Update: SEIU President Andy Stern issued a statement after President Obama's comments tonight from the White House on healthcare reform:

"Tonight, President Obama showed why workers across America put their faith in him last November - his commitment to changing the status quo and fixing our broken healthcare system...inaction is not an option.

"We stand with President Obama and those Senators and Representatives showing the political courage to do what is right and find solutions that deliver more for less and end the costly and immoral failure to provide quality, affordable care to every American. Unlike the last sixty years, political obstruction, misinformation and scare tactics from familiar voices plotting to kill reform will not stop health insurance reforms that will bring security and peace of mind to millions of Americans."

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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.

Watch it live:
After watching, declare your support for President Obama's healthcare plan.

How much is a worker's life worth? Answer: $7,000

Remember back in November of last year when we told you the tragic story of Jdimytai Damour, a 34-year-old temporary worker at a Long Island Wal-mart who was crushed to death by a mob of shoppers storming the store for Black Friday deals?

The employee was "stepped on by hundreds of people" as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, [Nassau County police Detective Lt. Michael] Fleming said.

"Several minutes" passed before others were able to clear space around the man and attempt to render aid. Police arrived, and "as they were giving first aid, those police officers were also jostled and pushed," he said.

"Shoppers ... were on a full-out run into the store," he said.

Well, yesterday OSHA announced the results of their investigation into the incident -- and their findings confirm that the tragedy was entirely preventable:

OSHA's inspection found that the store's employees were exposed to being crushed by the crowd due to the store's failure to implement reasonable and effective crowd management principles. This failure includes providing employees with the necessary training and tools to safely manage the large crowd of shoppers.

Mr. Damour's death, in other words, was no accident. It was not a freak occurrence nobody could have foreseen. It was predictable, given Wal-Mart's failure to take appropriate measures to deal with the near-riot situation their marketing department had whipped up.

So what's the punishment for shocking corporate negligence that results in the death of a worker? OSHA hit them with the maximum fine allowable by law -- $7,000.

That's right. Seven thousand dollars.

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.

The statewide cable ad, titled "Hard Work," highlights a few of the many issues Senator Reid has been spearheading on behalf of Nevada's families, including healthcare reform, investments in alternative energy, rebuilding our infrastructure and an economic recovery package that works for every American.

Sen. Reid has worked to bring Republicans and Democrats together to fix the economic mess that President Bush and his Wall Street cronies left working families as they rode into the sunset with billions in taxpayer-financed bonuses. "Our nation's economy is in a state of emergency. The costs of inaction are too steep. It is time to put the needs of the American people ahead of partisan politics," said Reid earlier this month.

Watch the tv ad (the first of the 2010 campaign) here:

On Politico's The Arena, SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger helps drive the conversation by giving us her boldest political predictions for 2009:

I predict that 2009 will be the "Year of the Middle Class." Voters have spoken powerfully for change and now expect action that both revives our failing economy and builds it stronger, and fairer, for the future. 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. [...] SEIU's members will help make 2009 the "Year of the Middle Class" by involving millions of Americans in an intensive state-by-state campaign to create an economy where hard work means you can make a good living and fulfill your dreams instead of treading water or falling behind.

Read the rest of Anna's reflections on the new year on Politico here.

Time and time again, President-elect Obama inspired Americans with the phrase, "You are the people you have been waiting for." SEIU members took that message to heart and worked tirelessly this past election for our families, for our communities and for our future. The result was an historic moment for country and for our union. In President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden, America's working families have two new champions in the White House, leaders who are ready to address the tremendous challenges that far too many Americans are facing in this turbulent economy.

Throughout the election season, SEIU Healthcare members rallied, registered voters, marched, got out the vote - all for the possibility of change:

• 3,000 members and staff campaigned in 18 battleground states.


• We knocked on three million doors, and called more than 16 million voters.


• We reached new voters - registering almost 250,000 in all.


• SEIU members helped elect 6 out of 8 pro-worker candidates in targeted Senate races and 21 of 27 candidates to House seats.

As we go to press, we are within two seats of reaching our goal of winning a pro-worker, progressive majority in the Senate.

Now as we look toward a new year and a new beginning for our country, SEIU Healthcare members have an incredible opportunity to be a force for real change that works for all of us --starting with quality, affordable healthcare for all, and ensuring that every worker has the right to choose to join a union.

