Our Life & Times

A JOURNAL OF 1199SEIUSeptember/October 2010

JobsEducationPeace

ImmigrationEnvironmentHealth CareBe There!

10-2-1010-2-10

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Contents

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Our Life And Times, September/October 2010, Vol 28, No 4 Published by1199SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East310 West 43rd St. New York, NY 10036Telephone (212) 582-1890www.1199seiu.org

PRESIDENT:George GreshamSECRETARY TREASURER:Maria Castaneda

EXECUTIVE VICE

PRESIDENTS:Norma Amsterdam Yvonne Armstrong Angela Doyle Aida Garcia George KennedySteve Kramer Patrick Lindsay Joyce NeilJohn Reid Bruce Richard Mike Rifkin Neva ShillingfordMilly SilvaVeronica TurnerEstela Vazquez

EDITOR:J.J. JohnsonSTAFF WRITER:Patricia KenneyPHOTOGRAPHER:Jim TynanPHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT:Belinda GallegosART DIRECTION & DESIGN:Maiarelli Studio

Our Life And Times ispublished 6 times a year by1199SEIU, 310 West 43rdSt., New York, NY 10036.Subscriptions $15 per year.Periodicals postage paid atNew York, NY and additionalmailing offices. ISSN 1080-3089. USPS 000-392. Postmaster: Send addresschanges to Our Life AndTimes, 310 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036.

3 WHY WE’RE MARCHING ON 10-2-10 Our nation is in crisis.

4 PRESIDENT’S COLUMN March on 10-2-10 and demand the change we voted for.

5 UNITING FOR A FAIR ECONOMYWall St. thrives while working people struggle.

6 GOOD JOBS ARE UNION JOBS Organizing can help solve the economic crisis.

7 AN INTERVIEW WITH PRES. MARY KAY HENRY 10-2-10 gives us an opportunity to hold corporations accountable.

8 THE WORK WE DO Our Florida region’s Avante Lake Worth and Hebrew Home of South Beach.

10 SAVING OUR SCHOOLS Calling for an end to budget cuts and system wide inequities.

11 STOP FEEDING THE WAR MACHINE Iraq and Afghanistan wars drain resources we need here at home.

12 A COUNTRY OF IMMIGRANTS 10-2-10 is about immigrant rights and a fair path to citizenship.

13 DEFENDING OUR ENVIRONMENT It’s time to end polluters’ free-for-all with our natural resources.

15 AROUND OUR UNION Fight continues at North General.

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Anthony Anderson, a floor tech at Manor Care in Towson, MD.

www.1199seiu.org

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3 September/October • Our Life And Times

Our nation is in crisis.Joblessness and homelessnessremain at alarming levels. Our stateand local budgets are bleeding redink. Healthcare institutions—unable to balance their books—areclosing their doors. Corporatepolluters continue to befoul our air,land and water. Higher educationfor our children remains out ofreach. Those that do graduate areunable to find jobs. We’ve yet torealize the change we voted forin 2008.

We voted to end the shamelesspandering to the corporate big-wigs,which was marked by deregulation,tax cuts and a transfer of wealthupwards. During the first eightyears of this century, governmententirely abdicated its role to curbthe excesses of the corporatecommunity and provide a socialsafety net for workers and the poor.

The Obama administration hastaken some steps to address theexcesses, but far more needs to bedone. For example, the $860 billioneconomic stimulus enacted by theObama administration andCongress in 2009 made it possiblefor some three million workers toretain their jobs and pay their bills,thus preventing a bad situationfrom becoming even worse.Extending unemployment benefitsdid the same.

But today, most reputableeconomists argue that the stimulusshould have been larger. Sadly, mostRepublicans and some Democrats—fixated on the deficit andgovernment spending—arereluctant to support increasedgovernment spending. Rather, theRepublicans in the House haveintroduced a bill they call theEconomic Freedom Act, whichcalls for more deficit-funded taxcuts for the wealthy andderegulatory policies that wouldhand trillions to the corporations.

To some politicians economicfreedom amounts to nothing morethan government turning a blindeye to corporate excesses whileexcusing the rich and powerfulfrom paying their fair share oftaxes. During the contentioushealthcare reform debate last year, aman stood up at a South Carolinatown-hall meeting and told Rep.Bob Inglis to “keep yourgovernment hands off myMedicare.” The congressman triedto explain that Medicare is alreadya government program, but thevoter, Rep. Inglis said, “wasn’thaving any of it.”

Tea Party demonstratorsdemand limited government andtax cuts. But that is exactly whatgot us into our current predica -

ment. Limited government meantthat regulators looked the otherway while giant investment bankspushed mortgages they knew thebuyers couldn’t afford. Limitedgovernment permitted the samecompanies to package the worthlessmortgages and in so doingprecipitated the nation’s deepesteconomic crisis since the GreatDepression.

The tax cuts for the rich andvery rich turned a Clinton-erasurplus into a gaping annual deficit.That and the nation’s wasteful,bloated military budget rob ourcommunities of essential servicesand jobs.

That is why we are marchingon 10-2-10. You’ll meet in the pagesof this magazine fellow 1199erswho explain why they’ll be inWashington on Oct. 2 and whyyou should join them.

Yvena Madeus, a CNA atAvante in Lake Worth, FL, will bein Washington for the One Nationmarch because she supportshealthcare funding and the right tounionize.

We urge you to join her and thehundreds of thousands of 1199ersand others who will be marchingfor the change we voted for: healthcare, education, jobs, clean energy,immigrant rights, hope and unity.

EDITORIAL

We need both relief and recovery.Why We’re Marching

To some politicianseconomic freedomamounts to nothingmore thangovernment turninga blind eye to corporateexcesses whileexcusing the rich and powerful from paying their fair share of taxes.

