It was a sad day for corporations in the financial, insurance, and real estate sector--like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce & the Financial Services Roundtable--who spent a combined total of $321 million lobbying against federal reforms such as limits on bonuses and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). These groups were concerned that oversight legislation to help rein in greed on Wall Street might actually....rein in greed on Wall Street. "We remain concerned that this legislation will have significant and harmful unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and the overall economy," the groups wrote in a letter to House members last week.

Thankfully, the House Financial Services Committee didn't feel nearly as sympathetic towards the creators of unfair financial products that scam consumers and taxpayers as they feel for themselves. A recent poll found that nearly 75 percent of Americans believe that the greed and risky decisions of banks and financial companies led to our financial crisis--and our lawmakers agree. Yesterday, the House voted 39 to 29 to move forward with the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, to help put a stop to the dangerous and deceptive products and practices that got us into this mess. The House Financial Services Committee also approved legislation that would impose new rules for credit cards by Dec. 1, moving up the date from mid-February. Democratic supporters said moving up the date was necessary because lenders were using the grace period to hike interest rates.

The American Bankers Association joined the Chamber of Commerce in expressing their disapproval for the legislation, saying it would continue to try to make its case against the agency as the legislation moves to the House floor in coming weeks and, eventually, to the Senate. "We still have major concerns with some principal areas" including "the very broad, ill-defined authority that is granted to this new agency that could be used to justify essentially any regulatory action," said Floyd Stoner, ABA vice president for congressional relations.

Creating the CFPA as part of Obama's broader plan to clamp down on Wall Street is an important step towards preventing much of the reckless lending that contributed to last year's near-collapse of the market. "It's been a year since the financial world collapsed and it is now clear that the greed and excess of big banks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and their allies could have and should have been prevented," said SEIU's Anna Burger. "Chairman Frank and the Financial Services Committee stood up on behalf of American families by passing legislation to create a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency--and to prevent business as usual to continue."

According to a recent poll, nearly 75 percent of Americans believe that the greed and risky decisions of banks and financial companies led to our financial crisis.And there's much more to be done. We believe that to be successful, the CFPA must be strengthened to include:

• oversight of auto dealers who receive lucrative compensation in financing auto loans;
• the authority to examine the books of all financial institutions, no matter what size, without cumbersome barriers;
• fixes to the current compensation system which pressures and incentivizes workers to push and sell bad and unneeded products to consumers as a condition of employment; and
• the full authority to stop the sale of credit-related insurance policies that are virtually worthless.

That's why when the American Bankers Association meets in Chicago next week, more than 5,000 taxpayers from 20 states will be there to demand an end to Wall Street's appetite for greed.

When food comes to you wrapped in plastic, you just know it's going to be delicious, right?

...Or not. 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." And yes, the quotes are, indeed, intentional.

"Our school lunch comes wrapped in plastic--lots of plastic," high school senior Tristan Leder says in the video. "It's all food that was cooked somewhere else a long time ago, and frozen and shipped here. Our schools don't just cook anymore. They just reheat it."

According to The Mommy Files, a blog on SFGate.com, Dana Woldow, the co-chair of the SFUSA Student Nutrition committee "says the video grew out of a desire to ask Congress to put more money toward school lunches":

"It was deemed not practical to spend time trying to arrange to bring actual school food into the halls of Congress. But the idea was to make a short film showing what schools can typically afford to serve given current funding levels, and what would be possible if schools received $5 per meal, instead of $2.68."

Woldow, of course, is referring to the Child Nutrition Act, which expires in just a few short days from now. It's the best opportunity we have to make sure that our children receive the best school meals that they can possibly get.

If you haven't already, write your Congresspersons and let them know that they need to get behind a stronger Child Nutrition Act that supports fresh and local foods.

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.

Yesterday's hearings started with the first of numerous Republican assaults on the timely markup of the legislation at hand. Sen. Bunning proposed an amendment that would require legislative language to be made available online 72 hours before the final vote on the bill, in an effort to delay the vote by 2-3 weeks. Bunning argued that this would allow more transparency into the legislative process... the only problem is that, as Sen. Conrad pointed out by reading the legislative language of another bill, "There are five percent of Americans who would understand this." Sen. Crapo unwittingly proved Conrad's point by misunderstanding the very passage Sen. Conrad had just recited. Finally, after debating this for two bleepin' hours, the committee voted the amendment down.

