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

Tomorrow's Minimum Wage Increase Will Strengthen America's Economy

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

13,000 Missouri home care attendants vote union YES!

Jul 22, 2009 - It's not often we get to bring you news of workers organizing to have a voice at work on such a large scale -- but today is one of those days! 13,00 home care attendants in Missouri's consumer directed home care program have voted to join the Missouri Home Care Union. Read more...

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

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

California budget deal missing actual solution

Jul 21, 2009 - In spite of the fact that months of debate between CA lawmakers on how to resolve the state's $26 billion budget deficit may be finally coming to an end, there can be no cause for celebration when the 'solution' does not reflect the priorities of a vast majority of California voters. Read more...

Big banks and the Chamber do their best to stop economic recovery--AGAIN

Jul 21, 2009 - Today, reports hit saying Congress is delaying action on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency after a series of lobbying efforts and a letter from the U.S. Chamber and big banks. When it comes to fixing our economy, Congress must not buckle under the pressure of the U.S. Chamber and big banks. Read more...

Al Franken raises the SEIU roof

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

California state workers will vote to strike; protest Governor Schwarzenegger

Jul 20, 2009 - As the governor and legislators continue to battle over the budget in California, leaders of SEIU Local 1000 have issued a strike authorization vote to the union's 95,000 members beginning today, July 20. SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week , declaring the union "will fight" his latest proposal to pile on a fourth furloughed work day for more than 230,000 state workers. Read more...

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

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

Video: Janitors protesting Cisco Systems end hunger strike

Jul 17, 2009 - On June 9, dozens of janitors laid off from Cisco Systems in San Jose, CA ended a 7-day hunger fast protesting the company's corporate greed, unfair treatment and laying-off of 40 percent of its total janitorial workforce. Check out this new video SEIU United Service Workers West created documenting the breaking of the fast. Read more...

Unions make for a much more family-friendly workplace

Jul 16, 2009 - A new report authored by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the Labor Project for Working Families found that companies with more unionized workers are more likely to pay for family health insurance premiums, embrace paid leave, and allow the use of personal leave to care for a sick child. In case you needed more evidence as to why we need to restore workers' freedom to form unions and bargain through the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Statement by SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger on New Report Showing Unions Make More Family-Friendly Workplaces

Jul 16, 2009 - SEIU Anna Burger's statement on a new report that finds that companies with more unionized workers are more likely to pay for family health insurance premiums, embrace paid leave, and allow the use of personal leave to care for a sick child. Read more...

School Food Workers to Members of Congress: We're Hungry for Change

Jul 15, 2009 - For the first time in the 63-year history of our nation's School Lunch Program, front-line food service workers are on Capitol Hill today to petition their government to strengthen the program that serves food to more than 30 million children every day. Read more...

Ahem, Governor Schwarzenegger - You can't ignore the law, no matter who you are

Jul 14, 2009 - The Governor and CA state officials have refused to abide by the U.S. District Court's preliminary injunction preventing the slashing of salaries for California home care workers. In light of this outrageous defiance, the ruling Judge has amended her original injunction: rescind approval of all IHSS wage reductions by July 14 that were scheduled to take place on July 1 by COB today. Read more...

Letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger: Trail of broken campaign promises must end

Jul 14, 2009 - "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 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. Read more...

Unacceptable: Governor Schwarzenegger ignores court order to stop home care cuts

Jul 13, 2009 - strong>Last week, SEIU was forced to file a motion with U.S. District Court to hold the state of California in contempt for illegally cutting the wages of (IHSS) workers by $2 per hour in defiance of an earlier court order. Read more...

Free Summer Lunch Program A Rousing Success in NJ

Jul 13, 2009 - During the school year in New Jersey, school lunch is provided at a reduced cost or for free to thousands of poor students to help eliminate at least one significant and widely recognized barrier to an education: hunger. Read more...

Maryland Child Care Providers Settle Historic First Contract

Jul 12, 2009 - Five thousand family child care providers who participate in the state's child care subsidy program have settled a historic first contract with the Governor's Office and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). The historic contract includes a nearly three-percent increase in the state subsidy, access to decision-making committees, and the creation of a new Training Committee of state officials and child care providers to recommend future improvements. Read more...

AIG bonus requests: Is this some kind of joke?

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

SEIU on AIG Bonus Requests: You've Got to be Kidding Us

Jul 10, 2009 - Today, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who staged nationwide protests over AIG bonuses in March, demanded that AIG halt the millions in bonuses they are seeking to give top executives. Additionally, SEIU took aim at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who has consistently defended the bonus pay-outs. Read more...

NY Times: "Change is too slow coming for the nation's one million home care aides"

Jul 09, 2009 - Citing the hard work and critical role they play with an aging boomer population, the NY Times editorial declares that "Home care aides should not have to wait any longer for the fair pay they have been denied for so long." Read more...

If the U.S. Chamber had their way, Louisianans would suffer

Jul 08, 2009 - When CEOs in Washington decide the agenda of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they seem to forget all about real workers and business owners throughout America. For decades, they have fought legislation that would have a real impact on working families right here in Louisiana. With over 136,000 Louisianans out of work, now is the time to do everything we can to stand up to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - and stand up for working families. Read more...

Living wages are in Con Ed's Power

Jul 06, 2009 - Con Ed employee Fernando Cruz is one of more than 28 million people--about a quarter of the working-age workforce--who work full time yet still earn less than the income that marks the federal poverty line for a family of four: $9.04 per hour, a full-time salary of $18,800 a year. Read more...

Breaking: DHS defers deportation of Walter Lara for one year

Jul 02, 2009 - Today, Walter Lara was granted a one year stay of his deportation. "Today, words cannot express my gratitude to Secretary Janet Napolitano, Senator Bill Nelson, Representatives Corrine Brown, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and the thousands of grassroots activists whose unified efforts have given me a second chance to live out my American Dream," said Walter. Read more...

End the war on home care

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

Governor Rell's veto stamps out dreams of working people

Jul 02, 2009 - The unions in the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), District 1199 launched their latest TV ad this week taking aim at Governor Jodi Rell for protecting the wealthy in a time of crisis. Read more...

For shame, Citigroup!

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

Mandatory overtime a thing of the past for PA direct care workers

Jul 01, 2009 - Beginning today -- July 1st, 2009 -- mandatory overtime is a thing of the past for any healthcare worker in Pennsylvania providing direct patient care. This victory is the culmination of a 7-year struggle by nurses and other healthcare workers who repeatedly marched, called, emailed and lobbied their legislators to support this important patient safety legislation. Read more...

