SEIU Annual Report

Change
That
Andrew L. Stern
International President
Anna Burger
International Secretary-Treasurer
Works
Mitch Ackerman
Executive Vice President
Mary Kay Henry
Executive Vice President
Gerry Hudson
Executive Vice President
Eliseo Medina
Executive Vice President
Bruce Raynor
Executive Vice President
SEIU Annual Report
Dave Regan
Executive Vice President
Tom Woodruff
Executive Vice President
Service Employees International Union, ® CTW, CLC
1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW • Washington, DC 20036
seiu.org
20

Change
That Works
By SEIU President Andy Stern
Change isn’t easy—especially when you’re rowing
into the fearsome economic and political winds that
blew across the United States in 2009.
Yet 2009 was also a year of unprecedented
opportunity—and we seized it. Despite tremendous outside
pressure to simply say “this is not the right time,” SEIU
members stood tall for working families and pushed forward.
Nov. 4, 2008, we celebrated the election of a new president—a
young African American who promised to govern on behalf of
the middle class. Both Obama and his running mate Joe Biden
had symbolically begun their partnership with our union by
walking a day in the shoes of SEIU workers.
Jan. 20, 2009, we joined with millions around the world to
watch the American Dream come true, as Barack Obama,
raised by a single mom and married to a Chicago public
worker, took his oath of office. In place of the greed and fear
that had marked the previous eight years, he offered us hope.
Knowing it would take hope and a lot of hard work to win
healthcare reform, free and fair union elections, good jobs
and retirement security for America’s working families, we
sent hundreds of new organizers into the field to help turn our
dreams into reality.
But even as these historic moments were unfolding, Wall
Street and corporate interests were robbing the bank. The
country was on the verge of a complete economic meltdown
and Congress quickly got caught up in politics as usual.
cover - SEIU Staff
p02 - Nathan Armes
p03 - Nathan Armes
p04 - Nathan Armes
p05 - Aaron Donovan
p06 - Robert Durell
p07 - David Sachs
p08 - SEIU Staff
p09 - Ricardo Figueroa
p10 - Nadia Afghani/LAANE
p11 - David Bacon
Photo Credits
p12 - Wynne Hartviksen
p13 - Karen Klipowicz
p14 - SEIU Staff
p15 - Slobodan Dimitrov
p16 - Lloyd Wolf
p17 - iStockphoto
p18 - David Sachs
p19 - David Sachs
To find out more about these and other SEIU photos,
visit http://photos.seiu.org or e-mail photos@seiu.org.
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19

Worst of all, American workers were the ones paying the
price. Home foreclosures, plant shutdowns, healthcare cuts,
nightmarish state budget problems and service reductions
were the news of the day.
But in the face of these terrible gale winds, SEIU members
did the only thing we know how to do: we pushed ahead.
And at year’s end we had made real progress toward our
goals:
• We are closer then ever before to comprehensive
healthcare reform.
• We rallied behind the economic stimulus plan and won
hundreds of millions of dollars to ward off deep cuts to
state and local budgets.
• We united tens of thousands of new members into SEIU
and fought at the bargaining table to save pensions and
jobs, and keep critical services from being cut.
• We made sure that workers’ voices were heard in
statehouses, in the halls of Congress and in our
communities. The appointment of several SEIU staff to
influential positions means that workers’ voices are being
heard inside the Obama administration as well.
In short, 2009 was the most difficult and wrenching time
American workers have faced in decades. But because
we stayed true to SEIU’s mission, we can look back at our
work and be proud—even as we prepare to take on new
challenges in 2010.
18 3

Justice
for All
New
Media
The Justice for All platform we adopted in 2008 was the thread
running through all our work in 2009. We made major strides
toward our commitment to building a progressive, pro-worker
political majority and to building our strength by uniting at
least a half a million more workers before 2012.
• New, all-volunteer member canvassing teams began
reaching out to thousands of unorganized workers in pilot
organizing programs in Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon,
Texas, Arizona and other states.