With that matter squared away, committee members moved on to the question of free speech. If you are now wondering what the first amendment has to do with health care reform, you're not alone. Sen. Kyl proposed an amendment that would clarify that a health plan may, pursuant to constitutional rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, express its views about legislation or legislative proposals to its clients. The amendment stemmed from recent actions by Humana, who sent misleading letters to their Medicare Advantage beneficiaries suggesting that their benefits may be cut under health care reform. The amendment was also voted down in a party-line vote.

As the committee continued to debate into the night, the Republican tactic of delay, delay and then delay some more has become increasingly apparent. While they can't win in the Democrat-dominated committee, they can certainly drag out the fight by endlessly debating anything and everything in their "Hail Mary" play to defeat health care reform.

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.

In hopes of calming Democrats' (and some Republicans') concerns over affordability, Baucus' Mark includes a number of edits to the bill that would ultimately provide coverage to 36 million more people. The modifications include: an increase in health care tax credits, a reduction in out-of-pocket costs, a lower threshold for families to receive tax credits instead of employer-sponsored insurance, an increase in the threshold for insurance companies to be subject to excise taxes for their more expensive plans and lower penalties on individuals that do not purchase coverage.

"My modification to the chairman's mark focuses on making health care more affordable for middle class families, while ensuring the legislation reduces the deficit and effectively slows the growth of skyrocketing health care costs," Baucus said.

With the Mark as their jumping off point, the Democrats on the committee used their opening statements to reassert the need for even more affordability provisions and other changes that would make the final legislation better for the American people. Sen. Schumer said it best when he noted that the bill "must be improved in the committee, on the floor and as we move to conference."

Today the committee moves into actual voting and things are bound to get more heated with both sides vying to make significant amendments to the bill. As the fight continues, we'll be right here to provide you with the latest updates from Capitol Hill.

A U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction last week ordering the state of California to halt pay cuts of nearly 20 percent -- from $12.10 an hour down to $9.50 -- for the state's 400,000 home care workers. This ruling is big news for home care workers and those they care for, as it will temporarily stop the cuts that were to go into effect July 1st in those counties at risk.

There's a war being waged against home care, and Governor Schwarzenegger is leading the call. We can celebrate this initial victory, but this injunction will not stop the Governor from trying to cut home care again. CA State Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer has made this much clear, saying that the Schwarzenegger administration "can't imagine a legal interpretation that would prevent the state from moving forward to implement [the proposed cuts to home care]."

It's up to us to keep the pressure on. 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.
Please call the Governor now and tell him: "Home care not only saves money, it saves lives. We need a common sense budget that protects home care:"

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 launched a print ad campaign last week in Capitol Hill publications. The print ads--from groups including Blue Green Alliance and Sierra Club-- urge Congress to pass and strengthen the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES).

Check out the ad below, which is currently running in Congress Daily AM, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, CQ and the National Journal.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act is expected to end up on the floor of the House this week, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announcing yesterday that she plans to bring the legislation for a House vote on Friday.

The PBS NewsHour has identified SEIU President Andy Stern as a key player lobbying for healthcare reform.

On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-Mass) released a 615-page draft plan to revamp America's broken healthcare system, "a vision of reform a that provides Americans with more choices and more affordable healthcare options," said SEIU President Andy Stern. Read about Andy's role and the other critical team players whose voices are emerging in the legislative debate over the nation's health policy.

SEIU President Andy Stern was on Capitol Hill yesterday to testify in the second of a series of three roundtables on health care reform. The roundtables, convened by Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus, are the last official opportunities to provide input on health care reform before a final piece of legislation is drafted next month.

In addition to the statistics and numbers we've heard over and over again, Stern's testimony was built on the stories of everyday Americans affected by the health care crisis - many of which were submitted by SEIU members online. One of those Americans is Pat DeJong, an SEIU home care aide in Libby, MT:

Pat and her husband Dan were ranchers, but had a hard time finding affordable coverage, and were uninsured when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2000. The medical bills piled up for Pat and Dan, eventually forcing them to sell the land they loved and that had been in Dan's family for generations. Dan succumbed to cancer, and Pat remains uninsured. We can and must do better for hardworking families such as the DeJongs.

There's a simple standard that SEIU uses to measure the success of the health care system: how does it work for our members - for Pat and her family? By that standard, without a doubt, our current system is failing. Miserably.

