SEIU Annual Report

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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 8 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
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SEIU Annual Report

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