Leaders in Action
“Nothing stops a bullet like a job”: 6th ward residents unite against gun violence, unemployment
Child care, home care, nursing home, and hospital workers organized a candlelight vigil against gun violence in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood this month, highlighting a need for greater job opportunities to keep young people away from gangs.
Members of SEIU and the Chatham neighborhood displayed flyers about the connections between gun violence and a lack of economic opportunity in the community.
Members held the vigil on the site of a tragic shooting. On Nov. 5th, 2011, three innocent bystanders, two men and one woman, all in their 20s, were killed in the parking lot of Church’s Chicken and A Piece of Cake bakery on 87th and South King Drive. The woman who was slain was picking up a birthday cake for her two-year-old daughter. No one has been charged in the shooting.
Several residents of the 6th Ward who have been shot, or whose loved ones have been shot, spoke about the physical and psychological pain of dealing with shootings in their neighborhoods. Home care worker Cynthia Youngblood, who also works part-time for Chicago Public Schools helping special needs children, almost lost her 17-year-old daughter when she was shot twice by random gunfire last June. Her daughter Diamond was hospitalized for 15 days and still needs crutches. Seven months later, Cynthia still has to take significant time off work, unpaid, in order to take her daughter to physical rehabilitation, counseling and medical visits.
“Every time I take my daughter to physical rehab or counseling it means I’m not able to work. We struggle to get by. Those two bullets did a lot of damage to my daughter and to our family,” said Youngblood. “Why are we dealing with random gunfire in our neighborhoods? We need to build-up our communities by creating jobs, not tearing our neighborhoods apart,” Youngblood said.
6th ward alderman Roderick Sawyer came out to support our anti-violence initiative.
Child care worker Jacqueline Smith was shot in the back in September 2008 in the Gresham neighborhood. Jacqueline, who had just watched the four young children that she was caring for leave her home, was struck by a stray bullet that almost punctured her lung. Three other bullets struck the outside of her house but the children weren’t injured. Jacqueline eventually moved her child care service to the 6th Ward, thinking it would be a safer and quieter place to continue her business, but she worries that the community where she wanted to restart her life is becoming more and more dangerous.
“Let’s be honest, we have too many young men who don’t have jobs and don’t see any way that they can contribute their lives towards a future. We simply can’t allow our young people to slip through the cracks because they can’t find meaningful work,” said Smith, who could not attend the vigil but offered a statement. “If we want to reduce violence, we have to start by giving people a purpose and a job with a livable wage.”
The candlelight ceremony will be the first of many opportunities for members, residents and community partners to become involved in actions against neighborhood violence and the lack of job opportunities that allows it to flourish. Members are creating a community-based coalition in the 6th Ward to advocate for solutions, aiming to mobilize union members and to partner with interfaith groups and churches, non-profit organizations, small businesses, and civic leaders to create jobs, improve schools, reduce home foreclosures, prevent violence, and encourage economic development and investment in the 6th Ward.
Watch Alderman Sawyer and Cynthia and Diamond Youngblood address gun violence in their community:
Major victory for home care workers: Chicago’s Gilda Brown becomes a piece of home care history
Chicago home care worker Gilda Brown became a part of home care history when she stood by President Obama in Washington, DC as he announced a major victory for home care workers.
The US Department of Labor is moving forward to amend regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act [FLSA] to include the nearly two million home care workers who had been excluded from federal overtime and minimum wage protections. This long-overdue change not only guarantees the same rights and protections for home care workers as other workers have enjoyed for decades, but continues to reinforce the fact that home care is real, important work that our nation depends on.
Gilda Brown, far left, stands with President Obama and other home care workers and consumers as he announces new overtime and minimum wage protections for home care workers.
“It was so exciting to be there with the President, to be part of something so historic,” said Gilda. Gilda worked on Obama’s 2008 campaign, but hadn’t gotten to meet him face-to-face until her recent trip to the nation’s capitol.