Hundreds of 1199ersmarched against the warsin Afghanistan and Iraq atSyracuse rally in 2007.

MARCHING ON 10-2-10

Iam urging you to partici-pate in the march onWashington D.C. onOct. 2, 2010. Since 9/11,we have embarked on

a mission to rid the world ofthose responsible for the biggestterrorists attacks on Americansoil. At least that’s what we’vebeen led to believe.

In fact, the mission hasevolved in many directions,none of which resulted in thecapture of those responsible orany tangible resolutions to theissues at hand. We have yet toaccomplish the goals we set.

Nine years later, fear andanger have fueled our willing-ness to occupy countries thatwe have no business being in.After years of trying, we need torethink our reasons and come tothe realization that it’s notworth the countless lives we’velost and the billions of dollarswe’ve spent.

We Americans are facingone of the hardest economictimes to date. We need to beginrebuilding and investing in ourown states and cities. We needto bring our service men andwomen home and stop takinginnocent lives. We need newjobs and new ways to educateour children and ourselves.

I am proud of PresidentObama. I also know that if wedon’t change our direction, notonly will more lives be lost butthe resources necessary to re-build our economy will not beavailable. We must let our Presi-dent know how concerned weare. We must mobilize in forceto get this message to those inpower.

Our mission on 10-2-10 issimple. Our vision is clear: stopthe war, bring back jobs, and re-build our nation. “If we don’tstand for something, we willcontinue to fall for anything.”Let’s stand together in solidar-ity, a unified force on 10-2-10.God bless us all and God blessAmerica.

DWAYNE STAFFORD Community General Hospital,Syracuse, NY

CALLING SINGERS

Iam one of several1199SEIU members whoare in the NYC LaborChorus. Our Chorus pro-motes union solidarity by

expressing through song the his-tory and ongoing struggles ofworkers for economic and socialjustice. Our dynamic repertoirecombines the power and cultureof union music with the greatgospel, jazz, classical and folktraditions.

The Chorus will be con-ducting auditions as we beginour 20th year of singing for so-cial and economic justice. Audi-tions will take place on Sept. 27and Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. at 50 Broad- way in Manhattan on the secondfloor. Please see our websitewww.nyclc.org for further infor-mation or call 212-929-3232.

ENID POTTINGERRetiree, New York City

THE IMMIGRANTI mow the lawn and wash your car,I cook your meals and care foryour kidsYet no respect I get. Why?I am an Immigrant.

I mend the roof and mop the floorCut the trees and plant the flowersGather the leaves and dump theTrash and yet no respect I get—Why? I am an immigrant.

To collect my check I am toldTo go below minimum wage myBoss says so, he knows he isBreaking the law but I am anImmigrant.

Now he is old and in a chair,I brush his teeth and comb His hair, please push me hereAn push me there, now he Calls me son instead of boyFor we are immigrants.

J. ELAINE McDONALD Retiree, New York City

Let’s Hear From YouOur Life And Times welcomesyour letters. Please email themto [email protected] or snail mailthem to J.J. Johnson, 1199SEIUOLAT, 330 West 42nd St., 7thfloor, New York, NY 10036.Please include your telephonenumber and place of work. Let-ters may be edited for brevityand clarity.

4September/October • Our Life And Times

In just a few short weeks, we—and hopefully you—will be makinghistory. We will be marching on Washington by the hundreds ofthousands to demand the Change We Voted For. In this issue of Our LifeAnd Times, 1199SEIU sisters and brothers from throughout our uniontell why they are coming to Washington on “10-2-10”— October 2.

Our union is hugely diverse: with the addition of Florida, we nowhave sisters and brothers on the doorstep of the Caribbean, whilemembers in upstate New York live along the Canadian border. We orour parents come from too many countries to count and we speakdozens of languages. All of the world’s religions have believers in1199SEIU, who work alongside members who belong to no faith.

But whatever our differences, we have this in common: we arecaregivers who provide for the sick, the injured and the aged. We areworkers who give of ourselves so that our families can enjoy a decentlife, our children can get a good education, and our elders can enjoythe security they deserve.

And we live in a time when all that we work for and hold dear is threatened by a Wall Street-dominated economy where the wealththat working folks produce is re-distributed upward. Our jobs arethreatened—and many of our sisters and brothers have already losttheirs. Our homes are threatened. Our children’s education isthreatened. Our retirement security is threatened. Meantime, thebankers and CEOs continue to accumulate more wealth than anyoligarchy in history.

Two years ago, tens of thousands of 1199ers were among themillions of workers, young people, and first-time voters who went tothe polls in record numbers to vote for change: For health care for all.For the right of every child to a quality education. For the right ofevery worker to join the union of her choice. For comprehensiveimmigration reform to bring 12 million foreign-born workers out of theshadows with a path to citizenship. For funding programs that meetpeoples’ needs rather than for unwinnable wars of choice andunderwriting war profits. For the defense of Mother Earth, the air webreathe and the water we drink against the likes of BP, the miningcompanies and the other corporate polluters.

Since January 2009, every attempt to move forward on any of theseissues has met with near-unanimous opposition from the Republicanminority in Congress. Their votes have been supplemented by those ofDemocrats who are more fearful of their corporate contributors and ofFox News than they are loyal to the voters who sent them toWashington. Even when there is progress, as in the health reform andfinancial reform fights, it is not nearly the amount of progress wehoped for.

The creation of the hate-mobs known as the Tea Party hasdominated the airwaves for 18 months. To listen to some politiciansand broadcast commentators, one would have thought that Glenn Beckand Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh won the 2008 elections. In fact,they lost badly that November. But they’ve made the noise and thushave set the agenda for a while now.