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

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

Hartmarx Workers Win with Court-Approved Sale

Jun 30, 2009 - Nearly 4,000 jobs were saved with court approval of the sale of Chicago-based Hartmarx Corporation to the British firm Emerisque Brands late last week. Emerisque announced plans before the deal to keep many of Hartmarx's Workers United-represented workers. Read more...

Sharing Responsibility, Ditching the Chamber

Jun 30, 2009 - The Chamber of Commerce's veneer of unity on health care is beginning to fade. In the latest blow to the Chamber's "Just Say No!" strategy on health care reform, Wal-Mart joined with SEIU and the Center for American Progress today in announcing support for an employer mandate on health coverage. Read more...

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

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

Wisconsin state budget gives home care workers breakthroughs to improve care

Jun 30, 2009 - Home care aides in Wisconsin are celebrating a new state budget signed yesterday by Gov. Jim Doyle that includes breakthrough improvements for home care workers and their clients. The improvements give approximately 5,000 home care workers in Wisconsin the freedom to unite with SEIU. Read more...

Rep. Keith Ellison, Consumer groups to join bank workers speaking out against predatory sales practices, failed banking model

Jun 30, 2009 - Today, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) will join Bank of America workers to speak out against predatory sales practices and a failed banking model and call for reforms that protect frontline bank workers and consumers. Read more...

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

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

Canadian court rescinds Weyburn Wal-Mart workers' union certification

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

Top Five Worst U.S. Chamber Policies for Small Businesses

Jun 29, 2009 - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims to defend the interests of small businesses, but even a quick examination of their legislative record shows them opposing bill after bill that may help small businesses--and consistently siding with big corporations. Read more...

Judge Orders State to Halt Wage Cut For California Home Care Workers

Jun 25, 2009 - HUGE news for home care workers and those they care for: A U.S. District Court judge issued an injunction Thursday afternoon ordering the state of California to halt a proposed $2 cut in wages for the state's 400,000 home care workers. The injunction has the effect of stopping pay cuts in all California counties that were planning on passing the state cut through to their home care workers. Read more...

SEIU Member Killed in DC Metro Tragedy

Jun 25, 2009 - 32BJ member Ana Fernandez was one of the nine confirmed dead after the tragic Metro crash in Washington this week. To help make ends meet for her family of six children, Ana was on her way to her second job as a cleaner at a building downtown when the crash happened. Read more...

Round-Up of this Week's Health Care Events

Jun 24, 2009 - You may have noticed there is a lot going on with healthcare over the next roughly 24 hours. Below is a Below is a snapshot of what's going on. Read more...

350 New Bedford Factory Workers Fight to Save Their Jobs

Jun 24, 2009 - Remember the infamous Bianco Factory raid in New Bedford, MA where hundreds of hard-working immigrants were rounded up, detained and separated from their families? Today, a horrible experience of déjà vu as workers at the same factory who make backpacks for the U.S. army face yet another tragedy, as new owner Alliant threatens to shut the factory down. Read more...

Workers Denied Contracts by Their Employers: Arbitration Needed in Labor Law Reform

Jun 23, 2009 - Workers join together and unionize to improve their wages, benefits, and working conditions. Yet a full year after voting to form a union, 52 percent of new unions still haven't been able to secure any improvements because their employers have used delay tactics to avoid signing a first contract. Read more...

Groups Launch Ads in Support of House Clean Energy Bill

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

Jobs of today AND tomorrow are green jobs

Jun 23, 2009 - Between 1998 and 2007, the number of jobs in our country's emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs, according to a study by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Study results show that the renewable energy industry is creating a diverse range of well-paying jobs in every single state, across all skill levels and educational backgrounds. Read more...

Study Depicts Tough Times for Food Service Workers, Offers Recommendations

Jun 22, 2009 - Thousands of school food service workers in New Jersey are living at or near poverty, according to a new study from Rutgers University's Center for Women and Work. The study, authored by Dr. Mary McCain, addresses the scope of the problem in general, and then offers recommendations to fix these problems. Read more...

Victory in Fresno! Home Care Workers Vote to Stay with SEIU UHW

Jun 22, 2009 - Fresno County home care workers voted to keep SEIU-UHW as their union by a vote of rejecting an attempt by a group of ousted union leaders to split the workers off into a new organization. Read more...

Justice for Janitors Day: 19 Years of Fighting for Justice

Jun 17, 2009 - June 15th has been observed for 19 years in the U.S. as Justice for Janitors Day, a day when janitors and other workers who secure, clean, and maintain office buildings demonstrate for justice. Read more...

UAW Calls for an End to the Fight

Jun 17, 2009 - Read the letter from UAW President Ron Gettlefinger urging UNITE HERE's President to settle his dispute with Workers United/SEIU for the good of all workers. Read more...

Big Business' Two-Faced Approach to Arbitration

Jun 16, 2009 - Many corporations--like the Chamber-- praise arbitration when it favors them, but oppose it in settling first contracts--and will use any tactic they can to avoid paying their employees better wages and benefits. Supporters of the freedom to form unions are fed up with delays that favor employees, and American Rights at Work has launched a campaign to point out the hypocrisy of Big Business on arbitration. Read more...

Workers March in Portland: "What Do We Want? Fairness!"

Jun 16, 2009 - After numerous songs, slogans, speeches and a march across Portland's Hawthorne Bridge, the message came down to a simple chant rising from Terry D. Schrunk Plaza and echoing off the Portland skyscrapers around it: "What do we want? Fairness! When do we want it? Now!" With that, about 2,500 SEIU Local 503 members and allies concluded the United for Oregon rally against state budget cuts and layoffs last Sunday. Read more...

Stop Squeezing the Middle Class: Former Labor Secretaries Reich and Marshall on Employee Free Choice

Jun 15, 2009 - In the past 50+ years that have passed since America's middle class was expanding and the economy was soaring, former labor secretaries Robert Reich and Ray Marshall have seen an economy weakened by a combination of personal greed, individual irresponsibility and unsustainable financial conditions. In Sunday's Chicago Tribune, Reich and Marshall explain why the Employee Free Choice Act is necessary if our economy is to succeed. Read more...

SEIU Workers in Puerto Rico Lead March Against 30,000+ Layoffs

Jun 15, 2009 - Led in part by SEIU Local 1996 in Puerto Rico, close to 100,000 union members, students, and other activists marched in front of the capitol building in San Juan last week to protest Governor Luis Fortuño's plan to lay off more than 30,000 government employees and suspend public sector collective bargaining rights. Read more...

Illinois home care worker on budget cuts: "When you take jobs away from poor people, it's only going to create more poor people."

Jun 15, 2009 - As a home care worker in Chicago, Rebia currently receives a $9.85 an hour, her only source of income. Billions in budget cuts to critical human services programs are set to take effect on July 1st - leaving 80,000 working parents without child care, over 40,000 seniors and people with disabilities without home care and countless other families devastated by drastic cuts to the programs they depend on. Read more...

