, labor's show of support for this legislation and stepped-up efforts to debunk the corporate lies have not gone unnoticed by the mainstream media--from Washington-insider publications like Politico, to national publications CNN and BusinessWeek.

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:

CNN: Key union renews push for hotly disputed labor bill
One of the the country's most powerful unions stepped up its campaign for a hotly disputed labor bill Monday, holding a rally on the eve of the bill's formal introduction in Congress. SEIU's President Andy Stern:

[Business leaders] "believe in this old market-worshipping, privatizing, deregulating, trickle-down [policy] that took the greatest economy on the Earth and sent it staggering forward because of their greed and their selfishness. Without the Employee Free Choice Act ... the rich will get richer and the rest of us will fend for ourselves."

Huffington Post: SEIU, Chamber Of Commerce Dust Up Started With A Tweet
As some of you may know, SEIU President Andy Stern is on Twitter every day on his own, often breaking news. Here, Sam Stein has the story of how one of Stern's tweets about Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donahue escalated into a demonstration outside the offices of the Chamber yesterday.

It was a small and rather innocuous volley, but an interesting footnote in one of the year's most fiercely pitched legislative debates...During the subsequent week, the SEIU sent letters to seven industry groups opposed to EFCA asking them to engage workers in a conversation on the bill. The gathering of labor leaders and progressive religious and community officials, protesting the business group's lobbying efforts against labor priorities, marked a crest in an exchange that has been simmering for weeks. Certainly it is one of the more overt moves in a political chess match that has been waged largely behind the scenes.

Business Week: Bill Moves Forward As Lobbying Battle Heats Up
The bill's reintroduction coincides with an intensifying lobbying blitz over card check organized by the business and labor organizations that are battling over the bill....the Service Employees International Union has organized a competing "fly-in" with the AFL-CIO and other unions; they will also flood Capitol Hill with roughly 300 workers who will tell members about how they've been stymied in efforts to win the union representation they believe they need to improve wages and health care benefits.

As now written, the bill would eliminate an employer's ability to require a secret ballot if employees attempt to gain union representation. Instead, a union could be certified if 50% of those working at a particular site sign cards asking for a union. Andy Stern, the head of the SEIU, says the simpler procedure is needed to keep companies from intimidating workers who try to unionize.

Politico: Unions protest Chamber of Commerce
You've probably seen the ads and heard the rhetoric on the House and Senate floor, but now the protests over the Employee Free Choice Act are under way. A spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union says the organization has dispatched 300 labor union members to protest outside the offices of the Chamber of Commerce, a leading business group that has been leading the fight against the bill, which opponents call the card check legislation.

"It's startling how huge a lobbying machine corporations have deployed against change that would help workers gain a greater voice at a time when our country and our economy so desperately need it," said Jeffrey Cappella, an SEIU spokesman.

PBS: Andy Stern and SEIU protest outside Chamber of Commerce
Emboldened by Democrats taking power in Washington, the Service Employees International Union marched outside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the White House in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. Andy Stern heads the union. He says the economy benefits when workers get a fair deal:

"The Employee Free Choice restores what Franklin Roosevelt did as part of the economic solution to allow workers to have a partnership with their employer, to bargain about wages and benefits and to make sure that they get a chance to be in the middle class. And the good news, it worked in the past and it will work again today."

Workers Independent News: Union Workers Take To Capitol Hill Seeking Votes For Employee Free Choice Act
SEIU grassroots member lobbyist Mike Kingsbury, an RN from Colorado, says workers need this piece of legislative reform to make the freedom to form and join unions not as susceptible to anti-union employer intimidation like he experienced.

"Within fifteen minutes of my boss finding out that we were organizing the director of nursing, who I had never had a meeting with before and one of the other nurse managers from my unit sat me down in an office and talked with me for an hour and a half and just on and on and on about why unions were bad and why it was a bad idea and how misguided I was," said Kingsbury at SEIU's rally in front of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

"Without the Employee Free Choice Act we're not gonna have a good recovery. We won't have a complete recovery until we can get something that guarantees workers some of the basic, fundamental rights. These are human rights."

To see more photos from yesterday's actions, watch our Flickr slideshow below:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

On March 19, nationwide "Take Action Against Corporate Excess" demonstrations will take place at the offices of major banks and other corporations in 40+ cities through the country. More details at http://takebacktheeconomy.org/.

Hundreds of Workers Head to Washington Monday to Press Lawmakers, Lobbyists and CEOs on Need for Workers' Voices in Rebuilding Economy

Next week, 350 SEIU members from across the country will come to Washington, DC to tell lawmakers, lobbyists, and corporate CEOs to stand with them and take immediate steps to create an economy that works for everyone--not just those at the top.