Now it’s our turn. Politics, we know, is not a spectator sport.Working people have to join in—and in large numbers—to have avoice in a society where the large corporations (including the corporatemedia) dominate. Unfortunately, too many have been watching andcomplaining, but not doing. But no longer.

On 10-2-10, we will be marching in Washington alongside theAmerican Federation of Teachers, the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, theSierra Club, the massive movements for immigration reform,environmental and peace—and many, many more.

In poker, it is called “table stakes” when all the players’ money is onthe table riding on the game. The plight of working people today is nogame, but everything we hold dear is at risk. This is table stakes for real.

For the future of your jobs, for the sake of your families, for our countryand the planet Earth, please join us on 10-2-10. We need each other.

THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

LettersOn to WashingtonOn 10-2-10We will demand the change we voted for.

George Gresham


Big banks and corporations havereturned to profitability, but for workingpeople the bleeding continues.

The U.S. unemployment rate hasremained at 9.5 percent throughout thesummer. The number of underemployed—those who are too discouraged to look forwork or are working part-time out ofeconomic necessity—stands at 26 million.Some 41 million Americans are receivingfood stamps. Four million homeowners aredelinquent on their loans or in foreclosureproceedings.

Economists say that without last year’sstimulus bill unemployment would be farhigher. These economists also say thatmuch more is needed. Yet CongressionalRepublicans, and some Democrats, balk atany effort to address the job crisis.Meanwhile Wall Street took $700 billion intaxpayer bailouts and went right back tobusiness as usual.

“It is our obligation to speak for theworking class in this country,” says DavidHolmes, a patient account rep and delegateat Brooklyn’s Maimonides Hospital. “Thatobligation includes holding politiciansaccountable.”

That is the message Holmes isdelivering to his co-workers as he signsthem up for the 10-2-10 demonstration inWashington. At a recent Our Life And Timesvisit to the hospital, Holmes was joined bydelegates Sherral McAdam and MaureenEastwick, both of whom are also working tobuild the demonstration. “I’m tellingmembers that the Republican Party istrying to destroy Pres. Obama,” McAdam, asecretary, says.

Further north, in Massachusetts, AndreaSmith-Dos Santos, a nutrition coordinator atBrandon Woods of New Bedford nursinghome, stresses the importance ofgovernment financing to the well-being ofpatients and workers’ jobs.

“Here, management has embracedlabor-management cooperation,” she says.“Management understands that they can gofurther working with us than fighting us.”

But Smith-Dos Santos is concernedabout healthcare funding and the health of

the economy. “Many of our firefighters wererecently laid off. And that came after theyhad won a contractual raise,” she says.

“We voted for change, but we also haveto work to realize it. That’s what I’m tellingmembers about Oct. 2. We’ve had years ofproblems and bad government, so we haveto work to turn things around.”

Smith-Dos Santos says that unity is akey ingredient in bringing about change.“We can’t do it alone. For instance in healthcare, what good is a doctor without the restof the healthcare team? It’s like baking apie—you need all the ingredients.”

Marie St. Germain, a CNA at ClarkNursing and Rehabilitation Center in Clark,N.J., tells her co-workers that they need tofight the policies of Gov. Chris Christie andthose who support him in Washington.

“Our members all have families. None ofthem are rich,” St. Germain says. “I tell themthat if they don’t like the policies that hurtpoor people, we must do something aboutit.” In early August she had signed up 10 ofher co-workers for the 10-2-10 march.

“Stopping the bleeding also has becomevery personal for us,” says Holmes. “I wason the North General (hospital) picket line inJuly and it pained me to know that mysisters and brothers were losing their jobsbecause the hospital was closing. Dr. (MartinLuther) King said that we (1199) are theconscience of the labor movement. We havean obligation to lead.”

Economists say thatwithout last year’sstimulus billunemploymentwould be far higher.These economistsalso say that muchmore is needed.

Sherral McAdam,Maureen Eastwickand David Holmes,delegates atMaimonides MedicalCenter in Brooklyn,N.Y., are workingtogether to build1199ers’ participationon 10-2-10.

POLITICAL ACTION

United forA FAIR ECONOMY“We are not Wall Street’s ATM.”


Organized labor will be well representedin Washington on Oct. 2. The OneNation march has been endorsed byboth labor federations, Change to Win

and the AFL-CIO.“Working people can make a difference when

we rely on ourselves and act collectively. We areAmerica. And together we can make our voicesheard,” declared the AFL-CIO’s executivecouncil in its statement endorsing the action.

“Justice and dignity comes with being amember of a union,” says Yvena Madeus, a CNAat Avante NH in Lake Worth, FL. Madeus andher co-workers fought management for yearsbefore finally winning union recognition.Madeus’s union, SEIU Healthcare Florida, votedto merge with 1199SEIU in June.

Madeus says that workers in the South knowwell the importance of unions to democracy andsocial justice. “It is through the union we get ourdignity and respect,” she says.

But across the country, the playing field is notyet level. Even in New York, the most unionized

city in the nation, hospital workers have taken abeating due to the failing economy and the anti-union environment. This year alone, some 1,500members lost their jobs when Manhattan’sSt. Vincent’s hospital shuttered its doors aftermore than 150 years. Several months later,another 700 members of 1199SEIU werefurloughed when Harlem’s North General wasscaled down to a clinic.

In New Jersey, conservative Gov. ChrisChristie has become a favorite of the fiscalconservatives as he has wielded the budget axeagainst public services and public workers.He has been especially brutal with the NewJersey Education Association, the state’steachers’ union. And health care also is onhis chopping block.

Oct. 2 will seek to begin shifting the balance.One of the march’s key demands will be for goodunion jobs. Marchers and others will drawstrength from and use as examples the work ofunions like the Massachusetts region of 1199SEIUwhich has scored recent organizing and contractvictories.