Senators push for wage and hour protections for home care workers

Jun 13, 2009 - A group of 15 Senators led by Senator Harkins (D-IA) have sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, urging the Department of Labor to expand federal wage and hour laws to an estimated 1.5 million home care workers in the U.S., one of the fastest-growing professions in the country today. Read more...

Maryland Family Child Care Contract Victory!

Jun 12, 2009 - 5,000 family care providers in Maryland won their first contract with the Department of Education and the Governor's Office yesterday. The historic contract includes a nearly three-percent increase in the state subsidy, access to decision-making committees, and the creation of a new Training Committee of state officials and child care providers to recommend future improvements. Read more...

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

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

Public Employees Notch Two Victories in Keystone State

Jun 11, 2009 - Workers in two counties on opposite sides of Pennsylvania-- Montgomery County and Westmoreland County--voted late last month to unite for a voice with SEIU Local 668--Pennsylvania's Social Services Union. Read more...

Colorado Small Businesses Endorse Employee Free Choice Act

Jun 11, 2009 - Today, 225 Colorado businesses released a "directory" featuring businesses that support the Employee Free Choice Act. In this economic crisis, we have a duty to support entrepreneurs and start-up companies in building sustainable, long-term successful businesses, rather than being forced to compete against irresponsible companies in an unwinnable, low-wage race to the bottom. Read more...

What would you ask BofA CEO Ken Lewis?

Jun 10, 2009 - This Thursday, Ken Lewis will be in front of Congress to answer questions about Bank of America's business practices. If you're an employee of Bank of America, here's an opportunity for you: What do you want to ask Ken Lewis? Submit your questions at http://letstalkbanks.com/ask/ Read more...

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

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

When did layoffs become 'acceptable'? Put working families above Cisco profits

Jun 08, 2009 - As janitors and community supporters continue their hunger strike outside of Cisco Systems corporate headquarters in San Jose, Mercury News columnist Mike Cassidy has written a thought-provoking column about the corporate strategy of treating layoffs as 'par-for-the-course' events that are the cost of doing business in this downtrodden economy. Read more...

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

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

"Lethal Weapon" Danny Glover Headlines Union Rally in Niagara Falls

Jun 05, 2009 - Workers United members turned up the spotlight as Hollywood actor Danny Glover chanted union slogans on the picket line with employees of Courtyard by Marriott. Courtyard Marriott has refused to negotiate a collective agreement with recently organized workers. Read more...

SEIU Endorses Feingold Bill To Help Displaced Workers Find Health Care Jobs

Jun 05, 2009 - SEIU has endorsed Community-Based Health Care Retraining Act legislation reintroduced by Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). The new version of the bill, formerly introduced in 2004, 2005 and 2007, would establish a program to distribute grants to colleges and other institution to retrain workers in areas of high unemployment to take jobs in healthcare. Read more...

LGBT Community Comes Out to Support SEIU UHW Home Care Members

Jun 05, 2009 - Friends and allies of SEIU are celebrating Pride month in a special way this year: Joining with home care workers in Fresno to protect their union and to keep their union voice strong in SEIU UHW. Read more...

Anna Burger Speaks Out on Excessive Corporate Pay

Jun 03, 2009 - Yesterday, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger addressed a conference sponsored by the Institutional Investor Education Foundation on retrieving the excessive pay and bonuses corporate CEOs received as they helped drive the nation's economy down. Read more...

Industrial and Labor Relations Expert: The System Is Failing

Jun 03, 2009 - In an opinion piece published by the Washington Post this morning, industrial and labor relations scholar Kate Bronfenbrenner writes about the obstacles facing workers today. The system itself, she states, is failing "to defend workers' rights in a timely manner" and creates "delays that favor employers." That, in itself, is a large reason to support the Employee Free Choice's "first contract arbitration" section. Read more...

Video: Canvassing for Fresno Home Care

Jun 03, 2009 - In this new YouTube video, SEIU UHW member and upcoming leader Frank Valdez canvasses for the first time with mentor May Santiago in Fresno. "It's very important to take care of these folks at home, and that's why I'm here," says Frank, on why he's fighting alongside his fellow union members in support of Fresno home care workers. Read more...

Morning Joe Team Wakes Up on Wrong Side of Bed, Goes on Anti-Union Tirade

Jun 03, 2009 - This morning, the Morning Joe crew of MSNBC decided to go on an anti-union tirade. Clearly, they didn't drink the coffee handed to them by their unionized colleagues that help to get their show in the air. After a rant from "smart" money man Jim Cramer (who, in recent months, has admitted that he's "gotten a lot of things wrong" and that he "should do a better job") on the terribleness of unions, the entire on-air team decided to weigh in. Read more...

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

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

"I'm too old to get rehired and too young for Social Security."

Jun 02, 2009 - This weekend, about 100 union service employees, police and firefighters in Orlando, FL, met to discuss budget cuts which would force them from their jobs. "It's not the unions causing the crisis. Read more...

Survey Results: The American Dream and the New Progressive Majority

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

Fighting to Protect Fresno Home Care

Jun 01, 2009 - They came from across Fresno County, California, the U.S. and Canada with one mission: to protect Fresno County home care. Between now and July 1st--the date the home care cuts are supposed to take effect--California home care workers, their families and supporters have much to fight for. Read more...

Wells Fargo Officially Opposes Bid to Save Hartmarx from Liquidation

May 29, 2009 - The fight to keep creditor Wells Fargo from liquidating Hartmarx menswear factory appears to ramping up, as the bailed-out bank said today that it is opposing the $119 million bid by the British private equity firm Emerisque to save the bankrupt Chicago-based men's clothier...for the "good" of its workers. Read more...

Blinding Greed

May 28, 2009 - An editorial in today's Wall Street Journal paints the current contract negotiation process as something that "works." Ask anyone who's been through the process, and they'll tell you that it works - but only for corporations. The employees, instead, tend to get the shaft. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of workers who form a union still don't have a contract after one year, and companies refuse to negotiate in good faith in over 28 percent of cases. Read more...

California Needs the Employee Free Choice Act

May 28, 2009 - Union members in California and across the country earn significantly more than non- union workers. Over the four-year period between 2004 and 2007, unionized workers' wages in California were on average 12.7 percent higher than non-union workers with similar characteristics. Read more...

President Bartlett Pledges to Pass The Employee Free Choice Act

May 27, 2009 - You may have heard of President Obama's support for the Employee Free Choice Act, but today, Catholics for Working Families is launching an ad with another president's endorsement: President Bartlett (or, as he's known in the real world, Martin Sheen). Read more...