• Sodexo workers launched a nationwide campaign to
improve wage and job standards, signing petitions in
support of uniting 25,000 Sodexo workers into SEIU for a
voice on the job.
• More than 40,000 new healthcare, property services and
public services workers united with us in 2009.
• More than 100,000 Workers United members affiliated with
SEIU.
• Tens of thousands of members and activists turned out
at SEIU-led rallies and town hall meetings for healthcare
reform and passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
We also spearheaded a yearlong taxpayer crusade for
economic reform to protect working families.
The SEIU New Media program got into full swing in 2009,
growing out of the Justice for All mandate to create a
communications system that gives workers the ability to make
their concerns heard throughout society.
Using social-networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook, the
SEIU Blog and text-messaging, the New Media program gives
members and activists the ability to use their cell phones and
computers to get news and alerts from the field, post videos
and reach out for help in their workplace, organizing and
political campaigns.
The newly designed SEIU Web page drew almost 2 million
visitors in 2009 and has helped the union build an e-mail list of
activists that is 500,000-strong and growing.
In 2010, the New Media program will continue to develop
new tools to connect workers with workers and improve the
content-management and advocacy tools available to local
unions.
If you’re not yet connected to SEIU Mobile, connect now:
Text SEIU to 787753 (PURPLE) to receive the latest updates.
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17

SEIU Initiative
on Ethics and
Standards
Building a
Progressive
Majority
After recommendations from SEIU’s Commission on Ethics and
Standards and a comment period for all local unions, the SEIU
International Executive Board approved a new set of policies on
ethics and standards in June.
The policies aim for increased financial accountability and
transparency; mandatory ethics training; and integration of
ethics into every aspect of the life of the union. The provisions
of the ethics code address, among other things, conflicts of
interest concerning gifts, payments, benefit plans and related
organizations.
The code applies to the International union, local unions and
affiliates. Since the adoption of the policies, SEIU has taken
steps to bolster financial accountability and provide ethics
training and ensure compliance with the code. SEIU also
has begun informal initiatives to strengthen ethical culture
throughout the union.
In 14 states with elected officials who are major policymakers,
SEIU’s national Change That Works scored victories early
in the year with passage of the Economic Recovery Act and
expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
During the congressional recess in August, the campaign
turned out more than 21,000 pro-healthcare reform activists to
major town hall rallies and events.
In September, Change That Works became an independent,
nonprofit organization active in 12 states—Arkansas,
Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Montana,
Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Tennessee and
Virginia.
2009 electoral successes included:
• Congressional victories by John Garamendi and Judy Chu
of California and Bill Owens of New York;
• Mayoral victories that included those of Annise Parker in
Houston, R.T. Rybak in Minneapolis, Chris Coleman in
St. Paul, Tom Menino in Boston, Dana Redd in Camden,
N.J., Anthony Foxx in Charlotte, N.C., Stephanie Miner in
Syracuse, N.Y., and Andre Quintero in El Monte, Calif.;
• Election of pro-worker city council candidates in Seattle,
Houston, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Boston, and the Bronx and
Manhattan, N.Y.;
• In Maine and Washington, SEIU public services members
helped lead successful campaigns to defeat “TABOR”
ballot initiatives. The so-called “taxpayer bill of rights”
proposals would have crippled funding levels for public
services. The margin of defeat in both states showed
that voters clearly understood the need for critical public
services.
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5

SEIU
Healthcare
The year 2009 was a year of progress on two fundamental
goals for SEIU Healthcare members: winning affordable,
guaranteed healthcare for every American and building a
stronger national union for healthcare workers.
• Standing up for quality, affordable healthcare. In
our local communities and in Washington, D.C., SEIU
Healthcare members took on the corporate special
interests that tried to block healthcare reform.
In memory of a brother who died after he couldn’t get access
to affordable cardiac care, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania
member Georgeanne Koehler delivered nearly
a thousand postcards she collected to urge Congress to
pass reform.