After winning drives at Catholic hospitalssuch as St. Elizabeth’s Medical Centerin Brighton and Carney Hospital inDorchester, 1199SEIU’s Massachusetts

region is poised to sign up members at Boston’sacademic medical centers. The region plans to useits relationship with Caritas Christi Health Care asa model for other hospitals

As in Massachusetts, 1199SEIU’s MD-DCregion is calling on healthcare CEOs to letBaltimore’s caregivers vote in fair union electionsso they can have a real voice for quality care. The“Heart of Baltimore” campaign notes that one infive Baltimore jobs is in health care, so raisinghealthcare wages and conditions would raiseliving standards across the city.

Anthony Anderson, a floor tech at ManorCare NH in Towson, MD, is in the middle of thecampaign. “Our facility is not unionized, but I’mletting folks know how much better off we wouldbe with 1199SEIU,” he says.

Anderson speaks from experience, havingbeen a member of both the United Autoworkersand the United Steelworkers in the 1990s.“Without a union, there is no due process, nochance to file a grievance if you thinkmanagement is being unfair,” he says. “And youcan be fired without cause.”

Anderson says that he’ll be in Washington onOct. 2 with his 18-year-old son, Marcus, and co-workers he plans to sign up. “If one of thedemands is about making it easier for us to haveunions,” he says, “I’ll be there.”

JOBS

Good jobs areunion jobs.

Putting Our CountryBACK TO WORK

Anthony Anderson, afloor tech at Manor Carein Towson, MD.Below: Yvena Madeus, a CNA at Avante LakeWorth in Lake Worth, FL.

JAY MALLIN PHOTO


Mary Kay Henry waselected president ofSEIU in May. Whileshe is the first woman

to lead the international, she has fordecades been a fierce defender ofthe dreams of working people. Aspresident, Henry has promised tobring to SEIU a new focus onpolitics, labor unity and grassrootsorganizing. She recently spoke withOur Life And Times about why it’svital that SEIU members participatein the 10-2-10 demonstration inWashington, D.C.

Q: Why should SEIU membersbe at 10-2-10? A: I thought [1199SEIU president]George Gresham made the best casewhen he said we voted for change in’08 and it’s time for us to demandchange in 2010. We need to explainto every member and all workingpeople that the reason we’re introuble is not because of thepresident or because he’s failed toact. 10-2-10 gives us an opportunityto hold corporations and employersaccountable and discuss solutionsthat put America back to work.

Q: Can you talk specificallyabout some of the things thatSEIU is doing among itsmembers to encourage themto mobilize for 10-2-10? A: We’ve redeployed a team of staffin our headquarters that’s workingwith 1199SEIU and SEIU Exec. VPGerry Hudson to help reach workersmostly in the northeast and tellthem what 10-2-10 is and why theyneed to participate. After that we’llshift to the states in the Midwest.Delegations will also come from thewest coast but it will be easier ifthere are local mass mobilizationsthere in California and Seattle. OurRed Team political organizers aregoing to weave 10-2-10 into votermobilization for Nov. 2 for themidterm elections. This will be aspringboard to help re-elect Obamain 2012. On 10-2-10 we need tomake it clear that the President isnot responsible for the problemsbesetting our country today.

Q: We have been facing alot of division in the labormovement. In what ways will10-2-10 promote opportunitiesfor dialogue and unity?A: The most important thing toachieve for the labor movement isunity for working people. When Iwas first elected president of SEIUI was told I should look at theaffiliation with the AFL-CIO. Butwhat I wanted to make a priorityfor our union was the deepeningeconomic crisis working peopleface. What are we doing about it?If we address this then we can talkabout the letters after our name.10-2-10 is a response to this.

Q: You’re the first woman tolead SEIU. Can you talk aboutthe significance of 10-2-10 forthe women’s movement andworking women? And forwomen involved in the labormovement specifically?A: 10-2-10 is historic. It needs tounite the women’s, labor, LGBT,and environmental movements. Itwill allow us to put a spotlight onhow the economic crisis is adverselyaffecting communities of color aswell as white women. Families ofcolor have disproportionately beenlosing wealth. The income gap iswidening across the countrybecause we haven’t addresseddiscrimination. The women’smovement is a way to give voiceto that. 10-2-10 will be a way toaddress these issues as well as giveall of them a voice.

Q: Job creation is one of themajor issues of 10-2-10. You’vetalked about SEIU’s renewedcommitment to organizing. Canyou talk about this and what itmeans for the healthcaresector? A: What we’ve really tried to takestock of is how this economic crisishas affected working people. Andwe know that how it gets addressedis by organizing the unorganized.It’s an approach that has worked forour 2.2. million members. Now it’sour job to make sure that every

worker has a voice on the job and asay in the wages he or she earns.Organizing is part of the solutionto today’s crisis. The opportunitiesin the healthcare sector are greaterthan ever now because of healthcarereform. SEIU has a coordinatedplan to work with our employersand local and federal governmentsto make sure that workers have asay in the spending of those dollars.The more we organize the betterthis plan will work.

Q: 10-2-10 is in many waysabout re-awakening the abilityto struggle in coalition fordiverse causes. Why is it vitalfor our members to be on thefront lines of such issues asimmigrant rights and the youthmovement? You’re a foundingmember of the LavenderCaucus. Can you talk about thelink between labor rights andLGBT rights? A: We cannot achieve justice for allpeople by ourselves. Having a deepunderstanding that what we are ableto do together we cannot doseparately is an integral part ofour history. I meet with our rankand file and most feel a deepcommitment for making the worldbetter for their children and thefuture, but they don’t just want tobe in the movement for the sake ofthe movement. They want to dosomething. And in terms of LGBTissues and labor our justice strugglesare linked. The beauty of the tradeunion movement is that we candebate whether or not to supportissues like marriage equality. InSEIU many of our members didn’tthink the Union should have

supported marriage equality becauseof religious differences, but afterdiscussion they saw that it was a wayto economic equality and voted tosupport it because they wanted tosupport economic justice for all.Where else but in the labor move -ment do we get to have thesestruggles and learn about each other?

