Fired Up and Ready to Go!

Local 517M Members Working for Obama in Pittsburgh

May 05, 2008

The call to fight came on Saturday, April 12, 2008. The International asked for volunteers to go to Pittsburgh to join in the fight to help get Senator Barack Obama elected. We left Flint early on Friday morning heading for Detroit to meet others from all Michigan. Once in Detroit we registered and boarded the bus headed to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania singing “Block by Block for Barack!” and “Purple Power has got his Back”! By the time we made it to Pittsburgh we were definitely FIRED UP AND READY TO GO! And that is just what we did. We hit the ground running block by block for Barack. We knocked on all of Change to Win union members doors and talked to their neighbors about how it was so important to go the polls and vote, from sun up, to sun down.

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SEIU Welcomes 55,000 New State Employee Members from North Carolina!

May 6, 2008

In a historic vote this past weekend, the 55,000 member State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC) voted to join with SEIU—“marking the largest union victory ever for working people across the South,” according to SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope. By combining SEIU’s expertise with SEANC’s strength, state employees will be better able to improve pay and benefits, decrease high turnover rates, and ensure that more state resources are focused on improving roads and bridges, strengthening the higher education system, and keeping their communities safe. Read the Associated Press’s coverage of the vote here.

Executive Vice President Phil Thompson and Political Coordinator Steve Reck have helped provide Collective Bargaining training to SEANC members and Executive Board Member Amy Lipset also spent time with their members.

2008 SEIU 517M Golf Outing

Be part of a summer tradition. On Thursday, August 7th join your fellow union members and friends for the 2008 SEIU Local 517M Golf Outing. Spaces are going fast so get your registration in soon! Deadline is Monday, July 21st!

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Blog Started on Convention Resolution

Our planet is at an environmental crossroad. If we take immediate and decisive action, the worst impacts of global climate change can be avoided. If we heed the warnings and advice of a unified scientific community, we can take action that will benefit all generations to come.

As healthcare, public service, and property service workers, SEIU members have an opportunity to make a direct contribution to promoting quality green jobs by working with management to make changes that address climate change and environmental health.

Review and comment on a proposed SEIU International Convention resolution.

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SEIU Convention Recommended Proposals

Here are the summary highlights of proposed recommendations to be voted on at the SEIU 2008 Convention:

Justice For All Summary

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New Report on the Impact of Private Equity Firms

A new report released by SEIU’s Behind the Buyouts campaign raises important new concerns about the outsize impact of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) – a large private equity buyout firm – on our nation’s economic health, environment, product safety, and workers’ basic civil rights.

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