Bank workers across the world have been hit from all angles as a result of the financial crisis. That's why a recent victory for workers in one of SEIU's partner unions is such good news.

Following a ten-day strike, Brazilian bank workers have won an increase in wage and improvements in their working conditions, as a result of a wage accord between union leaders and banks October 9. The workers are members of Confederaçao Nacional dos Trabalhadores no Ramo Financeiro (CONTRAF).

In the settlement, workers accepted a 6 percent wage hike offered by the banks. The banks also will extend maternity leave for workers to 180 days, increase profit-sharing payments, and will offer other benefits. The workers asked for a 10 percent wage hike, while banks originally offered only 4.5 percent.

The Brazilian bank workers were confronted daily with anti-union practices imposed by the financial institutions operating in the country, suppressing the legitimate actions of workers in their national wage campaign. During the strike, one of CONTRAF's union leaders was violently taken to the district police in an attempt by lawyers to forcefully open a bank branch.

The strike left many consumers, especially in big cities, without key banking services. However, the strike had little effect on financial markets, which rely heavily on electronic systems.

Bank workers--in Brazil and worldwide--have been pressured by their employers to "sell, sell, sell," rather than to advise their customers. Then they are hit by massive job cuts and put out of work. Bank workers can sometimes be harassed by customers, who may blame them for the mess that big banks have made of their finances.

A delegation from SEIU, including Rocio Saenz, president of SEIU Local 615 in Boston, will be visiting Brazil the week of November 5 to visit with bank workers, celebrate their victory and learn about the country's ongoing banks campaign.

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CONTRAFS is a member of the CUT (Central Unica dos Trabalhadores), with whom SEIU has partnered since 2005.

Enjoy the slideshow from today's strike by workers to protest Gov. Fortuño's layoffs--the largest demonstration in Puerto Rico's history. We'll keep the site and photostream updated as we get more from the ground in Puerto Rico.

Updates on all things Puerto Rico on SEIU's Blog here. You can also follow SEIU on Twitter for updates.

Watch today's general strike unfolding live in Puerto Rico right now, being streamed by Claridad:

Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV

Here are the facts about recent events in Puerto Rico leading up the October 15 strike:

• On September 25, the Fortuno administration announced it was cutting the jobs of 17,000 schoolteachers, social workers, healthcare workers and other public employees, effective this November 6.
• These lay offs are in addition to the 7,800 workers who were laid off by Governor Fortuno's administration last spring, bringing the total number to nearly 25,000 state government employees.
• In recent days, thousands of university students, workers, faith leaders and citizens have demonstrated, marched and held vigils in support of the working women and men who provide critical public services. Men and women have been threatened, physically attacked, and falsely arrested in some cases.
• On Friday, October 9, students at a high school in Canovanas, Puerto Rico protested the Governor's visit to a nearby public housing project. The protest ended in violence when police invaded the school, arresting teachers and students. Reports from El Nuevo Dia and other outlets show students being physically attacked and arrested on the spot. At least two students were seriously injured and nine were reportedly arrested.
• On Saturday, October 10, the Puerto Rican Civil Rights Commission announced it would investigate police in Canovanas for their actions.
• Later the same day, the Governor threatened to charge Puerto Rican citizens with "terrorism" if they take part in the national march planned for Thursday, October 15.

(For updates on Puerto Rico, stay tuned to SEIU's Blog here.)

On the morning of day one of the General Strike in Puerto Rico, organizers are already declaring the protest a great success.

Yesterday late in the afternoon, the owners of Plaza las Americas, the largest shopping mall in the Caribbean, announced that it would remain closed on October 15 "due to security reasons." Coincidentally, Plaza las Americas owners also happen to be some of the biggest contributors to the Republican Party and their henchman, Governor Luis Fortuño. So it's very appropriate that the main gathering location of the strike is in front of this very shopping center, to serve as a symbol of the greedy upper class that supports the draconian measures taken by the current Puerto Rican administration.

Two successful events that have already taken place today in the strike include the closing of Plaza Las Americas and more significantly, the defeat of fear. Hundreds of thousands of workers are now marching for justice, overcoming the campaign of media terror launched by the Puerto Rican Government during the last days. Protesters are marching from seven different locations of the Banks Zone in San Juan today, heading towards the southern side of Plaza Las Americas--which is expected to largest public gathering in Puerto Rican history.

Today's national protest is being led by the Todo Puerto Rico Por Puerto Rico, a coalition that is composed of unions, civic, professional, religious, community and other civil society organizations, and includes SEIU Locals 1996SPT and 1199UGT.