This afternoon, Patrick Gaspard was named the White House political director for President-elect Barack Obama. Gaspard served as national political director for much of Obama's general election campaign and was named associate personnel director for the transition effort.

Prior to his work with Obama, Gaspard was the executive vice president of politics and legislation for Local 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. In his role as VP, Gaspard led the union's legislative efforts in Albany, Annapolis, Boston and Washington, DC and coordinated the volunteer efforts that sent hundreds of union members to Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and other primary election states to campaign for Obama. He also led SEIU's lobbying efforts on the federal State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 2007. In 2006, Gaspard served as SEIU's acting political director. 

Read the Washington Post and Crain's coverage of this breaking news.

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.

Anti-free choice groups have thrown around tired union mob stereotypes, including actors from the Sopranos, bad "24"-style parodies, and photoshopped pictures in GOP election mail.

But next time anyone asks about "union intimidation," tell them to watch out for Home Depot founder and ex-CEO Bernie Marcus.

Thomas Frank in the WSJ this morning has the Home Depot Founder saying any CEO that doesn't contribute to Republicans opposed to Employee Free Choice "should be shot."

And hear the lamentations of the billionaires. "This is the demise of a civilization," moaned Bernie Marcus, cofounder and former CEO of The Home Depot, during an Oct. 17 conference call about card check. "This is how a civilization disappears. I'm sitting here as an elder statesman, and I'm watching this happen, and I don't believe it."

Mr. Marcus sketched out the doomsday scenario for his listeners, with unions going after what he called the "low hanging fruit" and proceeding to organize workers in industry after industry. He had taken it upon himself to notify the nation's CEOs of the danger, but they were not yet grabbing their guns. "This is as important as anything that's ever happened to these companies. And they're not reacting, and they're not fighting. The old time fighters are gone."

But in the class war, as in the real deal, there are always ways of motivating the yellow. "If a retailer has not gotten involved with this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to Norm Coleman and these other guys," Mr. Marcus said, apparently referring to Republican senators facing tough re-election fights, then those retailers "should be shot; should be thrown out of their goddamn jobs."

There you have it: ex-CEO says people who don't contribute to Republicans against Employee Free Choice "should be shot."

Marcus has been at the forefront of CEOs' fight against Employee Free Choice, trotting himself out as the representative of business groups' opposition to the bill. He's debated the bill on CNBC, penned a WSJ op-ed warning of "economic ruin, and defended the status quo in the pages of Business Week.

Also, Frank trots out a quote from Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott that very clearly illustrates what all CEOs opposed to free choice actually think:

Card check is about power. Management has it, workers don't, and business doesn't want that to change. Consider the remarks made by Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott at an analyst meeting on Oct. 28, when he was asked about the possible coming of card check: "We like driving the car and we're not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us."

That's really the heart of the fight for Employee Free Choice. The anti-Free Choice groups say they're "fighting for worker freedom," and that they have the interests of America's working families at heart. But their true intentions are now quite clear.

CEO-types like Home Depot's Bernie Marcus and Wal-Mart's Lee Scott have their hands on the steering well, and anyone who fails to heed their battle cry to block attempts by workers to take control of the wheel "shoul be shot." It's too bad that for the last several decades, this cavalier attitude has led these greedy CEOs to drive the car off the economic cliff.

(cross-posted at OpenLeft.com)

Today (10:00 am EST), SEIU President Andy Stern will be testifying at a congressional hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance on health care and the economy. He'll be using the comments submitted by members and activists to show Congress how deeply the combined impact of the health care and economic crisis is affecting people all across the country and call for comprehensive health care reform.

After the hearing, join Andy for a live conversation at SEIU.org. He'll be reporting back about his testimony to Congress and where we're at in the movement to fix health care.

UPDATE: Check back at 2:30pm (EST) today for a live video conference with Andy Stern.

UPDATE #2: You can join the live conversation with Andy Stern on video conference now by clicking here. Watch the video conference here.

For the last few months, National Public Radio (NPR) tracked how scores of independent groups, labor unions, and new political organizations provided unprecedented financial support to help elect their candidates of choice.

According to the NPR, "The biggest player among these groups was the Service Employees International Union, and sometimes it seemed to reach everywhere in the liberal establishment."

Take a look at where SEIU ranked in support of both Presidential and Congressional races.