To celebrate the enormous contributions of Asian Pacific Americans in our communities and workplaces, SEIU, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) and Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) are holding a lunchtime event on Tuesday, May 22 that will include a panel discussion featuring Asian Americans from the 99%.
It's hard to believe that the 2012 SEIU Convention is less than one week away! As we think about the themes for the convention - winning jobs and dignity for the 99% - it's hard not to think about health and health care as vitally important to these goals.
We cannot assure a thriving middle class without access to affordable, high quality health care and a healthy population. That's why we're holding a Health Care Expo on Sunday, May 27th from 12 pm to 6:30 pm in Lobby "F" of the Denver Convention Center. The theme of the Expo is 'building healthier communities and preventing chronic disease.'
Beginning on May 28, SEIU leaders, activists and social justice movement partners will gather in Denver, Colorado -- The Mile High City -- for our 25th SEIU International Convention.
It's been four years since we last came together for an international convention; four years since we harnessed our collective strength and energy into one spot. You've shown us that working people from all corners of Canada, from across the United States, and from Puerto Rico are committed to building a nation that works for us; for the 99 percent. Together we've occupied statehouses, we've marched on bridges, and we've raised our voices. Together, we have demanded that politicians and key decision makers work for us - not against us.
Today, we are witnessing the growth of a number of visionary movements in the streets against income inequality, racial profiling, student debt, and a broken immigration system among other important battles. Much of the heat in the streets has been led by the first generation of Americans to come of age during the new millennium, also known as the Millennials. These movements were instrumental in turning the tables of the national debate in the United States from the politics of division to a new politics of solidarity and justice for all---not just for the wealthiest 1%.
None of these inspiring new movements happened by accident. They were the product of conscious organizing and movement-building by a diverse group of Millennial organizers and others (many organizing for the first time) employing a variety of innovative new strategies, tactics and organizing models for social change. A few of these organizers will be joining SEIU members and others participating at the SEIU Convention this year in Denver, Colorado to learn from one another and to celebrate the strength of our generation's will to change the world. (Check out the SEIU Millennials Facebook page)
The Millennial generation refers to people born roughly between the years of 1980 and the year 2000. According to a recent study, Millennials are by far the most ethnically diverse generation in American history as well as the most politically progressive.
This week is Women's Health Week, and thanks to the Affordable Care Act, women will be leading longer, healthier lives because they now have access to critical services like maternity care and preventive checkups. Women's health is critical to our economy, family and community because they are mothers, senators, sisters, CEOs, aunts, nurses, wives and friends.
Today, because of the healthcare law, women have more freedom and control over their own healthcare choices. In 2011, 20.4 million women with private health insurance gained expanded preventive services with no cost sharing - including mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care, flu and pneumonia shots, and regular well-baby and well-child visits. Young adults can now stay on their parents' health insurance until they turn 26 years old, so an additional 1.1 million women of that age have health insurance. Additionally, 24.7 million women enrolled in Medicare have received preventive services without cost-sharing - including an annual wellness visit, a personalized prevention plan, mammograms, and bone mass measurement for women at risk of osteoporosis.
I was recently with the Nurse Alliance of California for its annual Legislative Conference. It is always an honor for me to share information with nurses about online tools we can and should employ as activists. Although I think my breakouts at the conference went over well, one of the themes of the conference -- which many of you know I've been somewhat absorbed with -- is workplace violence and workplace violence prevention. My goal here is to tie in information about this important subject matter and couple it with the online tools in our educated union member tool box.
Yesterday was Mother's Day. We shower our Moms with flowers and chocolate, jewelry and adorable cards, we make her breakfast in bed and we take her to brunch. And that's nice. And I'm sure she appreciates it.
I have another idea about how we can honor our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends. We can empower women to make their health a top priority by urging them to participate in National Women's Check Up Day today as part of National Women's Health Week.
What is more important than insuring the health of the women we love? And what better way to focus on her health than using this day as a reminder to check in with a medical professional for just that reason?
Today is dedicated to highlighting the need for women to visit their health care professionals for checkups and to encourage women to schedule regular checkups.
The celebration of National Nurses Week provides nurses everywhere with the opportunity to reflect on our profession, our patients, and what it will take to truly improve the health of our country.
As a registered nurse for over 25 years, I have seen the demands of the profession evolve as technology and the needs of our patients have evolved, but what remains unchanged is the commitment that nurses on the front lines of care have to stand up for their patients.
It's been more than two years since the Affordable Care Act became law. But since its passage, extremist voices have focused on fighting the same old political fights again and again, rather than focusing on the benefits the law provides to patients and its vision for the future of care in this country.
I hear a lot of myths and distortions about the healthcare law. What I don't hear addressed in these conversations is how we will we care for the 129 million Americans who are routinely denied care by the health insurance industry due to a pre-existing condition. Or how we will cover the more than 32 million Americans who are working, but simply cannot afford the skyrocketing costs of healthcare coverage. If we are going to create a healthier country, we need to deal in the facts.
As you look for the perfect card to get for Mother's Day, bear these facts in mind: 60% of mothers do not feel prepared for retirement and nearly half don't know how to achieve their retirement goals, according to a recent study on women's retirement.
America's looming retirement security crisis disproportionately affects women, including working mothers who tend to earn less and take on more family obligations than their male counterparts. In turn, they are more vulnerable to poverty in old age.
While retirement security is what Diane Taft of Warwick, Rhode Island most needs, it isn't something she wants to receive from her two daughters for Mother's Day.
"I taught my girls to be practical and compassionate so they may feel obligated to take care of me. However, their future is just as uncertain as my own since there are fewer opportunities for young people," says Taft.
National Nurses Week gives me a chance to reflect on the positive changes that the Affordable Care Act created for patients and for my hospital. I speak from experience, as a sister, friend, daughter and nurse when I talk about the lives that will be saved because of the focus the law provides on preventive care.
After my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, the nurses in her facility played a critical role in her care and recovery. That was when I decided I was going to become a nurse.
Today I work for San Francisco General Hospital and as a nurse for the last three years, I've seen patients that were not nearly as lucky as my mother. Just as I was starting out in the field one of my sister's college friends, like many young people today, graduated and did not immediately get a job that provided health benefits. She was feeling under the weather, but delayed seeking care because she had no health insurance. When she finally went in to see someone it was discovered that she had stage four breast cancer.
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