We may have replaced George Bush last November, but Puerto Rico's version continues to wreak havoc on the island.

Despite campaign promises to the contrary, Puerto Rico's Republican Governor Luis Fortuño announced plans to eliminate the jobs of 30,000 public employees early next month.

On October 15, over 200,000 people are preparing to take to the streets in a general strike, and Fortuño is threatening to charge the protesters with terrorism.

Not even Karl Rove and George Bush tried that.

Ask Congress to hold hearings on Fortuño's anti-American behavior, and we'll be sure to send you a button designed by popular artist Antonio Mortorel. 

In recent days, thousands of university students have demonstrated and marched in support of the working women and men who provide critical public services to the people of Puerto Rico.

Those young demonstrators were threatened, physically attacked, tear gassed and falsely arrested in some instances.

Violating the civil rights of your own citizens is unacceptable...wherever you are.

Stand up for the civil rights of Puerto Rico's citizens by contacting your member of Congress to ask them to hold hearings on Fortuño's anti-American actions.

(For updates on Puerto Rico, stay tuned to SEIU's Blog here.)

During Puerto Rico's 2008 political debates leading up to the election of a new Governor, ex-governor Acevedo Vilá would repeatedly accuse his opposition, Luis Fortuno, of plans to shrink the government budget by eliminating 30,000 public employees. Fortuno would scoff and always repeat the same line: "Si Vota por Fortuño, Fortuño te Bota a ti," he would reply ["The only public employee that I am going to fire is Acevedo Vilá!"].

Imagine the public's suprise when just a few months after his inauguration, Fortuño announced the critical need to eliminate a disturbingly-large number of Puerto Rican workers. Exactly the number, as it so happens, as Puerto Rico's ex-governor repeatedly claimed throughout his campaign and debates: 30,000 public employees.

Less suprising was the public's reaction during Gov. Fortuño's first public appearance since announcing the firing of almost 17,000 government employees on September 25th: an egg was hurled at his head by one of the workers affected by the Gov.'s mass layoffs (he was also a previous Fortuno campaign supporter). During the press conference in Fajardo as Fortuno lavished praise upon himself for a new initiative he boasted would 'create jobs,' the worker shouted "Hypocrite, how dare you talk about jobs when you're getting rid of them!"...and let the egg fly.

Those who thought the stimulus funds ($176 million) dispersed under President Obama were meant to disseminate these kinds of massive layoffs were mistaken, as it turns out. Instead, as the funds stay undistributed and families suffer, Governor Fortuno is asking for money beyond the stimulus in order to bail out Puerto Rico's banking system. He's also seeking funds for Medicaid.

Adding to the understandable outrage of the island's working people? The Governor's administration has now threatened to charge picketing citizens for engaging in terrorism if their actions during the planned national October 15 protest infringes upon the flow of trade at the island's ports and other modes of transportation.

Labor leaders decided to hold a meeting to coordinate Thursday's upcoming event. "They do not expect us to go to their place after calling us terrorists, do they?" said Victor Villalba, the president of the Puerto Rican Workers Central, one of Puerto Rico's four union conglomerates including SEIU Local 1996SPT. Strike leaders refused to meet at Police headquarters after government officials unleashed their fear-mongering "terrorist" threats, and the meeting was unilaterally moved to striker's territory.
Everything happening within the political climate and daily growing number of protesters and marches in major cities of Puerto Rico is leading up to the general strike on October 15th...stay tuned as we bring you updates leading up the strike.

Workers United members of Local 1426 in Terre Haute, Indiana recently rejected a contract offer by their employer and voted to continue to strike. The company continues to insist on implementing invasive health coverage testing for both workers and their spouses, as well as a temporary worker program that would reduce the number of permanent jobs.

Earlier this month, actor and activist Danny Glover traveled to Terre Haute to show his support for the workers who make the flexible food packaging you see on your grocery store's shelves:

The members of Local 1426 need your support -- please stand with them and tell Bemis Manufacturing company that workers aren't lab rats.

What if your employer told you that in order to keep your health coverage you and your spouse must submit to invasive health screenings from your insurer?

If you refused, you'd lose the health coverage you've always counted on. Oh, and the company is self-insured but they promise they won't use your private health information to decide whether to keep your coverage, hire you, fire you, or make your spouse go on a diet.

Unbelievable, but that's what my employer wants to force us to do! That's one of the reasons why more than 700 of us are on strike.

Tell our employer, Bemis Manufacturing company, that workers aren't lab rats.