Stop Schwarzenegger's Cruel Cuts

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

Sierra Club President Allison Chin: "An economy that treats workers fairly is fundamentally better for our planet"

May 27, 2009 - To mark the occasion of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Sierra Club President Allison Chin addressed a group of SEIU employees during a lunch lecture on the topics of grassroots activism, the Employee Free Choice Act and working together with labor in the Blue Green Alliance. Read more...

Tonight in California: Thousands Begin 48-Hour Vigils to Protest Massive Cuts

May 26, 2009 - SEIU members, seniors home care givers and community supporters from across the state will hold vigils tonight on the grounds of the State Capitol to protest Schwarzenegger's proposed cutbacks that would reduce vital services to seniors and people with disabilities. Read more...

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

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

SEIU California Members Help Defeat Ballot Measures with Dangerous Cuts to Public Services

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

43 Members of Congress Write in Support of Hartmarx Workers

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

Big Interest Groups Throw a Hail Mary on Employee Free Choice

May 22, 2009 - A newly-formed coalition of religious leaders and people of faith--Faith Leaders for Workplace Fairness--publicly announced their support for the labor reform bill on a conference call with press last week, calling the legislation a "moral imperative" and a civil and human right. Over the last few days, several conservative websites and corporate interests have decided that such a coalition is unacceptable, because they apparently own all the stock on religion. Read more...

Sign Up and Tell Mark Fahelson: Walk A Day In Our Shoes

May 21, 2009 - On May 18th, Mark Fahelson, the Nebraska Republican Party Chairman, wrote an op-ed in Midland Voices entitled "Opposition to Employee Free Choice Act Only Sensible." We keep hearing parroted talking points and rhetoric from corporate-backed Republicans, when what we need to hear are the facts behind a bill that will help working families who are struggling to have a voice in their workplace. Read more...

Tell Governor Schwarzenegger: No more cuts to home care!

May 21, 2009 - Caring for others. It's probably the most important thing your mother ever taught you. But it's a lesson Gov. Schwarzenegger seems to have forgotten, because on May 14th the governor released a preview of his revised budget, which seeks to implement deeper cuts to the in-home care program by slicing the state's contribution toward home care worker wages by a staggering 20 to 30 percent. Read more...

Green jobs and energy are focus of President's first Economic Recovery Advisory Board meeting

May 20, 2009 - During the first quarterly meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger and fifteen other board members discussed green jobs and energy with the President, sharing their expertise on the creation of a comprehensive energy plan that will generate millions of clean energy jobs. Read more...

New Research Shows Rise of Corporate Intimidation and Threats Towards Workers for Supporting a Union

May 20, 2009 - The current system to form a union in the workplace is grossly slanted in favor of employers who too often use harassment and intimidation to stop unions and keep workers from getting a fair deal--and it's only gotten worse in recent years. A new EPI report reveals that employer tactics against workers' efforts to form unions have increased and become more punitive than in the past. Read more...

Boardroom Shakeup at BofA?

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

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

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

Big Banks Liquidating Your Company? Let Us Know

May 15, 2009 - Today, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) launched a toll-free hotline and website--Keep America Working--to support small business owners and workers facing job loss because of frozen credit and liquidation at the hands of bailed-out banks. Visit www.keepworkinghotline.org if your company is facing liquidation threats from big banks. Read more...

Obama Administration Blocks Harmful Cuts to Homecare Workers

May 15, 2009 - In a victory for struggling homecare workers, the Obama Administration ruled last week that California's proposed cuts to the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program violates the terms of the federal stimulus aid going to the state under the terms of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Read more...

President Obama Reaffirms Support for the Employee Free Choice Act

May 14, 2009 - In a town hall meeting today in New Mexico, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to passing the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would allow workers to bargain with their employers for better job security, wages and benefits. Watch Read more...

New Video: The Epic Battle for Employee Free Choice

May 14, 2009 - Corporate lobbyists and executives are gearing up for their next round of attacks on the Employee Free Choice Act. But the next battle is bound to show them for who they are: greedy people who will do anything to hold onto their power. Watch our tongue-in-cheek video here. Read more...

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

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

Video: The Fight to Save Hartmarx Workers' Jobs

May 13, 2009 - On May 11, Workers United members at the Illinois Hartmarx facility voted unanimously to occupy their workplace if chief lender Wells Fargo moves to shut the factory down. Watch the short documentary released today on the events at the Hart Schaffner & Marx factory in Des Plaines, IL over the last week. Read more...

Video: Anna Burger on Labor's Role in Democracy

May 13, 2009 - "When workers had a voice on the job, when unionization was high and one in three workers had a union, not only was it good for those workers, it lifted up everybody," said SEIU's Anna Burger in an interview with the Brennan Center for Justice. "It raised the standards across America in terms of wages, healthcare, retirement security and the ability to give our kids a better life." Read more...

Tell Wells Fargo: Save Jobs at Hartmarx

May 12, 2009 - The public gave Wells Fargo $25 billion in bailout funds, but rather than investing that money in American jobs by keeping credit flowing, Wells Fargo is considering cutting the cord. oment to sign a letter to Wells Fargo Executive Vice President John Stumpf asking him to choose a bidder who will save these jobs. Read more...

Hartmarx Workers Hold Rally with State Politicians & Labor Leaders After Sit-in Vote

May 11, 2009 - Hartmarx workers were joined by Rep. Phil Hare, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and SEIU Illinois State Council president Tom Balanoff at a rally today at the Des Plaines, IL plant, following a unanimous vote by workers to stage a sit-in if Wells Fargo does not approve the sale of Hartmarx to a buyer that would keep it alive instead of liquidating it. Read more...

Hartmarx Workers Vote to "Sit In" to Save Their Jobs as TARP Recipient Wells Fargo Threatens to Close Factory

May 11, 2009 - Mirroring the six-day protest that helped save more than 250 Republic Windows and Doors workers from losing their jobs last December, Chicago-based Hartmarx factory workers voted unanimously this morning in favor of a "sit in" style action if chief lender Wells Fargo Bank or a new owner tries to begin liquidation or close the factory. Read more...

As part of President Obama's Job Creation Plan, SEIU Calls for Passage of Employee Free Choice Act

May 11, 2009 - As President Obama laid out his latest plans to help the nation's unemployed millions, SEIU President Andy Stern called on Congress to implement the Employee Free Choice Act as a priority part of the President's job creation plan. Read more...

Report shows NJ food service workers get low pay, few benefits

May 08, 2009 - Thousands of school food service workers in New Jersey are living at or near poverty, according to a new report commissioned by SEIU Local 32BJ, which found that the average hourly wage for food preparation workers in educational services was only $8.15, and that most had no health benefits. Read more...