It is that same bar, Stern explained, that we've used to layout our vision for what health care should be. Here's what it will take to make health care work for Pat, our members, and all Americans:

1. Build on what works - but also build new alternatives for a changing economy.
About 160 million Americans get their coverage through their employer and, for many of them, it's a system that works well. But, for many others - especially small businesses, students, and retirees - employer-provided insurance isn't an affordable option. We need a public health insurance option that lowers costs across the board and gives everyone a path to affordable care.

2. Share responsibility for financing health care and promoting good health.
Employers, individuals, and government must all do their part to make sure we have a sustainable and affordable health care system that works for everyone. That included protections and tax credits for small businesses to help them remain competitive.

3. Establish a national standard for meaningful coverage.
Too many Americans find out the hard way that the real limits of their health coverage are buried in the fine print. Exemptions for chronic illnesses or catastrophic circumstances leave them without care when they need it most. Establishing a national standard of meaningful coverage would mean that every American would have the confidence of knowing their insurance affords them their right to adequate care.

4. Long-term services and supports must be covered for those who need them.
The safety net we provide to America's aging and disabled population is weak and full of holes. The very men and women whose hard work and ingenuity built this country deserve meaningful care in the twilight of life. Providing access to affordable care upfront will not only better serve our aging population, it will also save us money in the long run.

It's easy to get lost in the weeds when we start looking at facts and figures and budget outlays. Our health care system is huge, with lots of moving parts. Stern's testimony was an important reminder to step back and think about Pat - and all the real people whose everyday lives depend on what sort of future we write for health care.

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.

The ad calls on Congress to pass an energy bill that halts the economic crisis, creates green jobs and ends dependence on foreign oil. It will air on national cable and prime-time network television for at least the next week.

America wants green jobs, and passing comprehensive clean energy legislation in 2009 will help us to create more jobs like these. We've got to make sure we've got a united offensive to show decision makers this is the change our country wants and needs.

Tell Congress to create millions of new clean energy jobs for American workers by passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation

As Congress reconvenes this week and the Obama administration prepares to step on to the world stage, strengthening our staggering economy sits at the top of everyone's agenda.

No one understands the impact of this recession better than the hardworking men and women of our union, and no one is more committed to making sure that we restore our economy and put the American Dream back within the reach of people who work.

SEIU supports President-elect Obama's efforts to pass an economic recovery plan that reaches those most in need and makes our economy work for everyone -- not just those at the top.

We need a smart plan that will create jobs and create sustained growth in the American economy.

Please contact your representative in Congress and ask them to support President-elect Obama's job creation, economic recovery, and long-term growth plan.

http://seiuaction.org/campaign/economicrecovery

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

"In failing to fund the arbitrator's decision, this budget reduces opportunities for vulnerable children and struggling parents," said SEIU 925 Family Child Care Chapter President Nancy Gerber, who cares for special needs children in Spokane. "In a time of economic crisis, we need more support for working parents and the child care providers, not less."

Family child care providers care for 1 to 12 children in their own homes. When last surveyed, most reported earning less than two-thirds of the hourly minimum wage after expenses for food, curriculum, supplies, equipment, insurance, and utilities. Some 10,000 home providers care for approximately 31,000 children of low-income parents whose fees are paid in part or full by the state, as well as a similar number of other children.

"At a time when the economy is contracting--and a new Congress and Administration are working on a plan to revive it--our state should not be undermining those efforts by putting poor children and low wage child care providers at risk," said Cook, who leads the 24,000-member education and child care local.

The suit, technically a petition for a writ of mandamus against Governor Chris Gregoire, was filed today in the State Supreme Court in Olympia, with a request for accelerated review. The petition argues that the Access to Quality Family Child Care Act requires the Governor to include the arbitrator's decision in her proposed budget, and asks the court to order the Governor to do so. In a recent memo, the Governor's Office of Financial Management proposed amending the Family Child Care Act, apparently recognizing the Governor's duty under current law to include the award in her budget. The petition also argues that the Governor's failure to follow the law undermines the collective bargaining process and jeopardizes the ability of family child care providers to have their contract funded by the Legislature.

> More about SEIU Kids First

SEIU Leader Shares First-hand Experiences Trying to Organize Detroit Fast Food Workers in the 1980s

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.

We started with a Burger King franchise in Detroit's Greyhound station. While the drive was a challenge, the spark spread between employees as they encouraged each other to join the union and stand up to their managers. Greyhound Food Management ran a tough campaign to keep workers from organizing -- threatening some, making promises to others -- but didn't succeed. By a margin of just one vote, the Burger King employees opted to create a union.