Q: And finally, what do youhope to see result for workingfamilies and for all of theUnited States from the marchon 10-2-10? A: I want people to be convincedthat we don’t have to despair. Wecan own a home. We can send ourkids to college and earn a familywage that helps us do better for ourkids. Every immigrant can step outof the shadows and fully participate.We can convince every Americanbetween now and 2012 that wedon’t have to settle for crumbsanymore. I hope that 10-2-10 is thebeginning of that.

“Families of color havedisproportionately beenlosing wealth. The incomegap is widening acrossthe country because wehaven’t addresseddiscrimination.”

“It’s time for usto demand

”CHANGEAn Interview with SEIU Pres. Mary Kay Henry.

— SEIU Pres. Mary Kay Henry

1199SEIU welcomed in July itsnewest members—the 15,000members of SEIU Healthcare Florida.The Union’s Florida Region representsworkers at 75 hospitals and 10nursing homes throughout southernFlorida. They are the only 1199SEIUmembers represented in a right-to-work (for less) state. Hundreds ofFlorida members will be marchingwith their 1199SEIU brothers andsisters from up and down the eastcoast in Washington, DC on 10-2-10.In early August Our Life And Timesvisited some of these new 1199ersat Hebrew Home of South Beach inMiami and Avante at Lake Worth.


The Work We DoOur Newest Region: Florida

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1. Yamilis Rondos has worked in the kitchen ofHebrew Home of South Beach for 12 years. “I worksix in the morning until 2:30 in the afternoon.Thursdays I work 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. becausethey really need a hand on that day,” she says.“Otherwise working early is much better for me.I have a baby. I can drop her off [at the sitter] andstill get to work on time.”

2. Avante Lake Worth CNAs Doreen Hamm, left,and Marie Louis, right, work in restorative care,helping patients re-learn skills like walking, eating,and dressing themselves. “I feel very proud thatI am able to help restore people’s abilities,” saysHamm. “Sometimes you will have a resident andwhen they see that they can learn to eat bythemselves again they start to do it on theirown and they make real progress.”

3. Olguille Dominique is a CNA at HebrewHome of South Beach. “I cook every day andbring food for the staff—rice, chicken, orsometimes turkey,” she says. “I love to cook.We have lunch together every day.”

4.Marie Yvette-Louis works inhousekeeping at Avante at Lake Worth.“I work 7-3 every day,” she says. “I clean therooms. Mop. I clean the tables. I sweep upevery day. Sometimes it’s hard because wehave so many patients.”

5. Elifaite Cadet is a floor tech at Avanteat Lake Worth.

6. 7. Marie Cuis, left, and Roberline Moise,right are both laundry aides at Avante atLake Worth. They are responsible for makingsure the residents have clean clothes andthe labels are inside their clothes. “Someresidents have family that does theirlaundry,” says Moise. “But a lot of them comein here without anything, so we take care ofeverything for them.”

8. Valencia Metelus has worked inhousekeeping at Hebrew Home of SouthBeach for 20 years. “I’m 71 years old. I mightretire soon,” she says. “My body needs somerest. This is a hard job.”

9. “I love my work,” says Marie ClaudeJoseph, a CNA at Hebrew Home of SouthBeach in Miami. “I love the way the staffappreciates us caring for old people.”

10. Schiller Saintilus works in Avante Lakeat Lake Worth’s Dietary Dept. He’s showncleaning up the kitchen after he and otherstaff members finished preparing lunch forseveral hundred residents.

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DefendingOUR CHILDREN“We need to get back to basics.”

“We want to be able tocompete with Chinaand other countries,but how can we do

that if our kids aren’teven in school?”

“Iam not sure what Obama is thinking, butbig government has a responsibility toeducate its citizens, especially thosewho can’t do it for themselves,” saysT. Thaddeus Brown, a substance abuse

counselor at Terence Cardinal Cooke RehabilitationCenter in New York City. “But I think that at the end ofthe day any major change is really going to have to comefrom the people standing up for themselves.”

Brown is an education activist and among thethousands of 1199ers who’ll be in Washington Oct. 2 tocall for a new direction for America.

“It’s a tragedy that this government has not taken theleadership to educate its citizens,” Brown says earnestly,sitting at a desk full of books and papers related tohis profession. “Somewhere down the line it seems atrade has been made: national security for educatingour people.”

Brown is a father of four, with two still in school. He’spart of a coalition that’s working to create well-roundedcurricula at schools in communities of color and alsohelps win failing schools a chance to succeed beforethey are shuttered for good.

“Education is more important than just teaching to atest,” says Brown.

Pres. Obama has proposed a wide range ofeducation reforms—overhauling the disastrousNo Child Left Behind Act, expanding Head Start,

prioritizing science and math education, and a middleschool initiative to help reduce high school dropout rates.Still, the debate about school funding and reform rageson in Washington, D.C. and among state and localgovernments. The nation’s children continue to loseground. In spite of the fact that we spend an average of$11,000 per child per year on grades K through 12—second only to Switzerland—U.S. 12th graders rank 19thin math, 16th in science and last in advanced physics outof 21 industrialized countries.

Cynthia Cain Joseph, a social work assistant atMaimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. and motherof two school-aged children, encourages parents tospeak up about the inequities in their schools.

“Some kids are promoted just to get them out ofschool because [school personnel] feel they won’tsucceed in college,” she continues. “But if they don’thave positive role models of course they’re going todrop out and get some little job, and that’s going tobe it for them.”