My coworkers and I work in Terre Haute, Indiana. We make the flexible food packaging you see on your grocery store's shelves. Our company has been union for 52 years and is successful, with profits up more than 16 percent.

We did not make the decision to strike lightly. In an effort to avoid a strike we made an alternative offer to work without a contract while the bargaining continued but Bemis refused and actually lowered its offer. They even cut off insurance benefits which we had already paid for and demanded we accept low wage temp workers turning good jobs into McJobs.

Will you take a stand with us?

Tell Bemis to negotiate in good faith and respect its workers.

By a 74 percent margin, SEIU Local 1000 state workers in California voted to step up pressure on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to ensure that the contract signed with the governor's representatives this past February is ratified. "We are not going to stand by and let him [Schwarzenegger] hurt California, our families and ruin the quality public services we provide," said SEIU President Yvonne Walker, making clear that the workers would strike if necessary. "We wouldn't be in this situation if the governor had lived up to his word and supported the contract that he agreed to, which would save the state $340 million," Walker added.

Local 1000 represents 95,000 state workers in numerous government agencies including clerks at the DMV, healthcare professionals in public hospitals, librarians at the State Library and auditors at the state tax board. More at SEIU Local 1000's website and the LA Times.

For the last 52 years, Local 1426 of Workers United in Terre Haute, Indiana has worked with Bemis to grow their local plant from 150 employees to over 1,000 employees. Yet in spite of their growing size, members of the union have agreed to modest wage gains over the years that just barely keep up with the cost of inflation--because that was what was best for the community and to keep the company competitive.

In recent years management changed--and it was not the only thing changing around the plant. Without any advance notice last year, the Company announced that it was going to require all employees (and their spouses) to submit to invasive medical testing in order to remain eligible for their health insurance. Not only was this illegal for the way it was done, with no bargaining with union representatives, but as you can imagine, it was hugely insulting and demeaning to workers and their families.

"Governor, we've sacrificed. And we've now reached our limit. We cannot, and will not, allow you to use us as pawns in your political power game," writes SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger concerning the California union's contract deal and latest budget proposal. The deal -- which includes some concessions -- is now stalled by Republicans in the legislature.

The Governor's proposal seeks to pile on an additional 5 percent pay reduction or fourth furloughed work day for more than 230,000 state workers. The three furlough days per month state workers are already faced with amounts to a roughly 14 percent loss in pay for state workers. Add on 5 percent, and CA's state workers would lose nearly 20 percent of their income.

The letter Local 1000 President Walker delivered to the Governor on Friday afternoon informs Schwarzenegger that the state workers will not take the Governor's threats lying down. "When we negotiated one furlough day monthly, a wage freeze, and other cost saving changes, we were standing up for state services. While we will continue to battle for quality public services, we are now standing up for ourselves as well. We will fight for a common sense budget." (Read President Walker's letter to the governor here).

Last week, Local 1000's Council voted unanimously authorizing the union's officers to seek member support for concerted actions up to and including a strike to protect our members' pay, benefits and job security.

Last Friday, 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.

This was a hard-earned victory for the 1,500 Kaiser security guards, who had been making poverty wages--as little as $10 an hour--with poor benefits and no paid sick leave while working under Inter-Con. New contractor Securitas, a company that is friendly to unions in many industries and client sectors throughout California, has committed to hire the security officers who currently protect Kaiser's facilities.

Watch this video of Inter-Con security officers speaking out, shot in May 2008 during the time when the security guards walked off the job at more than 15 Kaiser hospital facilities in Northern California. (And Seeing The Forest blogger Dave Johnson gives a great behind-the-scenes look at how the 3 day strike came to unfold in his Huffington Post piece, "Security Guards Striking for the Right to Have Our Laws Enforced"):

"We are thrilled and relieved that Inter-Con's scare tactics that we've endured for over three years will finally come to an end," said LaRhonda Lynch, a security officer at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. The new contract under Securitas will cover 1,800 workers nationwide, 1,500 of whom protect Kaiser facilities in California.

Houston Service Workers' Clinic Provides Model for Labor-Business Cooperation in Other Cities

In a city where one in three residents live without health care, the unveiling 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.

The new Houston Service Workers' Clinic isa joint project resulting from a groundbreaking labor-business partnership between SEIU janitors and business and community leaders to make health care more accessible for low-wage workers. Launching in early February 2009, the clinic could also provide a model for other cities also struggling with a growing number of uninsured.

