Missouri/Kansas
Research and Menorah Medical Centers ratify their first contract
On December 9th, healthcare workers at Research and Menorah Medical Centers in Kansas City ratified their first ever union contract, with an overwhelming 92% voting yes. Since January 2011, members at both hospitals have been at the bargaining table, negotiating with one of the largest hospital chains in the US.
Employees at Research and Menorah have supported forming a union at their hospital for quite some time, and they finally won their union last year. By ratifying their first contract, workers at Research and Menorah have now completed the organizing process and are officially members of SEIU Healthcare IL/IN/MO/KS.
“This is a great win for our hospitals and for all of the working people in Kansas City,” said Anthony Baker, an EVS at Menorah.
Throughout the year-long contract campaign, workers at both hospitals have come together to take action, from organizing sticker days to delivering cakes to management to holding rallies. By standing together, Research and Menorah workers won a strong contract and through the process, formed a strong union.
“It’s great to finally have a voice in the way things are done here at RMC!” said Corita Brown, a dietary worker at Research.
Research and Menorah workers won a strong contract that includes:
- Wage increases
- Job Security
- Right to grievance and arbitration procedure
- Attendance relief
- Staffing language
- Removal of salary caps
- Ratification bonus
Chicago, Joliet, and St. Louis members and allies join in nationwide Day of Action
Members and allies demonstrated on a bridge in Joliet, calling on Rep. Adam Kinzinger to put his constitutents to work.
All across the country on November 17th, unions, community groups, chapters of the Occupy movement, and other diverse representatives of the 99% came together to demand support for job creation instead of more corporate welfare.
In Chicago, Joliet, and St. Louis, SEIU Healthcare members spoke, marched, and occupied bridges to speak against cuts to vital safety-net programs as hundreds of similar actions across the country made our voices even stronger.
Home care worker Veronica Wansley spoke out for home care consumers on a bridge in St. Louis.
“My consumer has multiple sclerosis, and she’s blind. It’s a proven fact that it would cost more to put her in a nursing home than to continue to fund the programs that allow me to help her stay safe and independent in her own home, and it would eliminate the jobs of thousands of health care workers like me. I’m here to say that Congress needs to focus on protecting jobs and safety-net programs, not tax breaks for corporations and the rich,” Veronica said.
“I depend on Social Security, Medicaid, and public housing to get my needs met, but I’m not just worried about me,” said Jane Addams Senior Caucus leader Ruth Long, addressing the crowd in Chicago shortly before it shut down the LaSalle St. bridge. “I’m worried about the thousands of vulnerable Americans who depend on these programs who are suffering because of the greed and selfishness of the 1%.”
Hear more from Veronica, Ruth, and other participants at our three actions, and read more about the National Day of Action.
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!”
ACTION ALERT: Tell Congress what federal child care funding means to your community!
Right now, Congress’ supercommittee is deciding how to reduce our nation’s looming deficit, and with it, the fate of Head Start programs that provide working families with the quality care they need to stay in school and got to work every day. Together, child care providers and consumers are working to make millionaire members of Congress understand that cuts to federal funding of state child care programs will make it harder for parents to take or keep the jobs they need to support their families as the economy struggles to recover.
“I’m a single mother juggling school, work, and motherhood. I and thousands of other parents depend on programs like Head Start to provide not just a safe place for my son to stay while I’m at work, but to give him a good education. Federal child care funding makes it possible for many families to improve their lives by working while going back to school in order to make it in this economy–if it weren’t for Head Start, I couldn’t make this work for my family.” –Candice Battle
It’s up to us to carry the voices of working parents to the representatives making decisions that affect their lives. Please talk to your child care parents about the impact that quality child care makes on their lives and families, and share their answers with us.
Research Hospital and Menorah Medical Center workers rally for good jobs and quality care
Service, maintenance, and technical employees at the Research Hospital and Menorah Medical Center campuses rallied with community allies on October 19th to stand up for quality care and quality jobs in the Kansas City area. (more…)
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…)
UPDATE: Home care providers, consumers, and advocates call to end Missouri’s contract with SynCare
In a series of rallies across Missouri, home care agencies, providers and consumers called on state officials to end a contract with SynCare, Inc., an Indiana company hired to assess the home health care needs of Medicaid-eligible seniors and people with disabilities. (more…)
K.C. hospital workers fight for dignity & respect, quality care in first contract
Nearly 1000 hospital workers at Menorah Medical Center and Research Medical Center in Kansas City are negotiating their first contract, united with SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana.
Almost immediately, members in the Environment Services Dept. (EVS) at Research demonstrated how serious and united they are to bargain a fair contract. Members signed petitions demanding that workers be treated with dignity and respect, petitions that management refused to accept. Members stepped up their campaign and presented a huge Valentine’s Day card saying all workers must be treated with dignity. (more…)
Missouri PAs, consumers fight home care cuts
Missouri Home Care Union members and consumers fighting to stop budget cuts celebrated victory as the state legislature approved a bill with additional funding to the home care program.
Members celebrate victories, layout strategy at regional meetings
At the start of 2011, hundreds of members came together for regional meetings throughout Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. Members gave reports on our union’s strength, celebrated our victories and accomplishments and strategized for upcoming campaigns. Members recognized and accepted the challenges ahead of us, such as the “right to work for less” movements hitting Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri and other states that threaten our rights to collective bargaining and state budget cuts that impact our jobs.