Cain Joseph has served as president of her localP.T.A. and is a member of the 1199SEIU ChildCare Committee. “We need to get back to thebasics,” she says. “There’s a lot of money that

could be allocated to smaller class sizes or keeping kidsin school for more hours. We want to be able to competewith China and other countries, but how can we do thatif our kids aren’t even in school?”

Brown says he believes in the power of educationand knows first hand how it can change lives. It’s one ofthe reasons he’s pledged to be in Washington on 10-2-10.

“This is about basic human rights,” he says. “It’s 2010and people are suffering. We’re spending so muchmoney on a war and we’re19th on a scale out of theworld (in education). That’s despicable. We’re comingtogether in a national movement. Now it’s contingent onthe people to move and make the changes we need.”

Top: T. Thaddeus Brown, asubstance abuse counselor at

Terence Cardinal CookeRehabilitation Center in NYC;Below: Cynthia Cain Joseph, a

social work assistant atMaimonides Medical Canter in

Brooklyn, NY.

EDUCATION


Stop Feeding the War MachineMembers call for peace and use of badly needed resources here at home.

Marines sent a combined 169,000 activeduty troops into training last year, thehighest number since 1973.

Carol McNally is an LPN at CayugaRidge Nursing and Rehabilitation Center inIthaca, NY. Her son Ryan, 26, has served inboth Afghanistan and Iraq and just returnedhome from his second tour of duty. He’sdecided to make a career out of the military.

Carol McNally will be in Washington,D.C on 10-2-10 to call for an end to thewars and the creation of good jobs. Youngpeople need good career choices other thansoldiering, she says.

“It’s going to be a disaster if we don’t getout of there,” she says of Iraq andAfghanistan. “We need our servicemen andwomen here and we need to keep ourmoney here for health care and to createjobs. If we don’t get out of there now wenever will.”

Lamar Truesdale, an environmentalservices worker at Buffalo, NY’s Womenand Children’s Hospital, says he doesn’t

have to look far into the future to see howmuch damage these wars are doing.

“It’s hard for Buffalo to get money forhealth care. They’re still trying to get moremoney from the government. This war isaffecting our school system too,” saysTruesdale, a delegate at Women andChildren’s. “They’re closing down grammarschools and combining high schools. Ourclassrooms are so overcrowded; kids aren’tgetting attention for simple things.”

Truesdale has also committed to marchin Washington on 10-2-10 and has alsosigned up a large group of his co-workers. “It’s important that we attend because we’regoing to be talking about health care,people not losing their jobs, and the war,”he says. “It’s just a waste of money. We needto bring our troops home, maintain our owncountry and get things together over here.”

By last December the cost of the warsin Afghanistan and Iraq had topped $1trillion dollars. And since then, Pres.Obama has asked for at least $260 billionmore to fund both wars for the next year.

At the same time, cities and towns areasked to cut back or go without funds forbasic services. Enough is enough, saysPeter Sinatra, a nurse practitioner atCrouse Hospital in Syracuse, NY.

“If we had that kind of money here forall the things that are taking a licking likehealth care and education—what adifference we could make,” he says. Sinatrais an active member of the Syracuse PeaceCouncil and U.S. Labor Against the War.

“There are lots of people in the militarybecause of the economy in this country,”he says. “It’s difficult for people to getgood jobs and the military takes advantageof that. They look to grab up our youngpeople.”

Indeed, military recruitment figures arerising right along with unemploymentrates. The Army, Navy, Air Force and

“There are lots of people in themilitary because of theeconomy in this country. It’sdifficult for people to get goodjobs and the military takesadvantage of that. They lookto grab up our young people.”

Carol McNally, an LPN at Cayuga RidgeNursing and Rehab in Ithaca, NY, above;Peter Sinatra, a nurse practitioner atCrouse Hospital in Syracuse, NY, at right.

— Peter Sinatra

PEACE

We Are A Country ofIMMIGRANTS10-2-10 is also about the fight for immigrant rights.

“It’s important for working people to get involved in the fightfor immigrant rights,” says Polly Henry, a CNA at Cold Spring HillsRehabilitation Center for Nursing in Woodbury, NY. “We have to takeup this cause and run with it so that others won’t be afraid to standup for themselves.”

Henry plans to be among the tens of thousands of 1199ersmarching in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 2. She’ll be calling for a fairpath to citizenship and immigrant rights. She knows firsthand thestruggles of an undocumented immigrant. Henry, originally fromJamaica, lived undocumented in the U.S for nearly 15 years. Shebecame a citizen in 2009.

“There are thousands of Americans whose lives are touchedby the work undocumented immigrants do every day,” says Henry,who worked as a caretaker for years while she was undocumented.“We are here because we want to be here. We want to work here.We want to contribute and pay taxes.”

Janet Bowen, an RN at Kingsbrook Medical Center’s DavidMinkin Rehabilitation Center in Brooklyn, was sponsored in 1995 tolive in the U.S. by a family for whom she worked as a babysitter.She took the opportunity to come to the U.S. and earn a better livingand go to school, leaving behind three young children and ahusband in her native Trinidad. Bowen got her green card in 2002and took a job as a patient care technician at Kingsbrook MedicalCenter so she could go to school and realize her dream of becominga nurse. She was also saving her money and navigating the U.S.immigration laws in an effort to bring her family to the U.S. It was afraught path, and all of it took about 10 years.

“They were some of the loneliest moments of my life,” she says.Bowen says she persevered, but says the citizenship process can befrightening and overwhelming.

“I tell people never to give up, even if you’ve been here foryears without your papers,” she says. “But they really need to dosomething—like an amnesty. If people have been here for years andpaying taxes and achieving, people should be encouraged to comeforward. They should know they can have opportunities to do evenbigger and greater things.”