Loretta Johnson, an SEIU member and home care worker from
Virginia, spoke at the press conference when Sen. Harry Reid
(Nev.) introduced the historic healthcare bill, speaking about
her and her husband’s struggle to get affordable healthcare
coverage.
Linda Bock, a registered nurse and member of SEIU 1199UHE
in Maryland, participated in an online town hall on reform
convened by President Obama.
Thousands of SEIU Healthcare members signed scrub tops
through a campaign with the Partnership for Quality Care that
were delivered to members of Congress and thousands more
made phone calls or sent e-mails to their representatives to
urge them to take action.
• Breakthrough in Massachusetts. Hospital workers in
Massachusetts started the year by winning a historic
agreement with Caritas Christi Healthcare—a Catholicsponsored
hospital system—to hold free and fair elections
to organize a union.
By the end of 2009, more than 3,000 Caritas Christi
workers had voted to join SEIU 1199UHE and approve
contracts that raised pay and provided access to training and
opportunity programs.
Member
Strength
The Member Strength Program in 2009 focused on
three main areas:
Shifting the union’s essential but noncore functions to the
Member Action Service Center.
• SEIU launched its state-of-the-art Member Action Service
Center in Redford, Mich. This comprehensive shared
service operation offers locals strong dues processing,
accounting and financial services, a fully integrated
member information system, and a responsive Member
Action Center (MAC). Local 615 joined the center in 2009.
Additional locals will join in 2010.
To allow local unions to focus on SEIU’s Justice for All
goals, including developing 10 percent of our members as
leaders and having half of our members active in the union
by 2012.
• Based on the recommendations of SEIU’s Local Strength
Committee, the Member Strength Program works with
locals to maximize their ability to unite more workers, build
a pro-worker political majority, and increase opportunities
for members to win at work.
By locals transitioning to new relationships with members,
with assistance from Member Strength and Institute
for Change, resulting in greater member leadership in
organizing, politics and bargaining.
Making the case for change to staff and members that building
deeper member engagement and expanding our pool of
member leaders is vital to winning Justice for All.
Reorganizing field and field supervisors’ work so organizers
engage members on a wider and deeper level, and learn
to identify, recruit and develop member leaders to assume
greater responsibility around organizing, bargaining and
politics.
Encouraging new ideas through the Innovation Leaders Group
(ILG), a collaborative learning community where local Member
Strength directors and staff can design, execute, track and
evaluate member strength experiments. Exciting projects
include Local 1000’s project to conduct 13,500 individual
member relationship-building meetings, and 32BJ’s activitybased
point system for tracking and rewarding steward
engagement. Such experiments help locals match members to
roles and identify potential leaders who can mobilize others.
Retraining leadership teams, executive boards, organizing
staff, and Member Strength directors for the work of the
new union.
Measuring member engagement to establish a system
to track, measure and assess member engagement and
leadership levels—essential for measuring member strength
progress over time, engaging additional members and
identifying and developing potential member leaders.
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15

Global Strength
and Partnerships
Through the establishment of the Change to Win Organizing
Center in Amsterdam, SEIU and Change to Win worked with
major European unions—in the Netherlands, Germany, the
United Kingdom and other nations—to help them develop their
organizing and campaign capacity in healthcare, retail and
property services.
In 2009, our global team also:
• Opened an SEIU office in Mexico City. Nearly a quartermillion
of SEIU’s members are from Mexico; sending nearly
$200 million to Mexico each year. We began working with
independent unions, NGOs and civil society organizations
to lay the groundwork for a campaign to raise standards
for janitors in Mexico City.
• Helped implement the 2008 global agreement between
security giant G4S, the second-largest employer in the
world (and the parent company of U.S.-based Wackenhut),
and workers in India, South Africa, Mozambique and
Malawi. In India, 150,000 G4S employees engaged in
national bargaining for the first time. In Malawi, 13,000
workers received a 20 percent pay increase after the
successful conclusion of the case against G4S.