US Chamber: We Hate Arbitration. Except For When We Love It.

May 08, 2009 - In a post on the US Chamber of Commerce's blog, Brad Peck attempts to argue against our point that corporate lobby groups - such as the Chamber itself - were long for arbitration before they started assailing the process as a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad thing. Read more...

SEIU to Congress: Pass Employee Free Choice Act As Part of Obama's Job Creation Plan

May 08, 2009 - As President Obama laid out his latest plans to help the nation's unemployed millions, SEIU International President Andy Stern today called on Congress to implement the Employee Free Choice Act as a priority part of the President's job creation plan. Read more...

First-time jobless claims drop

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

Corporate Lobbyists: We Were for Arbitration Before We Were Against It

May 07, 2009 - In a new round of attacks against the Employee Free Choice Act, corporate lobbyists and executives are showing their true, greedy selves. In recent weeks, corporate lobbyist groups such as the Center for Union Facts, the Chamber of Commerce, and conservatives like Newt Gingrich, have waged war to prevent workers from enjoying what CEOs take for granted: a contract. Read more...

Bank of America Fails "Stress Tests," Needs $34 Billion and Accountability

May 07, 2009 - Yesterday's federal government stress test results confirmed what concerned shareholders, taxpayers and bank employees have been saying all along--that Bank of America is failing taxpayers and our economy. Read more...

Our Letter to Bank of America's New Chairman

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

Illinois Workers United Suit Makers' Jobs On the Cutting Table

May 05, 2009 - Workers United members at the Hart Schaffner & Marx (known as Hartmarx) menswear factory in Des Plaines, IL, make suits for President Obama, but their jobs may not make the cut. Read more...

"Kids Can't Wait" Campaign Launch: Free Healthcare on Wheels

May 04, 2009 - Last weekend, SEIU Healthcare Michigan members and their families attended the Detroit launch of a national initiative called "Kids Can't Wait," a campaign which seeks to draw attention to the impact of the economic crisis on children's healthcare and expand health care services to disadvantaged children. Read more...

Your Voices: What Sen. Specter's Announcement Means for Us

May 04, 2009 - If you thought that Sen. Specter's party-affiliation change from a Republican to a Democrat meant an automatic endorsement from labor unions for his 2010 election...think again. In the memo Andy Stern sent to PA members late last week, he affirmed that we will maintain our ramped-up efforts to reach out to the Senator and let our concerns be known on the need for reform to our nation's labor laws. Read more...

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

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

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

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

Home Care Workers Unite With SEIU in Ontario and Nevada

Apr 30, 2009 - Home care workers from Ontario and Nevada are the latest workers to join SEIU in their growing campaign to raise standards and improve the quality of home care across North America and and set higher standards for thousands of home care aides. Read more...

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

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

Pictures from Today's Rally in Charlotte

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

Bank of America: In The Doghouse?

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

Grand Total: Over 90,000 "Taxpayer Proxy Cards" Signed and Delivered

Apr 29, 2009 - Just moments ago, we delivered over 90,000 "Taxpayers Proxy Cards" to Bank of America. Who are these 90,000 people? They're an eclectic mix of those who signed on the Internet and those who joined one of 100 actions yesterday, out there in your community. Read more...

The Billboard That Haunts Ken Lewis' Dreams

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

Bank of America Blog Roundup, April 29th 2009

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

Video: SEIU President Andy Stern Speaks at Rally in NYC

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

Video: Take Back The Economy Rally in Washington, DC

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

BofA Stressed Out?

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

Today is Equal Pay Day for Women

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

US bailout for offshored jobs?

Apr 27, 2009 - More than 20,000 people have already signed "taxpayer proxy cards" asking for CEO Ken Lewis to be fired and to reform Bank of America. Can you help us reach 30,000 in the next 48 hours? Read more...

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

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

Arkansas Worker Shown the Door for Talking About Workplace Safety

Apr 27, 2009 - Rhonda Woods lives in Paris, Arkansas and until recently worked on a factory floor. When she brought up potentially unsafe working conditions to her boss, she was told: "If you don't like it, there's the door." Read more...

New Documentary Chronicles Union Workers Building "Green"

Apr 24, 2009 - To promote green-collar jobs and clean energy manufacturing, a new film has been touring union halls as part of nationwide Earth Day celebrations taking place this week. "The Greening of Southie" tells the story of Boston's first residential green building from the perspective of blue collar union workers who are becoming our green collar workforce. Read more...

TV Ad: America Wants Green Jobs

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

Is Your Union Going Green?

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

Earth Day Means Clean Green Jobs for Working People

Apr 22, 2009 - This Earth Day marks a turning point in the environmental movement, with union members speaking out more than ever before for "good jobs, green jobs" and a clean energy economy. Read more...

Anna Burger joins Earth Day roundtable on role of women in the green economy

Apr 22, 2009 - SEIU's Anna Burger joined women from labor, business, academic and advocacy organizations to shine a light on the important role that women will play in our green economy at an Earth Day roundtable today at the Department of Labor headquarters. Read more...

Alameda Hospital Workers Win 18% Raises

Apr 22, 2009 - On April 17, SEIU UHW members at Alameda Hospital in Oakland ratified a new three-year contract, which is retroactive to April 2008 and covers nearly 130 workers. Read more...

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

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

Public Workers Pay Taxes Too!
New Hampshire Public Employees Protest Job Cuts

Apr 17, 2009 - On Wednesday, over a hundred members of SEIU Local 1984 in New Hampshire joined state employees at the Concord State House for a Tax Day protest against possible public employee layoffs and cuts in pay and benefits. The state budget recently passed by the House would impose a mandatory 2 percent "tax" on 51,000 public workers, pulling $100 million out of the New Hampshire economy, even as local retailers are really struggling. Read more...

In Case You Missed It: Rallies, Events Continue Across the Country in Support of Employee Free Choice Act

Apr 17, 2009 - In Washington, they may have questioned whether the Employee Free Choice Act battle was drawing to a close. Good thing no one told the rest of the country, where rallies and activities in favor of the bill are going strong. From Maine to North Dakota, activists gathered to tell their Senators, the time for the Employee Free Choice Act is now. Read more...

Labor Groups United to Unveil Unified Immigration Reform Framework

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

1199SEIU Wins Largest Union Victory in Boston-Area Hospital in Two Decades

Apr 14, 2009 - More than 800 healthcare workers at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, the largest medical center in the Caritas Christi Health Care chain, voted last Thursday to unite together with thousands of healthcare workers in 1199SEIU. Read more...

Service-Sector Workers Increase Wages and Benefits with Unions

Apr 14, 2009 - A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that nationally, unionization raises service workers' pay 10.1 percent (about $2.00 per hour), compared to non-union service workers, and increases the likelihood that the worker will have health insurance and a pension. Read more...