Henry agrees. She says the nation’s current immigration lawsforce people into the shadows.

“It suits the nation and it suits immigrants to have some kind orequilibrium,” says Henry. “We cannot just pass draconian, hate-driven laws like in Arizona. It takes a balanced review of each

individual case to make the system work.” Henry is dedicated to reforming the nation’s immigration

policies and encourages other members to stand up as well—andnot just on 10-2-10.

“America is a country of immigrants. It has always been acountry of immigrants. It’s just that some people refuse to believethat,” says Henry. “People don’t come to this country because theywant to live off the fat of the government. We have to show peopleonce and for all that there is no back of the line and no front of theline in this country. We are all the same.”

Left: Polly Henry, a CNAat Cold Spring Hills inWoodbury, NY withhusband Errol, fights forimmigrant rights. Bottom: Janet Bowen, an RNat Kingsbrook MedicalCenter in Brooklyn, NY.

“If people have beenhere for years andpaying taxes andachieving, peopleshould be encouragedto come forward.”— Janet Bowen


IMMIGRANT RIGHTS


According to the NationalOceanic and AtmosphericAdministration, the planethas just come through thewarmest decade and thewarmest summer and spring

on record. 2010 is on pace to become thewarmest year worldwide since record-keeping began more than a century ago.The burning of fossil fuels, scientists haveconcluded, is the main cause of globalwarming and climate change.

The BP Gulf of Mexico oil disaster—theworst spill in U. S. history—dramatized thehuge cost of our nation’s dependence onfossil fuels. Eleven workers lost their livesand 17 were injured when the DeepwaterHorizon rig exploded. And it will be sometime before we’re able to calculate the fullcost of the disaster to the the fishing andtourist industries and U. S. economy asa whole.

Yet, during the summer, the U.S. Senatetabled an energy bill that would have takensteps to reduce the burning of fossil fuels andtheir destructive carbon emissions.

“We’ve been polluting the planet for solong, I strongly support the 10-2-10 demandfor clean energy and green jobs,” saysVincent Waters, a behavioral healthinstructor at Manhattan’s St. Vincent’shospital before it closed earlier this year.“I have children and I’m concerned aboutthe planet we leave them.”

Pres. Obama made a start in addressingthe issue with the American Recovery andReinvestment Act, which allocated $90million to create jobs to make homes andbusinesses more energy efficient and investedin renewable energy and a modernizedelectrical grid. But this is far less than theactions taken by the other major industrial

countries, the main emitters of pollutinggreenhouse gases.

Although the developing countries andthose in the global south have suffered theworst effects of climate change, no one hasbeen spared. 1199ers in every region facesignificant challenges. The northeast coast ofthe U.S., which is densely populated, isamong the most vulnerable regions to futurechanges in sea level and ocean circulation.

The newest 1199ers in Florida areespecially vulnerable. As multibillion dollarefforts to restore the magnificently diverseEverglades get underway, those efforts maybe defeated by advancing salt water causedby global warming.

Agribusiness and development havepolluted Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay.That, too, is true of New Jersey, where inDecember 2009, a state health departmentreport showed that residents near the site of aclosed Dupont munitions factory in PassaicCountry had elevated levels of kidney cancerand non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Residents ofthe Garden State also are engaged in battlesto protect their drinking water.

New Yorkers scored a major victoryAug. 3 when their State Senatevoted to issue a temporarymoratorium on a controversial

method of natural gas exploration calledhydraulic fracturing (fracking), whichinvolves the injection of millions of gallons ofchemically treated water underground in asearch for natural gas.

Energy companies tout fracking as a wayof reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oiland polluting coal. However, there is concernabout the impact the practice could have onthe environment and public health. Thefederal Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted

hydraulic fracturing from regulation under theSafe Drinking Water Act, so shale gas drillersdon’t have to disclose the chemicals they use.

At the center of a fracking boomand controversy is the Marcellusshale, a region rich in naturalgas that lies beneath parts ofWest Virginia, Pennsylvania,

New York, Ohio and Maryland. Fracking hasbeen linked to drinking water contaminationand property damage in Colorado, Ohio,Pennsylvania, and Wyoming. New Yorkers,who boast some of the best drinking water inthe nation, are especially concerned aboutthe dangers posed by fracking.

“Gasland,” an HBO documentary aboutthe dangers of hydraulic fracturing broadcastduring the summer, has helped to swell theanti-fracking ranks. “I urge all 1199ers to seeit,” says Manhattan Beth Israel respiratorytherapist Jeff Vogel, who helped to circulatepetitions to New York’s state legislators.“It is a call to arms to defend the Earth, theCatskills and our drinking water.”

Many of the 10-2-10 march participantswill be marching under the banner of cleanenergy and green jobs. The action is alsoabout preserving our planet.

“I have childrenand I’m concernedabout the planetwe leave them.”

Congress buries its head in sand while climate change intensifies.

In a scene from the newdocumentary “Gasland,”producers show tapwater that’s so pollutedit’s flammable.

The11th Hour

— Vincent Waters

ENVIRONMENTCO

URTE

SY H

BO F

ILM

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“I Get Into theMusic and I’mSomewhere Else.”

RN Rosie Rounds plays the flute.

“Well, I like to play the flute because it’s easy to carry and it soundsnice,” says Rosie Rounds, an RN at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in NewYork City, about her instrument of choice. Her modest answer belies adistinguished career. She’s been playing the flute for 30 years.

“Actually it’s the closest to the voice. It’s a wind instrument, soit’s like singing,” says Rounds, a long-time delegate at Joint Diseases.“It’s joyful.”