The Houston Business Journal provides a few more details on the clinic:

"The Houston Service Workers Clinic will provide primary health care for service workers at a cost to them of just $20 a month, with their employers kicking in $185 a month per worker to cover 100 percent of the workers' treatment."

Healthcare coverage for $205 a month per worker is a cost equivalent to less than one-third of a penny per square foot of rental space in Houston's downtown buildings (where SEIU janitors work every day). The clinic will be staffed by physicians and other health professionals from Baylor College of Medicine, and Cigna Healthcare will provide insurance coverage for medical care beyond what the clinic will offer.

The unveiling of this clinic comes as thousands of Houston janitors celebrate the anniversary of the 2006 month-long strike that put a human face on the city's healthcare crisis. The agreement reached at the end of the month-long strike increased hourly wages for the janitors represented by SEIU, many of whom had been earning as little as $20 a day without benefits. In addition, the five major cleaning contractors involved agreed to offer their employees longer hours, paid holidays, vacation time and health insurance, starting in 2009.

"Two years ago I stood beside the Mayor and told the world 'Houston won big,'" said Mercedes Herrera, a Houston janitor who helped lead the workers' historic strike. "Today we celebrate another victory for Houston families as we open our health care clinic."

At the first annual Minnesota Ethnic and Community Media Awards last week, a reporter won top honors in the Community Services division for her three-part series in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder that covered the contract battle and groundbreaking one-day strike waged by SEIU Local 26 security officers in Minneapolis in early 2008.

Reporter Lauretta Dawalo Towns' winning news coverage tells the behind-the-scenes story of the Twin Cities security guards who held a one-day strike--the first-ever of its kind in the Twin Cities--against the largest security contractors in the area: ABM, Allied Barton, American, Securitas, and Viking.

The guards were prompted to strike by the continued failure of the security contractors to address the healthcare crisis facing 98 percent of private security officers in the Twin Cities who could not afford the family health insurance offered by their employer, which cost as much as $836 per month. Hard-working guards like Renita Whicker stood with their colleagues, because a parent shouldn't have to choose between paying the rent or taking their children to the doctor. 

After working without a contract for four months, an April bargaining agreement was reached by the security officers in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The new contract was a huge victory for more than just the 800 guards who gained access to affordable health insurance, paid sick leave, higher wages, and improved training and equipment--it was also viewed as a major step towards paving the way for similar gains by other workers in Minnesota and helping to restore Minnesota's middle class.  

"This [fight was] about protecting working families and protecting people who live, work, and play in our city's downtown," said SEIU member Harrison Bullard, who is a security officer at the Hennepin County Government Center. "People who come downtown want strong, healthy, and well-trained security officers to provide protection for them. 

The guards received notable support from the surrounding communities throughout their long contract battle for better wages and benefits. City council members, Twin Cities mayors, state representatives, political candidates and even clergy from interfaith coalitions all rallied resounding support for the officers.

"It wasn't an easy-won fight," commented SEIU Local 26 member and Securitas guard Darrell Siewart. "But as most people know, quality health care coverage is more than worth fighting for -- it's essential." 

Read the award-winning Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder articles on the SEIU Local 26 security guards: 

    >> "Security officers strike for a living wage -- and respect", 3/2/2008

    >> "Twin Cities security officers enjoy the fruits of their organizing labor," 6/1/2008 

The Ethnic and Community Media Awards are intended to lend greater visibility and recognition to the important journalism produced by grassroots media in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. They are sponsored by the Twin Cities Media Alliance, a group that works to bring together media professionals and engaged citizens to improve the quality, accountability and diversity of the local media.

Through SEIU's "Stand for Security Campaign," SEIU Local 26 security officers joined thousands of private security officers in cities from Boston to D.C. to Los Angeles in an historic effort to win affordable individual and family healthcare, wage increases, paid sick days, and increased training so that security officers have a chance to rise up the career ladder, earn enough to raise a family, and move into the middle class.

Sit-in at Chicago plan, now in its 5th day, has become symbol for a frustrated nation

It's the kind of story that has become all too familiar to working Americans - and the kind of story that we've been reading all too often in the news lately.

Scores of workers were laid-off with little notice from a Chicago factory last week, when the factory closed down abruptly after Bank of America canceled the company's financing.

Bank of America's last-minute decision to close Republic down had resulted in the company shutting its doors without providing its workers the 60 days' notice required by law. And the workers hadn't been paid for their accrued vacation or sick time, either.

However, these workers, who are members of Local 1110 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, didn't follow management's example and go quietly into the night to face the prospect of a cold winter without a job.

