SEIU Minnesota State Council, SEIU

SEIU’s Just Work: Minnesota Hospital Worker Urges Voters to Get in the Driver’s Seat

"As voters, we control more than just the outcome of elections—we also have an opportunity to define the debate, determine the issues, and challenge the plans," she writes.
"... The decisions we make now—whether to stay quiet and leave our future in the hands of others or to get actively involved—will have an impact for decades to come." Read her full post.

In this week's Just Work blog series on the Huffington Post, SEIU member Lori Theim-Busch, a phlebotomist and EKG tech at a hospital in the Twin Cities, calls on individuals to actively shape the future of America.

Janitors Vote to Accept New Contract;
Agreement Sparks Hope for Affordable Health Care for all Minnesotans

Minneapolis, MN (February 10, 2007) – In an unprecedented victory, more than 4,200 workers in the Twin Cities won affordable family health insurance, more full-time jobs, and higher wages when hundreds of janitors today voted overwhelmingly to accept a new three-year contract. The vote comes after they reached a tentative agreement with their employers earlier this week. Now ratified, the contract takes effect immediately.

“This is a victory for janitors and for all Minnesotans,” said Amelia Lopez, a janitor at Normandale Lake Office Park in Bloomington. “We showed what could be done and now we can work to make sure everyone has access to health care for their families.”

Rallying on Peavey Plaza before Touring Skyways, Twin Cities Janitors Call on Downtown Companies like Target, Wells Fargo, and United Properties to Give Back to the Community

Minneapolis, MN – Donning smocks that said, “Magical elves don’t clean your offices – janitors with families do,” Twin Cities janitors today rallied on Peavey Plaza before touring the downtown skyways to call on building owners like Target, Wells Fargo, and United Properties to give back to the community by supporting full-time jobs and better health care for more than 4,200 janitors who clean downtown office buildings.

The janitors are currently engaged in stalled contract negotiations with several companies that provide cleaning services for these buildings. The employers proposed moving from full- to part-time hours for many janitors and have stalled negotiations over proposals to improve health care benefits.

Only one-quarter of the janitors have health insurance through their employer, largely because the cost is too high. Some plans could have members paying as much as $1,100 per month for family coverage.

The employers have proposed cutting many full-time jobs and replacing them with part-time positions. Full-time janitors earn an average of $11.75 per hour and have access to health care benefits, while part-time janitors earn an average of $9.75, two dollars less per hour, and are not eligible for benefits.

Tens of thousands of family child care providers across the country are coming together in SEIU to win the improvements we need for quality child care. With so many families struggling to find affordable, quality child care, providers are uniting for a stronger voice to stabilize the child care workforce and expanding training opportunities to make family child care a good job.

More than 85,000 family child care providers across the country have already joined together in SEIU for a stronger voice for our professions, our communities, and the children and families we serve. Together, SEIU family providers are winning the improvements we need to protect quality child care.
Read how providers are joining together for quality care.

Growing Even Stronger in 2006

Citing huge organizing wins in Texas, Illinois and Washington and political victories in California, New Jersey and Virginia, SEIU President Andy Stern called 2005 a watershed moment for SEIU members and all working families. Encouraged by the events of the past 12 months, Stern looks forward to continued momentum in 2006 generated by a year of historic debate and change in the labor movement. More »

Health cost increases slowing in state
Star Tribune - Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Health care cost increases in Minnesota have slowed to the lowest levels in seven years, according to a state study released Tuesday...

Even though health care spending increases have slowed, health care costs are going up 1.6 times faster than average wages and are outpacing inflation by 2.6 times, the report said.

"Out-of-pocket expenses for the average Minnesotan are becoming unaffordable," said Julie Schnell, state council president of the Service Employees International Union.

"What we have is employers shifting the costs to employees," she said. "That is not the answer to reform, and that is not the answer to reducing costs in health care." read more

Taking a health idea to task
Star Tribune - Friday, March 18, 2005
Tax-sheltered health savings accounts being promoted by President Bush and Gov. Tim Pawlenty could leave some Minnesotans with poorer health and higher debts, according to a report released Thursday by the Minnesota State Council of the Service Employees International Union.

The SEIU Local 113, which opposes the accounts, said in its report that the chief beneficiary of them could well be the financial services industry, which could reap millions in brokerage fees.

Go to read the report: **Hazardous Health Care
The Impact of Health Savings Accounts on Minnesota Health Care

Burden of health care cuts falls on working families
Julie Schnell
Pioneer Press - Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Members of SEIU, the union that represents more than 13,000 hospital, clinic and nursing homes workers across Minnesota, are committed to providing the best care for our patients and our families. But this is becoming harder to do as the cost of health care increases beyond the reach of many of Minnesota's working families.

That cost is affecting everyone, from employers struggling to compete in the face of skyrocketing health care costs, to the workers who must pay higher premiums, deductibles and copays; to the hospitals confronted with the increasing cost of uncompensated care for the uninsured. More people find themselves uninsured and unable to pay for much needed medical care and leading them in many cases to declare bankruptcy.

Schnell is the president of SEIU Local 113, which represents more than 13,000 hospital, clinic and nursing home workers in Minnesota.

Driving Up Standards Together - Raising Bus Industry Standards On Both Sides of the Atlantic

SEIU and the Transport and General Workers Union in the United Kingdom kicked off a transatlantic partnership to hold global bus companies accountable to employees and consumers in both countries. First Student — the U.S. subsidiary of U.K.-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup — is now the second-largest private provider of school bus transportation services in the United States. FirstGroup's U.S. and U.K. operations are engaged in a race to the bottom, driving down industry standards for wages, benefits, and safety.
Learn more about the campaign
Subscribe to the Bus Worker Action Network

This web page is paid for by SEIU COPE, www.seiucope.org, with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.