I guess I see it differently.  Our jobs are to get out there and make life better for all the people who get up in the morning and go to work.  

This country has some real challenges right now - we can debate whether or not it's technically a recession, but the reality is that in a period of record profits, wages remained flat.  Gas prices are up, food costs are up, personal debt is up, and people are losing their homes.  The gap between the rich and the poor in this country has never been wider, and each year (this year being an exception for the first time in as long as most of us can remember), the number of people who are represented by a union has shrinking.

If we want to make sure that working people get a fair deal, if we want to make sure we deliver health care to every man, woman and child in this country, then we need to make sure that we are organizing them and helping make sure that they have elected representatives who not only claim to be pro-worker, but who walk the talk.  That's what our accountability project is all about.

Using memory, I know we helped elect five candidates for Congress with a ground and air campaign.  We just did an IE for Andre Carson in Indiana:

We also did one for Don Cazayoux in Louisiana. Other candidates we supported recently are:

   * Rep. Niki Tsongas, MA 05
    * Donna Edwards, MD 04
    * Rep. Bill Foster, IL 14

We're supporting more than this, but I have to check with my colleagues.  

Cheers.

Sorry I'm just getting in here now - first chance at computer.  I'm not as up on what many of our locals are doing as I want to be, so I'll try to find out.  Cheers.  

A one-act play.

The plot, in brief:

The judge, from the California Superior Court, carefully reviews legal evidence of CNA's case for a Temporary Restraining Order. She is unable to find sufficient factual evidence to support the CNA's use of this serious legal injunction, so she vacates the order: http://shameoncna.com/2008/04/court-thro ws-out-restraining-order.html.

The blogger says "HEY! I SAID it's true SO IT'S TRUE! Who are you going to believe, judge? Me or that crazy masked purple mob of burly men that busted into our conference with the intent to harm, disrespect, and do violence to everyone present?!"

The camera jumps in and shows the judge, the blogger, and the World Wide Web the unedited video footage it happens to have from the conference in question: http://shameoncna.com/2008/04/seiu-rn-di an-palmer-calls-on-afl-cio.html.

How does the play end? Who is to be trusted?? What counts as 'evidence'?!

OK, admittedly I'm getting a little punchy here. It's been a long day. The point I'm driving at is this: the evidence is out there, in video form. It has been reviewed by the CA Superior Court. With all the tempers raging and accusations flying in all directions, we need to be able to look to authorities other than the word-of-mouth of people--on all sides--who come to the discussion with a predetermined side and agenda. I submit that federal courts and unedited video are two such sources.

~Nadia, SEIU staffer

With all the back and forth about the protest at the Labor Notes conference, it's time to set the record straight.

Here are the facts:

*           Most of the SEIU members who traveled to Dearborn to express their disapproval of the CNA's tactics were women. They were primarily home care workers, nursing assistants, and other caregivers. Some brought their children with them.

*           They had gathered at the conference hoping to voice their disapproval of the CNA's anti-union campaign in Ohio that stripped more than 8,000 hospital workers of the opportunity to freely choose whether to form a union with SEIU.  

*           Despite efforts to prevent the health care workers from making their voices heard, the rally was a peaceful one. Protestors talked to individual conference attendees about what happened in Ohio. They chanted "union busting is disgusting."

*           At no time did they engage in or witness the kind of activities described by the CNA.

--posted by Nadia, Michelle's colleague, SEIU staffer

Thanks, Nadia, for posting earlier.  And good questions, Radiowalla.  I think there are legitimate disagreements about the best ways to organize hospitals (as I am sure you know, it isn't easy).  

SEIU Healthcare believes that it is best to be a truly national healthcare union, and that when hospital workers and nurses are united, it gives them a stronger voice on the job.  And with that voice, workers can win better deals, support one another and deliver the best care to their patients.

On a more personal note - I think nurses are amazing and the work that they (you) do is only beginning to be recognized for the critical role it plays in an individuals health, recovery times, etc.  Thank you.

-Michelle, SEIU

Hey this is Nadia over at SEIU. Just want to insert a quick and important clarification here. "4 or 5 male SEIU staffers", while making for a good story, simply isn't true. It has already been clarified twice that 2 women--both healthcare workers from Ohio--came to California to visit CNA folks and ask for help in ending the nightmare that is keeping them from getting the union they fought for. They're here and here--have a look.

Also, I will be posting a more complete response to California Nurses Shum's comment in a post later this evening.

It's funny how every time the CNA gets caught doing something unsavory--as happened Wednesday when a CNA organizer was arrested for slapping and "stomping" on an SEIU union representative's feet while other CNA organizers were caught dressing up as nurses so they could enter off-limits areas of the hospitals--CNA responds with lavishly fabricated stories accusing the other side of doing something even worse.