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• Worked with French and British unions in support of
Sodexo and other multiservices workers. Organizers from
a number of SEIU local unions are working with the British
union UNISON to help launch its first campaign in the
contract catering industry.
• Participated in the signing of a memorandum to facilitate
exchanges, share strategies and expand cooperation
between Change to Win and the All-China Federation of
Trade Unions, which represents 100 million workers.
• Brought together 30 organizations to advocate for
enforcement of the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinationals.
The guidelines establish rules of conduct in the areas of
labor and human rights and the environment but have
been almost completely ignored by the U.S. government.
• Continued to work with global union federations, including
hosting the 2009 annual meeting of UNI Property Services.
• A new voice for quality home care in the “Show Me
State.” Home care workers in Missouri voted to form
a new union for the 13,000 personal care attendants in
the state. Anti-worker special interests have tied up their
victory in a legal dispute, but workers are determined to
win a better future for the people in their care.
• Las Vegas Addus home care workers unite. In
February, SEIU members at Addus HealthCare renewed
our national agreement with the company, paving the
way for improving jobs for caregivers and giving Addus
personal care attendants in Las Vegas the freedom to
unite with SEIU Healthcare.
• Re-engaging members and improving jobs in
California. The unity of the 150,000 members of UHW-
West helped them secure contracts that nearly double the
national average, despite California’s troubled economy.
They settled contracts at 68 facilities, with an average
wage increase of 4.3 percent—far exceeding the 2.3
percent average first-year wage increase. Home care
workers from UHW, ULTCW and Local 521 united to fight
back against massive cutbacks to home care services,
protecting some of California’s most vulnerable residents.
• Making gains for healthcare workers in Canada. In
Ontario, 3,500 Red Cross home care workers who are
members of SEIU Local 1 Canada won a major victory
when the first provincewide strike in Canadian history
helped introduce paid travel time. In Quebec, members of
Local 298 helped unite 350 new paramedics with SEIU.
This led to the formation of a new local union, SEIU Local
592, representing paramedics.
7

Public
Services
In the face of massive budget deficits at all levels of
government, SEIU’s 1 million public services members worked
together in new and creative ways to protect much-needed
community services, starting with a successful effort early in
2009 to win hundreds of millions in federal stimulus funds that
staved off deep cuts to state and local budgets.
Uniting for quality Public Services
• More than 10,500 public services workers nationwide
united with SEIU in 2009. Division support for workers
who deliver public services in the South/Southwest region
added more than 5,500 mostly public workers into our
union, despite difficult budget challenges. In Gilbert,
Ariz., the nation’s seventh most conservative city, a meetand-confer
agreement covering Gilbert city workers was
implemented in July.
• Other important victories included a vote by 2,000
engineers and other professionals employed by the city of
Los Angeles to join with SEIU Local 721 and campaigns
by 275 human services workers (Local 509), 600 workers
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at ARC of Ulster County (Local 200United) and 500 county
workers in Fairfax County, Va., (Local 5).
• On a smaller scale, workers in public units nationwide
continued to join SEIU at a steady pace, especially in
states where card-check agreements gave workers a free
and fair choice. More than 300 court employees joined
Local 1984, 200 city workers united with Local 888 and
a steady stream of workers in smaller public units joined
Local 73. In Illinois, an innovative approach to child care
organizing led to card-check/neutrality agreements that
cover 385 private sector center workers.
Winning for children,
families and child care providers
• SEIU child care workers in Washington, Oregon, Maryland
and Illinois won new contracts covering a total of more
than 100,000 workers. Their success at the bargaining
table improved working conditions for providers and
helped to keep child care affordable for parents.
• Directors at for-profit and nonprofit child care centers
SEIU members helped lead a national movement to protest
the bad behavior and reckless practices of Wall Street and
to demand reforms that will protect workers from the next
economic crisis.