Rounds has played classical music in opera company orchestras and atpublic concerts. She also plays Latin music with the ensemble Chameleon,which includes her husband, Sprocket Royer, who plays double bass.

“We play music from all over Latin America—Venezuela, Brazil, andMexico. I just love Latin music because it makes me happy and it’s fun toplay,” she says.

Rounds and Chameleon play at numerous Union-related events—including the annual Nurse of Distinction Awards, a gig she looks forwardto each year, she says. She admits managing two careers can be achallenge. She gave up giving private lessons a few years ago.

“It’s hard finding time to practice and make calls and set things up, butyou just do it,” she says. “I like being up on stage. I’m a bit of a ham. I getinto the music and I’m somewhere else.”

PEOPLE

Rosie Rounds performs atthis year’s Nurse ofDistinction Awards ceremonyin May.

“It’s a windinstrument, soit’s like singing.It’s joyful.”

More than 800 healthcare workers andsupporters rallied in Baltimore’s MountVernon Square Park June 24 to hear actor-activist Danny Glover, Baltimore MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blake, 1199SEIUPresident George Gresham and rank-and-filehealthcare workers talk about the need towin free and fair union elections for theregion’s healthcare workers.

The rally was a high point of 1199SEIU’sHeart of Baltimore Campaign, which seeksfree and fair union elections at healthcareinstitutions to improve patient care andworkers’ pay, benefits and conditions.Baltimore’s healthcare workers are paid lessthan caregivers in other big East Coast cities.Their counterparts in Washington, New Yorkand Philadelphia all make more on average—30 percent more in New York.

Because Baltimore’s caregivers fill one infive jobs in that city, their low pay puts adamper on the whole city’s economy.

And while it’s often assumed that the costof living is lower in Baltimore, some expensesare actually much higher. The average utilitybill there is 67 percent higher than NewYork. And lower wages in Baltimore makehousing harder to afford. Forty-two percentof Baltimore residents pay more than a thirdof their income for rent.


For more than 30 years, 1199SEIUrepresented 700 workers at North GeneralHospital (NGH) in Manhattan’s EastHarlem. Of the 700, approximately 100worked at the NGH clinics.

In July, although the North Generalworkers were given virtually no notice, NewYork State’s Department of Healthannounced that the hospital would beclosing and that its clinic, which wouldremain open, would be administered by theInstitute for Family Health (IFH).

Though IFH administrators initiallyclaimed they would interview any NorthGeneral worker who wanted a job in thenew organization, they fired the vastmajority of North General workers andbrought in lower-paid employees fromoutside clinics. IFH has refused torecognize 1199SEIU as the workers’bargaining agent.

Workers fear that the new lower-paid,unfamiliar workforce is jeopardizing thehigh-quality care that North General

Fight Continues at North General

Baltimore’s healthcareworkers are paid less thancaregivers in other bigEast Coast cities. Theircounterparts inWashington, New Yorkand Philadelphia all makemore on average—30percent more in New York.

Heart of Baltimore rally on June 24drew more than 800 1199ers.

Around the Union

Heart of Baltimore is for Better Careand Jobs

patients have received for so long fromcaregivers who not only worked at theinstitution, but also live in theneighborhood.

Since the announcement and subsequentclosing, workers, supporters and 1199SEIUstaff have rallied and picketed the facility.1199SEIU has filed unfair labor practicescharges against IFH for its refusal tooffer all the clinic’s positions to theformer NGH employees – 1199SEIUmembers.

A host of community leaders andelected officials have pledged to standunited with the former NGH employees.

The battle has important implications for1199SEIU and other unionized healthcareinstitutions. Employers across the nation areseeking to use federal healthcare reform as asmokescreen to close unionized hospitals andreplace them with non-union clinics andcommunity-based centers.

At press time the fight continued to fillIFH positions with 1199SEIU members.

For the last few months, 1199SEIUmembers and staff have been mobilizingfor comprehensive immigration reform,several taking actions of civil disobedienceat a number of protests in New YorkCity. The 1199SEIU message at all the eventsrings clear–“immigration reform is a humanrights issue for people wherever theyare from.”

1199SEIU New Jersey members wereamong hundreds of protesters who ralliedagainst U.S immigration policies on July 1.They participated in some of the twelve“Days of Action” events across the state,including rallies in Jersey City, Patersonand Hackensack.

1199SEIU members joined withthose from SEIU Local 32BJ, other unionsand a host of immigrants’ rights andcivil rights organizations on July 8th

We Oppose Anti-Immigrant Legislationin a rally outside Major League Baseballheadquarters. The rally was called todemand that the 2011 All-Star Game bemoved out of Arizona to protest recentapartheid-like racial profiling laws inthat state.

1199ers on the picket lineat North General.

Hundreds of 1199ers participated at March 21 rally inWashington, D.C. demanding immigration reform.

The Work We Do:Our Florida RegionLaundry aide Roberline Moise and CNAs Mirelle Alexandre and Marie Claude(left to right) are among 15,000 healthcare workers 1199SEIU now represents inFlorida. In mid-July, a merger between 1199SEIU and SEIU Healthcare Floridabecame official, creating 1199SEIU’s Florida region. Hundreds of Florida memberswill be marching in Washington on 10-2-10. For many, it will be their first union-wide demonstration as 1199er. Moise, Mirelle and Calude work at Avante LakeWorth, a nursing and rehabilitation center in Lake Worth. “When I came here Iimmediately decided to become a Union member,” says Alexandre, a delegate. “Weneed people to talk. We need people to talk for them and not just say everything’sok. Sometimes I may be smiling, but it doesn’t mean I won’t stand up.”PAGES 8 AND 9.

THE BACK PAGE

To read more about1199SEIU’sorganizing andcontract victoriesand developmentsthroughout allregions of ourUnion, log ontowww.1199seiu.org

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