Corporate CEOs and lobbyists are spending millions of dollars to stop President Obama from creating the change we voted for in November. Even worse, they are using our tax dollars to oppose laws that will help working families. They want to continue down the same failed economic path of the past eight years--lower wages, higher healthcare costs, and an uncertain future for our families.

On Monday, workers, religious leaders, and community allies will join SEIU member lobbyists for a 3 p.m. rally on the northwest corner of Lafayette Park to tell corporate CEOs to stop standing in the way of an economy that works for everyone. On Tuesday, workers will sit down with their Senators and Members of Congress to share their stories about being fired, intimidated, and harassed by their employers for trying to form a union and discuss the importance of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Workers will also visit the offices of eight major corporate industry associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to ask for a meeting with the groups' top officers and call on them to stop spending millions of dollars lobbying against common-sense legislative solutions to our economic crisis.

The actions are part of SEIU's Change That Works campaign--a campaign in more than 30 states to bring economic solutions to Main Street by ensuring passage of comprehensive healthcare reform and the Employee Free Choice Act. Stayed tuned for more details about next week's member mobilization kick-off events, leading up to nationwide "Take Action Against Corporate Excess" demonstrations in 50+ cities March 19th.

Read more about SEIU's Grassroots Lobbyists program through our Change That Works campaign here and check out blog posts written by two of our member lobbyists:

• "My First Week in Washington DC with SEIU," by Mike Kingsbury, an RN from Colorado who has been an active member of the Nurse Alliance of CO for many years and also worked with SEIU on the Obama campaign.
  
• "Standing Up for Homecare Workers in Washington," by Theo Jackson, from Scotts Valley, CA, who was one of five workers to share his story at the Feb. 4 Employee Free Choice Act rally on the Hill to urge Congress to support the legislation.

Note: Theo is a Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign. You can read more about the program here. Video included below.

I attended a hearing at the Rayburn building about "Family Friendly Policies". For the first time in my life I was proud of some members of Congress; most especially Mr. Hare of Illinois, and Ms Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire.

A very brave woman named Rebia Mixon Clay told a very compelling and powerful story about the vicissitudes of life that she faces every day as a home health care Worker. Ms. Mixon Clay, was succinct, on point and eloquent. In a very personal and uplifting way she brought home the plight of many people in this country. I felt honored to be there to hear this incredibly brave and valiant woman speak.

Rebia did not ask for any handouts, she did not ask for pity or sympathy. She simply demanded the respect due to all American workers. And (as far as I am concerned) she fully deserves it.

I have the privilege of working with Rebia, and SEIU, and I must say that Rebia is an extraordinarily accurate snapshot of the people, and the passion of SEIU.

Note: Mike is a Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign. You can read more about the program here. Video included below.

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.

Still, it was good to show up at the SEIU building the first morning and feel like we belonged there - like we had a home base in DC. When you look at us, you know we are all workers: the real people who get the jobs done that make this country what it is. We are "regular" people.

That's why we're here - to be the kind of lobbyists and representatives who can cut through the BS and remind our elected senators and representatives that the decisions they make have consequences for hundreds of millions of "regular" people.

The first congressperson I visited was Betsy Markey, a newly elected representative from my home state of Colorado. About 14 workers from SEIU and the AFL-CIO went to talk with her about the Employee Free Choice Act. She was real happy to have us.

The part I loved, though, was when I talked about trying to organize and some of the struggles we had at our hospital. I shared stories I had heard from a couple other health care workers that'd tried to organize. Here was this very important person in this huge fancy office in WASHINGTON DC - and she was obviously swayed but what I said. When I finished, she was even trying to figure how she could co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act.

This week, I passed Betsy Markey in the hallway when I was back on Capitol Hill. She immediately recognized me and ran over to tell me some exciting news - she signed on as a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act.

These experiences, and the excitement of a new president, inspire me. I see the window we have open for tilting things back towards workers and getting a better health care system rolling. I am here to push as far as we can for working people, and to meet and connect with people who are interested in doing that, too. I think this project will be longer and deeper than we can see now. Being with other people and knowing we aren't alone will be what keeps us all going.

From the nation's capitol,
Mike Kingsbury, RN

My name is Jess Paul and I am a member of the State Employees' Association of New Hampshire, SEIU Local 1984. I work for the Division of Parks and Recreation where I help keep nearly 80 state parks running smoothly, serving as a liaison between field staff and the Department of Resources.

I love my job and I looked forward to going to work everyday but last month I was informed by the State of New Hampshire that due to insufficient funds, I would be laid off on February 12, 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.

But I can't do this by myself - after all, we're stronger together.

Please contact your U.S. Senator and ask them to support President Obama's Economic Recovery Act.  Click here to make a free call.

http://call.seiu.org/9/economic