Video: Why Working Families Need the Employee Free Choice Act

Apr 13, 2009 - In their own words, workers speak out about how the current system to form unions is broken--and why working families need the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act: Paving the Road to Economic Recovery

Apr 09, 2009 - The Center for American Progress Report (CAP) is out, and the results are definitive: labor unions are a crucial part of fixing our economy. Read more...

"Remembering King, Realizing the Dream" March and Rally in LA April 4th

Apr 02, 2009 - The 5,000 member SEIU-SOULA (Security Officers United in Los Angeles) Local 2006 will join community organizations in a three-mile march to commemorate the 41st anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's death on April 4th in LA. Read more...

What happened when I talked about a union

Apr 01, 2009 - In 2007 alone, more than 29,000 workers were fired or disciplined for union activity. Trisha Miechur, a Certified Nurse Assistant at a ManorCare nursing home in Easton, PA, is one of those workers. Read more...

The Union Advantage for Women

Mar 31, 2009 - In 2007, women made up 45 percent of union members--and by 2020, women will be the majority of the unionized workforce. Women have a great deal to gain from unionization, as union victories work to pave the way for workers to bargain for affordable family health care, fair wages, improved working conditions, and a better life for their families. Read more...

Empowering Workers through Employee Free Choice

Mar 31, 2009 - Today, the Politico debuted a special section online and in print about the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Making Work Pay with the Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 30, 2009 - Almost as soon as she begin her new job as a housekeeper at Jorgensen's motel, Amy Swanson knew that the workplace conditions she and her coworkers were subjected to were untenable. There was no access to affordable healthcare and her wages were pitifully low. She and the other employees of the Helena, Montana motel had no job security, and little to no say in what their schedules would be from week-to-week. Read more...

SEIU, Blue Green Alliance Urge Climate Change Legislation in 2009

Mar 30, 2009 - On Friday, four labor unions and two environmental organizations representing six million people announced their support for comprehensive cap-and-trade climate change legislation in 2009. The Blue Green Alliance's goal is nothing less than to transform the U.S. economy through global warming solutions and create millions of family-sustaining green jobs in the clean energy economy. Read more...

Landmark Nurse Wage Class Action Suit Moves Forward

Mar 26, 2009 - The landmark lawsuit filed by Detroit nurses over efforts by hospitals in their area to collude to hold down wages for RNs is moving forward. Federal Judge Gerald Rosen rejected arguments from Mount Clemens General Hospital in Michigan that the landmark suit has no merit and ordered the case to proceed. Read more...

Arlen Specter: Don't Cave to Big Business

Mar 25, 2009 - We need Congress to act as swiftly on real economic recovery for working people in America as they did to bail out Wall Street. Senator Specter can bring this change - but he needs to hear from you now. Read more...

Don't Play Games with Atlantic City Casino Dealers

Mar 24, 2009 - The new Gaming Workers Council brings together four of the nation's largest labor unions to put the combined force of 15 million union members behind casino unionization drives across the country. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) Gaming Division, SEIU, UAW and AFL-CIO are standing together on behalf of workers in the casino industry, concentrating on jump-starting stalled contract talks in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Detroit and Connecticut. Read more...

Half of California's state workforce covered by new contract agreement

Mar 23, 2009 - SEIU Local 1000 members voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract providing the strongest layoff protections and furlough limits state workers have ever had. The agreement affects 95,000 California workers and limits some of the emergency measures imposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to bridge the state's $42 billion budget gap. Read more...

President Obama Reiterates Support for Making it Easier for Workers to Organize

Mar 20, 2009 - At the Costa Mesa town hall meeting this week, Obama reiterated his support for making it easier for workers to form unions to restore balance and improve millions of Americans' economic standing. Read more...

We Want Justice, Not Blood

Mar 19, 2009 - 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. Read more...

A Reality Check for AIG

Mar 19, 2009 - We've just returned from our local AIG headquarters here in D.C., where around 130 people stood in the rain to take part in our Take Back the Economy day of action. Demonstrators held signs, sang songs, and presented AIG with a "reality check" worth billions of dollars from the American people. Read more...

Putting Our Money Where Their Mouths Are

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

Surprise! Rush Gets It Wrong on Free Choice

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

From Reno to Capitol Hill

Mar 18, 2009 - This week has been quite the whirlwind. I left my home in Reno to join coworkers from my hospital (and hundreds of other SEIU members from across the country) to talk to our elected officials in Washington, DC about the need for the Employee Free Choice Act, and why giving workers a voice will help get our country back on track. Read more...

SEIU Workers on Why They Want a Union

Mar 17, 2009 - With corporate interest groups going on the attack around the Employee Free Choice Act, workers are now speaking out about why they want to join a union and the employer resistance and intimidation they've encountered when trying to organize their workplace. Watch SEIU workers share their stories about why the Employee Free Choice Act matters to them. Read more...

Gallup Poll: Majority of Americans Support the Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 17, 2009 - In the first independent poll conducted this year on the issue, Americans are firmly and overwhelmingly in support of not only the Employee Free Choice Act, but of workers' rights and of labor in general. Read more...

New Sheriff in Town: Labor Secretary Solis Takes Oath of Office

Mar 16, 2009 - On Friday morning, former California Rep. Hilda Solis was officially sworn in as Secretary of Labor by Vice President Joe Biden at the U.S. Dept. of Labor headquarters. The confirmation of Hilda Solis as labor secretary is a momentous occasion that SEIU and organized labor had been anticipating--and fighting for--since Barack Obama first nominated her in mid-December for the position. Read more...

America's Recession-Resistant Jobs

Mar 16, 2009 - For the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs or feared for their job security in the past couple of months, one might think there are simply no jobs to be had in this current economic down spiral. Although no job is 100 percent secure, it's encouraging to know that there are job sectors that are still in need of educated employees right now. Read more...

Recession reaching all the way to Sesame Street

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

Five Things to Know about the Employee Free Choice Act

Mar 10, 2009 - The Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in Congress. Want some great reasons to support this bill that you've been hearing so much about? Here's five. (And if you already support it, please contact your Members of Congress and ask them to do the same.) Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Introduced Tomorrow in House, Senate

Mar 09, 2009 - The Politico reports that tomorrow both houses of Congress will introduce the Employee Free Choice Act, which allows workers to decide for themselves how they'd like to form a union rather than management making that decision for them. Read more...

Can My Boss Do That?

Mar 06, 2009 - When workers face job loss, they often don't know where to turn for answers. They may be improperly denied their last paycheck, not given the proper amount of notice, or told by their employer that they cannot collect unemployment benefits. New website "Can My Boss Do That" will act as an online clearinghouse to help people understand their rights and protections on a state-by-state basis. Read more...