They decided instead to take a stand, staging a "peaceful occupation" of the Republic Windows and Doors plant in what is now day five of an around-the-clock sit-in, as some 200 workers take turns occupying the plant in eight-hour shifts.

The workers of Republic Windows were not the only people in the community trying to fathom how a bank that had just accepted $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money--money that was intended to get their credit flowing again--could not even manage to extend enough credit to the plant to meet its legal obligations to its workers. Leading political figures in the Chicago area and beyond have turned out to support the sit-in -- including the former South Side community organizer and state senator who is now our president-elect.

"When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned, I think they are absolutely right," President-elect Barack Obama said to the Chicago Sun-Times during a news conference Sunday. "...These companies need to follow through on those commitments. [And] I think it is important for us to make sure that, moving forward, any economic plan we put in place helps businesses to meet payroll so we are not seeing these kinds of circumstances again."

At a press conference yesterday at Chicago's city hall, a contingent of 15 Chicago aldermen, workers from Republic Windows and Doors, leaders of the Chicago Federation of Labor Leaders, UE, SEIU and Rev. Jesse Jackson announced an official ordinance to end to any involvement by the city of Chicago with Bank of America.

"It's not only unfair to the workers, but also Bank of America is thumbing its nose at Congress by taking federal recovery funds while refusing to extend credit to a small manufacturing company with a long history of profitability," said Tom Balanoff, president of SEIU Illinois Council. "Bank of America's withdrawal of credit also contradicts and undercuts President-elect Barack Obama's plan to stimulate the depressed economy by investing in weatherization of existing homes and buildings and in other infrastructure and energy-saving construction," Balanoff added.

Want to lend your support for the workers at Republic Windows and Doors? Ways to take action now and hold Bank of America accountable, via Change to Win:

* Send a message of support to the sit-down strikers: the Republic workers' union has set up an online form you can use to let them know that you support their struggle.

* Send a message to Bank of America: Jobs with Justice, the national worker rights coalition, has set up an online form you can use to write to Bank of America to demand they keep Republic open or pay the workers at Republic what they're owed.

* Contribute to the strike fund: the workers at Republic aren't collecting paychecks, and they and their families still need to eat and keep a roof over their heads. You can help by making a secure online contribution to the strike fund via PayPal.

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota hospital workers are uniting and taking a stand for their future. More than 200 members who work at Regina Medical Center begin a 2-day strike on Monday in the face of a proposed 50 percent cut to their pension and an increase in to overall healthcare costs.

The hospital workers walked picket lines and rallied outside Regina Medical Center in Hastings on Monday and Tuesday, with slogans on their signs such as, "All we want for Xmas is my pension saved," and "Keep our future secure."

 The current three-year contract expired at the end of October and contract talks are stalled with no sessions scheduled.

At a noon rally Monday, the strikers were joined by elected officials and members of other unions, including the Minnesota Nurses Association and Teamsters.

"With our country and our state facing difficult economic times, now is precisely the time for us to ensure that working families across Minnesota can afford to go to the doctor and can afford to retire with dignity," said Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark to Workday Minnesota.

"And to do that, employers need to keep their promises. I stand with striking Regina healthcare workers and encourage Regina to come back to the table so these workers can return to their patients. We need to find a different way to provide cost-effective care other than cutting pensions."

The union represents more than 14,000 health care workers across the state, including nursing assistants, physical therapy aides, x-ray aides, housekeepers, dietary workers, operating room aides, patient care technicians and other caregivers.

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota hospital workers are uniting and taking a stand for their future. More than 200 members who work at Regina Medical Center begin a 2-day strike today in the face of a proposed 50 percent cut to their pension and an increase in overall healthcare costs. "I'm sick to my stomach that our community hospital has joined the wave of employers breaking promises to loyal employees," said striking cook Jesse Nie. "Everyone I know is tired of the bailouts and broken promises. It's time we defend our future before it's taken away from all of us."

Despite these tough economic times, SEIU members are standing strong, and standing up for Minnesota's working families. "We want to retire with dignity and security," says SEIU Healthcare Minnesota steward Jan Salo in today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "Working people have earned retirement security," writes SEIU Healthcare MN member and dietary aide Sharon Braun in a letter to the editor on behalf of the caregivers at Regina Medical Center.

The efforts of the striking SEIU workers at Regina Hospital to protect their hard-earned pension have earned the support of the 20,000-member Minnesota Nurses Association, the leading organization for registered nurses in the Midwest. In a demonstration of solidarity, the nurses of MNA joined in a rally with the workers today. More details to come.