Encouraged by our victory, we shifted our focus to three McDonald's franchises on Detroit's North Side. The employees were struggling with all kinds of issues -- minimum wage violations, sexual harassment, unfair scheduling, and health and safety issues ranging from grill burns to meat slicer injuries. Fed up and fired up, they decided to organize a union and won overwhelming support from their co-workers. Nothing could stop them.

Or so they thought.

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 (see the ad on the right).

In late December 2008, the New York Times editorialized about unions and the Obama Administration's commitment to labor. The paper gave a full-throated endorsement of the Employee Free Choice Act and why it is such an important part of an economic recovery program.

The Times wrote of the Employee Free Choice Act:

The measure is vital legislation and should not be postponed. By giving employees a bigger say in compensation issues, unions also help to establish corporate norms, the absence of which has contributed to unjustifiable disparities between executive pay and rank-and-file pay. There is a strong argument that the slack labor market of a recession actually makes unions all the more important.

SEIU's online ads invite viewers to join the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act.

There is a great editorial in The New York Times today 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.

Employee Free Choice legislation:

"The measure is vital legislation and should not be postponed. Even modest increases in the share of the unionized labor force push wages upward, because nonunion workplaces must keep up with unionized ones that collectively bargain for increases. By giving employees a bigger say in compensation issues, unions also help to establish corporate norms, the absence of which has contributed to unjustifiable disparities between executive pay and rank-and-file pay."

Unions during a recession:

"The argument against unions -- that they unduly burden employers with unreasonable demands -- is one that corporate America makes in good times and bad, so the recession by itself is not an excuse to avoid pushing the bill next year. The real issue is whether enhanced unionizing would worsen the recession, and there is no evidence that it would...Without a united front, workers will have even less bargaining power in the recession than they had during the growth years of this decade, when they largely failed to get raises even as productivity and profits soared."

Labor issues to become higher priority:

"If Mr. Obama's campaign promises are to be kept, that mindset cannot prevail again. Mr. Obama's creation of a task force on middle-class issues, to be led by Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and including Ms. Solis and other high-ranking officials, is an encouraging sign that labor issues will not be given short shrift."

Too many relevant points to quote them all, so read the entire NY Times editorial here.

According to the most recent estimates from the Census Bureau, 8.6 million children in the United States lacked health coverage in 2007. Last year, Congress debated and passed two pieces of bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which would have reduced the number of uninsured children by almost half and expanded health coverage throughout the nation to as many as 4 million additional uninsured children. President Bush vetoed both bills.

According to Families USA, the vast majority of uninsured children come from families where at least one parent works (88.2 percent), and more than two-thirds of uninsured children--or 68.5 percent--live in households where at least one family member works full-time, year-round. And more than half of the nation's uninsured children come from low-income families with incomes below twice the poverty level, who are likely eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP.

So although the Bush Administration proclaimed it would "leave no child behind" when it comes to education, 8.6 million American children - a majority of whom are from working families - are being left behind because they lack health coverage. "The sad reality is that kids who don't have health insurance are far more likely to get sidetracked--right at the beginning of their lives--because their families can't afford quality care," said SEIU Healthcare chair Dennis Rivera.

During the current economic downturn as working families are struggling to make ends meet, no one should have to choose between health care for their kids and making a mortgage or rent payment. Hopefully, things will be looking up for the nation's uninsured children in the near future, as the new Administration and president-elect Barack Obama are widely expected to push for eligibility expansions for SCHIP, which is up for reauthorization anyway in the spring.

Rising Tide of Support for SCHIP

Two-thirds of the public (82 percent) supports SCHIP renewal and extending children's health benefits to legal immigrant children, according to a poll released yesterday by child advocacy group First Focus. Key poll results also show that 67 percent of respondents favored eliminating the five-year waiting period for legal immigrant children, while 19 percent were opposed. [SCHIP is not available to legal immigrants during their first five years in the country, with the exception of those living in states that use state funds to cover legal immigrants who qualify.]

Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) hailed the poll as evidence of the nation's broad, bipartisan support for renewal of the SCHIP program, which expires in March, 2009.

Senator Harry Reid at the announcement:

"The findings announced today confirmed what we knew over a year ago - Americans support providing children with health care coverage and they understand the importance of removing the five-year waiting period for coverage for legal immigrant children and pregnant women."

Senator Rockefeller:

"I look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the Congressional leadership to quickly reauthorize CHIP so that millions of uninsured children - including legal immigrant children - receive the health coverage they need."