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

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

SEIU Homecare Member Testifies for Family-Friendly Workplace Policies

Mar 03, 2009 - For over a generation now, millions of working Americans have struggled to find a balance between work and family. "I know this hearing is about good family policies but everything comes back to money, something nobody seems to have enough of these days," said Rebia Mixon Clay, SEIU member and homecare worker from Chicago, in her testimony this morning before the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. Read more...

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

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

Green Jobs: "Clear Path to a Stronger Middle Class and a Stronger American Economy"

Feb 27, 2009 - The world is facing a historic opportunity to rebuild our global economy through investments in sustainable projects that will create new jobs, reduce our dependence on oil and protect our planet after decades of mismanagement. Read more...

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

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

Andy Stern Interviews on USA Today and Huffington Post

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

Many, Many Economists: We Like What the Employee Free Choice Act Does

Feb 25, 2009 - Today, in a full page ad in the Washington Post, thirty-eight prominent American economists released a statement, entitled "Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is critical to rebuilding our economy and strengthening our democracy." The economists - a group that includes two Nobel laureates in economics - argue that one of the main reasons for our economic slump is the "erosion of workers' ability to form unions and bargain collectively," that shifted the wealth of our country from "broadly-shared prosperity" to "growing inequality." Read more...

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

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

New Report: Employee Free Choice Act Could Create A $49 Billion Stimulus Package for the American Worker

Feb 18, 2009 - In a new report for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, researchers David Madland and Karla Walter argue that a more-unionized workforce would lead towards a stronger economy for the United States. According to the report, the key to a sustainable economy is to increase the purchasing power of hard-working Americans - and one way to do that is by passing the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Gives Workers a Fair and Democratic Chance to Form Unions

Feb 18, 2009 - The Employee Free Choice Act, the legislation supported by President Obama and large majorities of both houses of congress will not eliminate secret ballots in union representation (period). Read more...

Hard-fought wins in new contract for for 95,000 California state workers

Feb 17, 2009 - After more than nine months of hard-fought negotiations during dismal economic times, California's largest employee union SEIU Local 1000 has reached a tentative agreement with the state early on a new contract covering 95,000 state workers. This tentative agreement would increase job security for members, provides savings for the state and improve conditions for every state employee represented by Local 1000. Read more...

Video and Pics: Bank Bailout Hearing Action

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

Ken Lewis, What's Really In Your Company's Best Interest?

Feb 12, 2009 - Yesterday, in a congressional hearing about major banking institutions' use of TARP funds (a.k.a. the "bailout" funds approved by Congress last fall), something that can only be described as "enraging" occurred. When pressed by Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), Bank of... Read more...

New Hampshire SEIU Member Stands with Senators to Urge Passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Feb 05, 2009 - SEIU Member and New Hampshire state employee Jessica Paul today stood with Democratic Senators Dick Durbin, Frank Lautenberg, Jeff Merkley and Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Education Association at a press conference on Capitol Hill to discuss the urgent need to pass an economic recovery package. Read more...

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

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

Thousands of Workers to Deliver 1.5 Million Petitions to Congress Supporting Employee Free Choice

Feb 04, 2009 - SEIU members, workers from other unions, Rep. George Miller, and Sen. Tom Harkin will join workers today in delivering 1.5 million post cards supporting the Employee Free Choice Act to Senators and other lawmakers. Read more...

Video: Tellers Make Change at Bank of America

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

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

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

Obama and Biden Launch Middle Class Working Families Task Force

Jan 30, 2009 - Today President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden announced the creation of the Middle Class Task Force, which the White House blog says is "targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America." Read more...

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

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

New TV Ad Campaign Targets House Republicans Completely Out of Touch with Working People in America

Jan 29, 2009 - SEIU and coalition groups Americans United for Change, MoveOn.org Political Action and AFSCME unveiled a new television ad campaign that aims to to pressure key and potentially deciding votes in Congress and build momentum behind President Obama's "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act". Read more...

SEIU's Andy Stern: "Less social dialogue and more social change"

Jan 28, 2009 - "Financial manipulation, greed and deregulation have led to economic havoc," writes SEIU President Andy Stern in a op-ed today on Reuters. Stern will join over 40 Heads of State and 1,600 of the world's most powerful CEOs at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Read more...

Union Women, Labor Leaders & Online Activists Advocate for Solis Confirmation

Jan 28, 2009 - Stop delaying confirmation of Rep. Solis as secretary of labor: As Obama said in his inaugural address, "let's put away childish things" and get on with the workings of government. Read more...

For Aliquippa Caregivers, Relief is On the Way

Jan 27, 2009 - Earlier today, we reported on a group of caregivers in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania who were fighting for weeks worth of unpaid wages from their former employer, Commonwealth Medical Center. State media outlets covered the story throughout the week, including this report... Read more...

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

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

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

Jan 27, 2009 - Read more...

Stronger Economic Future for America Requires Long-range Vision

Jan 26, 2009 - "The millions of working people reeling from the severe economic recession need a recovery package that not only addresses the crisis and relieves the pain, but also lays the groundwork for a stronger and fairer future," writes SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger on Politico's The Arena, commenting on what kind of stimulus plan this country needs to get our economy back on track. Read more...

Former US Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich on the Employee Free Choice Act

Jan 26, 2009 - In an editorial for the Los Angeles Times today, former US Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich gives his advice on how we can reverse this deepening recession and give middle class Americans the greatest opportunity for a better life. Read more...

Economist Paul Krugman's Open Letter to President Obama

Jan 24, 2009 - Paul Krugman, a Nobel-prize laureate in Economics, professor at Princeton University, and a columnist for the New York Times has published an extraordinary piece in the latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine. In it, he writes an open letter to President Obama, giving his advice on some steps that he'd advise the new president to take in order to get our economy back on track. Read more...

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

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

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

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

Unemployment Skyrockets, Making 2008 Worst Jobs Year since WWII Era

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

SEIU's Unwavering Support of Workers' Rights Advocate Rep. Hilda Solis as U.S. Secretary of Labor

Jan 09, 2009 - The success of the American worker is key to the success of the American economy - and few understand that better than President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Labor, champion of working families Rep. Hilda Solis. Read more...

Change That Works: Video Chat with Andy Stern

Jan 08, 2009 - This week, SEIU is launching our Change That Works campaign. This campaign will be a massive, grassroots movement to turn America's unprecedented hope into unparalleled progress. Read more...

Obama To Give Economic Address Today at 11 a.m.

Jan 08, 2009 - President-elect Barack Obama's office announced the details of his major speech on the economy Wednesday afternoon, advocating "urgent action" on his economic stimulus plan. Read more...