“Before he made the announcement, he told us that even though some people don’t take this work seriously, he knows how important home care is. He told his staff that this change was past overdue and that nobody could go on vacation until they got it done and signed,” Gilda said. Before this announcement, President Obama walked a day in another home care provider’s shoes, to gain an understanding of just how important home care is to working families across America.
“Now more than ever, every job in our country must be a good job that can sustain a family, strengthen our communities and move our country forward. Very soon, every caregiver in America will be equal in the eyes of the law and equally protected,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry in response to this victory.
“The President went to shake my hand and I told him I wanted a kiss,” said Gilda. “That was the most exciting part!”
See the video of President Obama’s announcement.
Thousands travel to DC to Take Back the Capitol
Thousands of union members, workers, students, Occupiers, the unemployed, and more traveled from all over the country this week to unite in Washington DC. Waiting hours in legislators’ offices, sleeping in tents and on floors, and marching through heavy rainstorms, our members sent the message that the American middle class has had enough of corporate greed and recklessness.
Our members camped out in lawmakers' offices for hours, hoping to engage them about the issues that matter to working people.
“We’re here because the 99% is suffering,” said Reverend CJ Hawkins of Arise Chicago and Stand Up! Chicago. Our government has been bought up by lobbyists on K Street, and we’re addressing that by stopping business as usual. We’re taking back the capitol, we’re taking back the street, and we’re taking back our lives.”
“It was electrifying,” said home care worker Renea Williams, who marched all day to take over K Street, where DC’s most influential lobbyists are based. “You could see that everyone’s hearts are really in this—they’d have to be, to keep up the songs and chants despite the rain!”
In addition to shutting down K street and marching on the Capitol, members and allies camped out in legislators’ offices, hoping to talk to them about economic issues affecting the 99%. Some demonstrators succeeded in meeting with legislators, like Democratic Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver from Missouri, but others made themselves scarce when faced with the prospect of addressing the 99% face to face.
“We had an appointment to talk to Rep. Joe Walsh about protecting Medicare and Social Security and he slammed the door in our faces,” said home care worker Annette Jones. “We chased him all over the Capitol and he ignored us. These Republican legislators don’t seem to understand that the people who had the power to elect him also have the power to kick him out!”
See video of Reps. Joe Walsh, Adam Kinzinger, and Don Manzullo and Sen. Mark Kirk running from their constituents:
MO and IN members team up to beat bad bill in Ohio
When Ohio Governor John Kasich followed in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s footsteps by signing a bill (SB5) decimating the collective bargaining rights of public sector employees, SEIU Healthcare members jumped up to stop him.
Members knocked knocked on almost 7000 doors in a week to educate Ohio voters about SB5. Their efforts helped the bill to be repealed!
Unlike Wisconsin’s, Ohio’s constitution allows for a citizen’s veto, giving residents a chance to bring a bad bill to a ballot–if they can gather enough signatures.
With help from fifteen of our members, organizers gathered 1.3 million signatures, giving voters the opportunity to send the message that working people aren’t going to accept attacks on our bargaining rights.
“These Republican governors all over the country are trying to cut out the middle class. We want the whole country to see what’s going on and say, enough is enough,” said McKinley Williams, a groundskeeper at Methodist Hospital in Gary, IN who spent a week in Cleveland knocking on doors to educate residents about the devastating impact of SB5.
“I met a lot of people in the area whose lives would have been immediately affected by this bill–teachers, state workers, city workers, and more,” said Ella Giles, a home care worker in St. Louis. “But even most of the people who weren’t going to be affected right away were on our side, because people know that once they start chipping away at working people, it’s only a matter of time before they start chipping away at you.”
Excluding Election Day, Williams, Giles, and other members knocked on 6842 doors and had 2152 conversations with voters in just one week, getting support from more than 90% of them and leading 61% of Ohio voters to repeal the bad bill. As Gov. Walker’s recall heats up in Wisconsin, this victory not only protects good jobs for thousands of Ohio residents, but will have a real impact on our efforts to protect bargaining rights for working people all over the United States.