We helped form Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of
more than 200 community, labor and civil rights organizations
and played a leading role in organizing a campaign to demand
bank accountability throughout the year:
• In April, nearly 100,000 taxpayers took action through
an SEIU-sponsored campaign to demand the ouster of
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis. Lewis subsequently
resigned as chairman of the board and then retired from
his CEO post. SEIU continued to demand the bank put
homeowners, workers and America’s well-being ahead
of bonuses, excessive executive compensation and
predatory banking practices.
• In October, SEIU helped organize a “Show Down in
Chicago.” Five thousand taxpayers from 20 states
converged on an American Bankers Association meeting
to demand bankers stop fighting reforms that would
protect working families.
Banking/
The Economy
• SEIU members joined with hundreds of workers, clergy
members and community leaders in a November protest
at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of Goldman
Sachs. They called on the bank’s executives to forgo their
anticipated $23 billion in bonuses and use the money
to help families facing foreclosure and small businesses
struggling to provide jobs. SEIU members participated in
similar protests in Seattle and San Francisco in December.
• “The Trillion Dollar Bank Job,” detailed the state of the
economy one year after the Lehman Brothers collapse.
Widely circulated among progressive organizations, the
SEIU report showed that, despite getting more than $4
trillion from taxpayers, banks were refusing to modify
mortgages, workers still were losing jobs and the country
was awash in personal bankruptcies.
• SEIU injected the voice of bank workers into the national
debate. Along with Congressman Keith Ellison of
Minnesota and representatives of consumer groups, we
joined with bank workers who spoke about the pressures
they were under to push risky financial products.
13

Workers
United
In March, more than 100,000 workers voted to form Workers
United to conduct strong and aggressive organizing
campaigns for new workers. At the founding convention, the
general executive board unanimously voted to affiliate with
SEIU to bring added strength to Workers United to negotiate
better contracts, protect members on the job and promote
workers’ rights.
In just eight months, Workers United:
• Helped 29,000 Disney World employees in Orlando, Fla.,
win much-needed raises—pouring between $15 million
and $20 million into the local economy—and helped
laundry worker members win a record-breaking class
action suit against Cintas, an industrial launderer, for
violations of a living wage ordinance in Los Angeles.
• Ratified a new contract, following a 40-day strike at Bemis
Manufacturing in Terre Haute, Ind., that both stopped the
company’s attempt to form a pool of temporary workers
and resolved workers’ privacy concerns about the
proposed controversial Health Risk Assessment Testing.
• Kept 1,000 good union jobs in the United States by
successfully beating back an attempt by Wells Fargo—a
recipient of $25 million in federal TARP funding—to
liquidate U.S.-based clothing manufacturer Hartmarx.
• Collaborated with private investors and government
officials to bring a new manufacturer to New Bedford,
Mass., and put laid-off workers back to work after the
Eagle Manufacturing plant closed.
nationwide formed a new alliance, the Alliance for Quality
Child Care, to help unite child care workers into SEIU to
make similar improvements.
Leading on innovations in Public Services
Public services members worked together to come up with
new and creative ways to improve public services. Local
unions engaging in innovation projects included SEIU locals
5AZ, 73, 99, 500, 503, 721, 925, 1000, 1021, 1948 and 4053.
In Oregon, where understaffing was threatening the quality
of child welfare services, Local 503 members, leaders and
staff worked on a team to transform the work process of the
Oregon Department of Human Services. Their work is helping
to fix staffing levels and create new work efficiencies. In New
York, Local 4053/PEF (Public Employees Federation) members
launched a “Go Public!” project to save the state millions of
dollars by using state employees instead of consultants.
Marysville, Wash., saving $5,000 on its 2009 utility bill and
keeping the equivalent of six school buses of trash out of
landfills. Styrofoam trays used in the school cafeteria were
replaced with a recycling/composting program. The program
will be expanded and is a model of President Obama’s call for
“making government cool again.”
Fighting for an economy that works in Puerto Rico
Local 1996 SPT-SEIU members in Puerto Rico helped lead an
islandwide movement to prevent Governor Fortuno’s plan to
lay off more than 10 percent of Puerto Rico’s public workforce.