Poll respondents favored expanding SCHIP by a margin of 79-15 to ensure that all children in America, including legal immigrant children, have health care coverage.

"In the debate of 2007, Republicans used the coverage of legal immigrant children against expanding the children's health insurance program," said First Focus spokesperson Christopher Spina to CQ yesterday. "We clearly now see a mandate among the American people."

More findings from the First Focus poll.

From William Whitman Jr., Vice President, Communications, McDonald's USA:

The statement below should help provide further clarification regarding McDonald's recent communication with our franchisees about the Employee Free Choice Act. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

McDonald's Statement:

"We regret our internal effort to keep our franchisees informed on all aspects regarding this legislation has been leaked to the press and mischaracterized as an anti-union campaign. This was not our intent.

McDonald's is not engaged in an anti-union campaign.

In fact, we pride ourselves on being the restaurant organization for all people -- especially during tough economic times like these.

As such, we try to not take sides in political issues, because we know our customers come from all walks of life, and represent diverse opinions and backgrounds.

Regarding this legislation, as a restaurant organization with 3,100 independent small businesses, we have a responsibility to inform and educate our system about legislation that could impact their business. This was the intent of the communication in question.

Unfortunately, the message was leaked to the media and excerpts were used to create the impression that McDonald's is engaged in anti-union activities. Again, this was not our intent.

We appreciate the opportunity to clarify McDonald's position -- and again, we regret any misrepresentation of the facts."

William Whitman Jr.
Vice President, Communications
McDonald's USA

Rally part of national campaign to restore middle class, fix broken health care system

As a part of a nationwide campaign to restore the American middle class, more than 400 members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) gathered yesterday at the University of Colorado-Aurora campus for a march to highlight the need for health care reform and legislation that will protect workers' rights to have a voice on the job. Participants also marched to support janitors fired from Carnation Building Services (a nonunion Aurora janitorial contractor) for participating in organizing drives and seeking union membership.

Leading the march was SEIU President Andy Stern. "We want change that works. That's why we're here today," Stern told the The Denver Post.

Speakers at the rally called for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers like those at Carnation to gain a voice at work without fear of intimidation or retaliation by their employers. According to a report by American Rights at Work, 51 percent of employers threaten to close down a work site when employees try to join together to form a union and an additional 30 percent unlawfully fire workers who support forming a union.

Tomorrow, more than 500 members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will hold a rally at the Denver Convention Center to highlight the urgent need for health care reform and legislation that will protect workers' rights to have a voice on the job. In a worsening economic climate where CEOs continue to pay themselves 344 times more than workers on average, there has never been a more critical moment to establish a clear agenda to support the Employee Free Choice Act and help rebuild the middle class.

2-million member union calls for Wall Street bailout to include $350 billion injection to address urgent needs of workers

WASHINGTON, DC -  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. SEIU leaders representing the union's two million members overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for legislation to address the priorities of working people.

"The era of corporate cronyism and worship of the market is over--we need a new economic model that puts the government on the side of the people," said Andy Stern, SEIU International President. "It's time to take a deep breath and have a full discussion about how we solve our problems now while creating an investment strategy to revive the American economy."

The resolution comes as Capitol Hill lawmakers and regulators consider the final details of a $700 billion bailout package that fails to address the inadequate oversight, lack of transparency, and excessive risk-taking practices of private equity firms, hedge funds, and other unregulated institutions that are now culminating in what is globally perceived as the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression. In particular, the SEIU resolution calls for dedicated investment in programs that would improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans, including:

1. Relief for struggling homeowners. Estimated cost: $0.
2. A national health care plan. Estimated cost: $130 billion over two years.
3. A plan for energy independence and green job creation. Estimated cost: $20 billion over two years.
4. Retirement security. Estimated cost: Negligible
5. Improved infrastructure. Estimated cost: $22 billion over two years.
6. Tax reforms to correct a system that currently favors CEOs and business while contributing to a growing income divide. Estimated cost: $80 billion.
7. Reforms that ensure workers have real freedom to choose a voice at work. Estimated cost: $0.
8. Affordable education. Estimated cost: $100 billion over two years.

Today's resolution comes as SEIU continues its unprecedented, multimillion dollar initiative to elect a progressive, working families majority at every level of government. More than 1,000 SEIU members have taken time off their jobs to work full time on the effort and 100,000 nurses, janitors, child care providers, and other workers are volunteering after work and on weekends as part of the initiative.