“The most recent polls show that the majority of people in Wisconsin want to recall Scott Walker,” McKinley said. “I’m fired up and ready to go to Wisconsin next!”
Missouri Home Care Union, SEIU Healthcare, and more march for jobs, homes, schools in St. Louis
Hundreds of MHCU and SEIU members, other laborers, students, seniors, activists, and the unemployed rallied in St. Louis on October 14th, in yet another action fueled by the indignation at corporate greed spreading across the country. (more…)
Action Now, SEIU HCII, and community allies rally against BofA for three days
Across the city of Chicago, foreclosed and abandoned homes are driving down property values and acting as magnets for crime in our communities. When Bank of America account holder and Action Now member Marsha Godard tried to hold the bank accountable to maintain their foreclosed properties, the bank had her arrested. Activists and community leaders gathered for the next three days to support Marsha and tell Bank of America that we’re sick and tired of the bank abandoning its responsibility to keep its foreclosed properties safe.
See Progress Illinois’ coverage of the event, with more on the City of Chicago’s ordinance to force financial institutions to maintain its foreclosed properties.
Check out the Move Your Money Project to learn more about how you can transfer your money from the big banks that are hurting our communities to smaller local banks.
Home care worker Gilda Brown discusses why Medicaid matters
The House of Representatives is set to vote on Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) plan to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for devastating cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. SEIU HCII home care worker Gilda Brown shared her experience of how these cuts would impact some of the most vulnerable people in the country. Read the full story and contact your representatives to tell them how cutting home care and Medicaid funding would hurt all of us for generations to come. (more…)
Thousands rally to demand greedy banks and corporations pay their fair share
Hundreds of SEIU members joined thousands of Chicagoans on June 14th in a traffic-stopping rally to stand up against corporate greed and tell leaders from more than 80 of the Midwest’s wealthiest corporations to “Give It Back!”
The 18 unions and community organizations taking part in the Stand Up! Chicago campaign spent weeks leading up to the June 14th rally carrying out dozens of actions against the big banks who accept taxpayer bailout money but don’t provide fair loans and corporations who receive huge tax breaks but fail to create good jobs. Students, teachers, workers, the long-term unemployed, and Chicago residents from all walks of life took part in the event to demand that these banks and corporations give back our jobs, our homes, and our schools. (more…)
Purple Brigade gets members involved
For some members, joining the union’s Purple Brigade is a small step. For others, it’s a leap. Either way, members of the Purple Brigade see it as a necessity to build power for working people.
“I knew about the attacks on working people and I didn’t want to say that I sat back and didn’t get involved. This fight is too important,” said Annie Yarbary, a Decatur home child care provider for 10 years and recent member of the Purple Brigade.
“This is the first time I’ve been head deep in being involved,” said Stephanie Sanderfield, a Springfield home care aide. “I’ve tried to give excuses and not be involved, but when I went to a meeting and heard what they were talking about, a fire ignited in me.”
Family Home Services worker helps PAs in Pa.
Of the many campaigns member organizer Joan Campbell has worked on, she considers organizing Pennsylvania home care workers one of the most rewarding.
“It was great to see home care workers feel the momentum and see the benefits of forming their union,” Joan said.
Joan, a Chicago home care provider with Family Home Services spent several weeks in Pennsylvania. She went door-to-door talking to home care workers about how being united can improve the quality of care to consumers and the quality of their own lives. Joan also transported workers to rallies, participated in lobby days and spoke at press conferences.
Her efforts were rewarded in January when 5,300 home care workers won their union. It was the largest organizing victory in history for SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania.
“It was wonderful to know that Joan cared enough to come in bad weather to help workers here get to where we wanted to be,” said Sandi Coates, a home care worker in Lancaster, Pa. “She understood what we were going through and her experience was a big help.”
“The Pennsylvania workers were telling me they want to accomplish what we’ve accomplished in Illinois — the pay, the respect, the quality care, training and more,” Joan said. “They just want to be recognized as home care workers that provide quality care.”