Here's what really happened: Two of the Ohio hospital employees who lost their chance to form a union have come to California to talk to members of the California Nurses Association. Sue Allen, RN and and Michaela Silver want CNA members to know how devastated they were by the CNA's disruptive actions in Ohio. They attempted to visit CNA members to ask for their help. At no time were they aggressive or pushy, nor did they raise their voices. They left when asked.

Yet the CNA responded with a national press release accusing SEIU staff of "sending swarms of staff to threaten women in their homes," "harassing and stalking" nurses in their homes and on patient care floors, "yelling epitaphs" and "hurling abuse."

Such outrageous allegations are nothing new for the CNA. However, there isn't a shred of truth to the CNA's accusations...

At a time when only 12.1% of workers in this country have union representation and there are 100,000 nurses in California who have no union, the California Nurses Association flew into Ohio to stop 8,000+ Ohio nurses and other healthcare workers from winning the right to form their union.  I've met some of these workers.  I am happy to put anyone who wants to listen in touch with them.  What the CNA did in Ohio was wrong.

And it's happening again.  It's happening in LA, it's happening in Nevada, and it's happening in Texas.

So you know, this isn't a CNA v. SEIU thing - it's more like CNA against every other union that would help nurses organize, including AFSCME, their fellow member in the AFL-CIO: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/head line/biz/5685564.html.

CNA dropped a leaflet on hospitals in LA Wednesday that said:

"Unhappy with the Service Employees Union?

Want to switch to the California Nurses Association?

CNA has been contacted by many county RNs unhappy with SEIU representation, asking if they can switch to representation by CNA. The answer is YES!"  (I am trying to get this online, but email me at media [at] seiu.org if you want the PDF).

More than 100,000 California nurses don't have a union at all, but instead of helping those nurses to form a union, CNA is spending a fortune in its members' dues money on efforts both inside and outside of CA to try to poach nurses who are already represented by unions.  I don't get it.

But it's not okay.

--Michelle Ringuette

http://www.shameonCNA.org

http://www.shameoncna.com/include/video. asp

SEIU has 85,000 RNs as members.

http://www.shameoncna.org.

I am a staff member at the Service Employees International Union, an organization of  1.9 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide and dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.  SEIU members are winning better wages, health care, and more secure jobs at home, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, benefit from today's global economy.  Get the truth: http://www.shameoncna.org.

As promised.

One has to ask why the CNA would deliberately repeat things it knows to be false.

As a matter of policy, SEIU doesn't endorse Lipitor, or any other product - that's a fact that's been widely documented.

Now the CNA is suggesting that there's something wrong with trying to help millions of small business owners and workers - including tens of thousands of low-wage child care providers who are independent contractors - afford the health care coverage they need.

How out of touch can you be?  

The bill they are talking about is a bill that's authored by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin - one of the Senate's staunchest defenders of workers' rights, and a fierce advocate for consumer protections.  It would help millions of uninsured working people get health insurance, without fear of losing their coverage if they get sick.  But somehow, CNA is trying to convince people this is a bad thing?  

We can certainly have legitimate disagreements, but can't we agree that it would be a good thing to get healthcare coverage for working families who right now go without?

I guess this should come as no surprise.  After all, this is the same CNA that stood in the way of 5 million uninsured Californians from getting the health coverage they need.  That's FIVE MILLION - five million moms and dads and kids and workers - people who would have quality, affordable health care right now if it weren't for the CNA.

And let's be clear - SEIU is not opposed to single payer - you can even watch Rep. John Conyers thanking Andy Stern and SEIU for being the first union out in front supporting single payer right here:  http://progressive.playstream.com/seiudi gital/progressive/seiutv/John%20Conyers% 20Thanks%

But while we would love to see a single payer solution, we are not willing to tell those 5 million people in California - and the 47 million uninsured in the US, that they need to wait until we have the perfect bill.  We get that it's a process, and we know that each day we do nothing, it gets worse.  

We're not willing to tell the 47 million uninsured people in this country (and the additional under-insured - I am blanking on that number) that they should wait to have what you or I have.

We are part of many broad and committed coaltions of people working tirelessly to try to win real, fundamental change, trying to bring everyone to the table to build a new American health care system.  All I hear you screaming is "no no no!"

How bad does the health care crisis need to get - - how many people need to lose coverage, lose their homes to medical debt, lose their lives - before you set aside your personal beef with SEIU, join us and work together to try to get health care fixed?

This is not about SEIU.  It's not about CNA.  This is about 47 million Americans, 9 million kids without health care.  It's about millions of families struggling to pay their medical bills, their mortgage, and fill the car with gas - fighting just to keep their heads above water.

That's what it's about.  Somewhere along the way, CNA seems to have forgotten that.

Michelle

I am a staff member at the Service Employees International Union, an organization of  1.9 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide and dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.  SEIU members are winning better wages, health care, and more secure jobs at home, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, benefit from today's global economy.  Get the truth: http://www.shameoncna.org.