Family Child Care Providers Ask Court to Compel Funding for Quality Day Care

Jan 06, 2009 - 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. Read more...

SEIU to Congress: Act Now To Relieve Pressure on Working People

Jan 06, 2009 - Thousands of members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) this week will make calls, send emails, and set up lobby visits to urge Congress to act as swiftly on real economic recovery for working people in America as they did to bail out Wall Street. Read more...

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

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

The Employee Free Choice Act: What's At Stake

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Freezin' for a Reason" in West Hartford, CT

Dec 17, 2008 - Public schools bus drivers in CT working without a contract since May protest employer's delays; demand higher wages and affordable health insurance Read more...

More than 400 March to Support Workers Struggling for a Voice on the Job

Dec 12, 2008 - 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. Read more...

SEIU Members to Hold March, Rally Supporting the Freedom to Join Unions and Emphasizing the Need to Fix the Broken Health Care System

Dec 10, 2008 - This Thursday, 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. Read more...

Stand with Chicago Workers of Republic Windows & Doors to Hold Bank of America Accountable

Dec 09, 2008 - 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. The workers staged a "peaceful occupation" of the Republic Windows and Doors plant and in day five of an around-the-clock sit-in of the plant. Read more...

Employee Free Choice Act Fast Facts Update: All About Majority Sign-up

Dec 08, 2008 - The corporate misinformation campaign is already running strong--spreading lies and distortions about the Employee Free Choice Act. One blatant mischaracterization suggests that this common sense proposal is somehow a "radical" change to federal labor law. Read more...

"Let's 'Share the Wealth'" - Wall Street Journal weekend interview with Andy Stern

Dec 08, 2008 - America's most powerful union boss says Europe offers a good economic model...Read the Wall Street Journal's December 6 weekend interview with SEIU President Andy Stern. Read more...

West Hartford School Bus Drivers to Protest Employer's Failure to "Drive Up" Standards

Dec 06, 2008 - For the bus drivers working for West Hartford Public Schools' student transportation contractor, their top priority has been the safety and security of the children in their care. Read more...

The Employment Situation? Not Good

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

For Women, Joining a Union is like Going to College

Dec 02, 2008 - Some great news for working women came out today. A new study shows that joining a union raises a woman's wages and benefits on par with having a college education. Read more...

'Workers of the World, Unite': Case Study Recognizes SEIU's International Campaign Efforts

Nov 21, 2008 - Today, the Journal of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR) called SEIU's global effort to organize private security officers in several African countries, the United Kingdom, and other locations "One of the most developed campaigns aimed at building a global union and raising standards for low wage service..." Read more...

1199SEIU Lawrence Hospital Workers Win 2nd Contract

Nov 20, 2008 - After more than a year of on and off negotiations, the 1199SEIU members at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, NY finally have a second contract. Read more...

Leading Massachusetts Physicians Voice Support for Free and Fair Union

Nov 17, 2008 - Free & Fair Elections = Quality Jobs, Quality Care Hospital workers across Boston are calling for free and fair union elections so they can have a voice in protecting patient care and improving jobs for working families. In an open... Read more...

Why Employees Need Free Choice to Join Unions: Let's Cut to the Chase

Nov 14, 2008 - The Saturday, Nov. 8th edition of The New York Times had a lengthy piece by Steven Greenhouse about the growing chorus for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would restore free choice for people who want to join a union. Towards the end of the article is a simple sentence that bears further examination, because it gets to the heart of why we need Employee Free Choice... Read more...

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

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

"How do you see the outcome of the presidential election changing the health care reform debate?"

Nov 12, 2008 - "This election showed that American workers are struggling with the rising cost of everything -- from food to fuel to housing to health care. They know that skyrocketing health costs are shrinking their paychecks, and if they lose their jobs they lose their health care." Read more...

SEIU Members Launch New Ohio Ad on John McCain's Votes to Send Jobs Overseas

Oct 30, 2008 - Today, SEIU began airing a new $425,000 television ad, titled "Meghan," that will run on cable and broadcast TV across Ohio through the end of the election. Read more...

SEIU Members Available to Talk About the Issues at Stake this Election

Oct 08, 2008 - At last night's town hall debate we heard directly from the American people--families are struggling and they want solutions to fix the economy and bring down healthcare costs. Read more...

SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina to Attend Tonight's Presidential Debate in Tennessee

Oct 07, 2008 - Tonight, Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President of the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), will represent the voices of working men and women across the country while attending the Presidential Town Hall Debate in Nashville, Tennessee. Read more...

SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana Home Care Workers Set National Standards for Help at Home Workers

Oct 06, 2008 - Help At Home agreed to remain neutral in any organizing campaigns at their offices across the country--giving home care workers the freedom to join the union without interference. Uniting with thousands of Help At Home workers across the country will mean an even stronger voice to continue to improve working conditions, as well as the quality of care for homecare consumers. Read more...

So... Now What?

Oct 03, 2008 - Written by SEIU International President Andy Stern Let's face it: the Bailout Bill doesn't get to the heart of what's wrong with our economy. Neither you, nor I, nor many of those who voted for it believe that this bill... Read more...

SEIU Members Say Voters Fearful About An Economy That Keeps Getting Worse

Oct 03, 2008 - As today's latest jobs report showing nine straight months of job loss hits the headlines, SEIU members knocking on doors and making calls across the country report growing frustration and fear from voters about an economy that shows no signs of improving. Read more...

Stand Up for Main Street, SEIU Tells Senators

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

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

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

SEIU Not Surprised That McCain Thinks Economy Is Strong

Sep 15, 2008 - Today's events on Wall Street will have an impact on this year's presidential election. Unfortunately for John McCain, the research shows that he has not only shown poor judgment on important economic issues, but that he sides with corporate interests over working families on every issue from health care to tax cuts to America's energy crisis to protecting workers' retirement. Read more...

SEIU MEMBERS CALL ON CONGRESS TO EXTEND JOBLESS BENEFITS

Jun 12, 2008 - As record gas and food prices, skyrocketing health care costs and the mortgage crisis continue to hammer the economy, SEIU's two million members today called on Congress to pass legislation extending jobless benefits. Read more...

SEIU: McCain Still Does Not Get It

Apr 10, 2008 - SEIU released the following statement from SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger on Senator McCain's economic proposals made today in New York City: Read more...

Janitors Win More than $1 Million in Lost Pay from UPS and Cleaning Contractors

Sep 17, 2007 - Almost 500 mostly Latino janitors who cleaned UPS facilities, hotels, and other properties in Illinois and Texas have won a $1.2 million settlement in the latest in a growing number of lawsuits involving the failure of janitorial contractors to pay their employees according to federal overtime and minimum wage laws. Read more...