We won a crucial victory late in the year when a court granted
a petition to stop the termination of 6,000 SEIU members who
provide vital education and healthcare services. But the battle
was not over and our members in Puerto Rico continued to
work against these devastating layoffs.
Greening the schools
12
An idea growing out of an SEIU-sponsored contest for
improving public services resulted in the school district in
9

Property
Services
With the nation’s economy in crisis and families struggling
to keep afloat, SEIU’s 250,000 property services members
worked harder than ever to fight for good-paying, stable jobs
that can help workers move into the middle class.
Uniting more workers
More than 6,000 new security officers united with SEIU in
2009, with 32,000 security officers nationwide now joined
together in the union.
• 2,000 Securitas officers at Kaiser Permanente facilities
won a three-year contract with wage increases, improved
healthcare, and paid sick days and holidays after a threeyear
campaign supported by SEIU 24/7 and SOULA
2006 in California, which are part of SEIU United Service
Workers West. An additional 450 Securitas officers
working at Yankee Stadium united with SEIU Local 32BJ.
• 1,100 Allied Barton and 1,820 FJC Security Services of
Long Island officers who provide security for the city of
New York, including the Staten Island ferry terminals, won
pay raises of up to 26 percent over three years and firsttime-ever
health insurance after uniting with SEIU Local
32BJ.
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• Seeking livable wages, health insurance, training and
better working conditions, about 1,000 security officers
who provide security for Los Angeles County united with
SEIU SOULA, winning their recognition campaign in
October.
• Local 2 Canada had a very busy year completing a merger
with Local 902 in Nova Scotia, leading to some rapid
growth with multisector workers in that province. The
local also successfully expanded the Justice for Janitors
campaigns beyond Toronto with wins in the Ottawa and
Vancouver markets.
Improving workers’ lives
• Local 32BJ janitors in Wilmington and New Castle
County, Del., won a historic areawide contract with wage
increases, health insurance, paid vacation and other
benefits. Nearly 800 office cleaners will see their wages
rise to $9.25 by the end of the two-year contract and for
the first time full-time workers will receive employer-paid
health benefits.
• 2009 saw many advances for California airport workers.
Workers at San Jose, San Francisco and Los Angeles
international airports all worked to maximize their
political power and passed living wage ordinances and
amendments to raise standards for all workers
at their airports. At LAX, some 2,500 workers—most
of whom organized with SEIU in the last two
years—went from having no healthcare at all to fully
employer-paid healthcare.
Multiservices workers
In 2009, Service Workers United, our national union of
multiservices workers, helped 2,000 food service, laundry and
janitorial workers unite for a voice on the job, with campaigns
under way reaching out to an additional 1,000 workers
employed by the three giant companies of Aramark, Sodexo
and Compass.
In December, SEIU kicked off a major campaign to reach
out to more than 30,000 food service, janitorial and laundry
workers employed by Sodexo, where workers make as little as
$8.27 an hour and often cannot afford the health insurance the
company offers.
Eighty members of Service Workers United traveled to
Washington, D.C., for a lobby day, urging Congress to
increase federal reimbursements for meals provided for lowincome
students and to improve worker standards in the
Child Nutrition Act. It was the first time front-line school food
services workers had voiced their concerns in person on
Capitol Hill. Although these workers’ mission is to fight poverty
and hunger some of them are paid as low as $6.55 an hour
with no benefits.
2010 and beyond
SEIU’s campaign to raise wages and standards for security
workers will reach out in 2010 to the more than 10,000
unorganized workers employed by Andrews International. It’s
one of the largest and fastest-growing security companies in
the United States, with the ability to provide good jobs and
healthcare benefits for its workers—yet it is driving a race to
the bottom with poverty-level wages and a long history of legal
violations, penalties and disregard for the law.
Janitorial members have set their sights on major contract
negotiations coming in 2011 and 2012. They have established
a national bargaining workgroup with the goal of using the
strength of the entire national union to win improvements and
more standardization across the agreements.
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