Member Newsletter
Fall 2012
In this issue:
SEIU celebrates 2012 election victories!
SEIU at DNC 2012: HCWI
Pres. Dian Palmer talks about
her experience at the Democratic National Convention in
Charlotte, NC Sept. 4-6.
Lame Duck Congress: Congress plans to spend its last
months of 2012 making massive cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Find
out what you can do to stop
them!
Labor Person of the Year:
SEIU HCWI and State Council
Board Member Ethel Gates
was named Labor Person of
the Year at this year’s annual
LaborFest in Caledonia.
Bread and Roses Film
Screening: Community members gathered to watch a film
based on SEIU’s Justice for
Janitors fight and talked
about worker injustices experienced by SEIU Local 1 members and Palermo’s Pizza
workers in Milwaukee.
SEIU Wisconsin State Council Executive Board Members Mike Thomas and
Bruce Colburn at the GOTV rally.
November 6th was a victory for the
nation, for Wisconsin, but also for SEIU.
Due to the efforts of over 100,000
member volunteers across the country,
5 million doors were knocked and over
13 million phone calls were made to
help re-elect Pres. Obama and elect
other progressive candidates like U.S.
Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin and
state Senator-elect Nikiya Harris.
“We are proud and excited to see
Barack Obama through another term as
president and welcome Tammy Baldwin to the U.S. Senate as we continue
to expand health care, add familysupporting jobs, and help our children
earn a quality education,” said SEIU
State Council President Mike Thomas.
“Our fight is never over, but the progressive gains we made in state and
federal offices are vital to moving Wisconsin and our nation forward.”
On November 13th, SEIU leaders threw
a member appreciation party in Milwaukee. Members, staff and elected
officials spoke about winning for working families in 2012 and thanked members for their support, dedication and
hard work. Congratulations to our
member award recipients!
Becky Flagg
Anita Blue
Richard Stelloh
Edward Hamilton
Connie Morrow
Delores Copening
Sherri Anderson
Henrietta Arnold Simpson
Mary Malaney
Jackie McElroy
Janet Murphy
Cortney Kuehn
Pat Rego
Ethel Gates
Andrea Anglin
Margie Jordan
Maria Sada
Elvira Espinosa
Jesus Martinez
Bessie Hervey
Jackie Berry
Jeryllyn Jeanes
Healthcare Wisconsin president attends DNC 2012
SEIU Wisconsin State Council Board
Member and Healthcare Wisconsin
President Dian Palmer joined tens of
thousands of delegates, journalists and
citizens at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North
Carolina September 4-6.
and I watched in amazement as our
party leaders took the stage,” said Dian.
“Michele Obama set the stage with her
sincere, heartfelt description of her
husband and family. President Bill Clinton followed the next evening with his
Dian was on the ground floor, speaking clear description of the fight that lies
with progressives from across the
ahead and how undecided voters
country, and across the world, helping should review the whole scene to help
to build the partnership between SEIU make up their minds. Tammy Baldwin
and the Democratic Party.
hit a home run with her speech and
then finally our president, Barack
“On Tuesday, the convention started
Obama.”
“I thought to myself, it doesn’t get any
better than this. Every day, I quickly
gathered the newspapers to read the
headlines. Officially, the convention
was a smash; one reporter even called
it a grand slam.”
The Healthcare Wisconsin president
was able to bring the energy and enthusiasm of the Democratic National
Convention back to Wisconsin and
help win our state for both President
Barack Obama and Tammy Baldwin.
Stop Congress from slashing public programs!
Although the working people of Wisconsin showed up at the polls on November 6th to elect many important
pro-family, pro-worker candidates,
those candidates won’t begin their
terms until January.
The final months of 2012 (known as
the “lame duck session”) is a critical
time for working families.
Congress must act on tax cuts for middle class families and decide on huge
cuts to vital services like Medicaid,
Medicare, Social Security and education, which could cause nearly one
million Wisconsinites to lose the benefits they depend on every day.
The lame duck Congress could also
make automatic budget cuts to other
programs millions of Americans depend on including child care and development services and veterans’ em-
ployment and training.
most damaging.
Unless we are able to stop them, Con- These cuts are aimed at taking away
gress will make its final session the
the benefits of regular people while
giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, ultimately leading us in the
wrong direction.
We need to stand up and fight for economic security before it is senselessly
slashed by the lame duck Congress.
________________________
TAKE ACTION!
Find out how to get involved in
your area and tell Congress:
Jobs Not Cuts!
www.seiuvolunteers.com
SEIU leader named Labor Person of the Year
On September 3rd, hard-working union
members celebrated Labor Day in
cities across Wisconsin by participating
in run-walks, marches and parades like
those held at the massive Milwaukee
LaborFest celebration.
Photo by AP
In Caledonia-Mount Pleasant Memorial Park, near Racine, SEIU member
leader Ethel Gates was honored as
Labor Person of the Year.
Ethel has been an employee of Lincoln
Lutheran in Racine for the last thirtyfive years and is a mother of three
sons. On top of her full-time job, Ethel
Photo by AFL-CIO
is the executive vice president of
Healthcare Wisconsin and a State
an integral Recall Walker volunteer.
Council board member. She also
serves on five executive boards across “This just means I have to work hardWisconsin.
er,” Ethel told the Racine Journal
Times after receiving the award.
As an active SEIU member, Ethel has
worked hard to educate and mobilize We are proud that an SEIU sister was
union brothers and sisters throughout honored as this year’s Labor Person.
the country. She remains active in the
community and her local worksite as a
Congratulations Ethel!
rank and file member. Ethel was also
SEIU’s Justice for Janitors takes on the big screen
In the 1980s and 90s, SEIU’s Justice for
Janitors fight in Los Angeles spurred
media attention and historical prevalence for its struggle to win fair wages,
health care and job security for the
janitors of downtown LA.
Bread and Roses, a film based on the
LA janitors’ fight was released in 1994
and stars Pilar Padilla, Adrien Brody
and Elpidia Carrillo.
kee Graduate Assistants Association,
Voces de la Frontera and YES! Youth
Empowered in the Struggle sponsored
a screening of the film at UWMilwaukee’s Union Theater on October 15th. About 50 community activists, union members and students
joined.
After the screening, attendees participated in a panel discussion about how
the film relates to labor struggles in
The narrative of the film follows two
Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Panelists
young women in their personal fight
included Mauricio Galicia from Voces
to win the right to unionize as janitors de la Frontera, Cesar Hernandez from
in a downtown office building.
Palermo’s Workers Union, Dave Somerscales from SEIU Local 1 and Jorge
SEIU Wisconsin State Council, Milwau- Maya from YES! Youth Empowered in
the Struggle.
“This is a very powerful and inspiring
film,” said State Council Pres. Mike
Thomas after viewing Bread and Roses
at the event. “All SEIU members
should see it whether they are jani-
tors, nurses, teachers or crossing
guards. The message is clear: when we
work together as brothers and sisters
we can achieve justice and respect for
hard-working people. This year’s labor
struggles by Palermo’s workers and
Milwaukee’s own downtown janitors
are far from over, but we’ve seen
what the power of community can do
to win justice for working families in
Milwaukee and across the state.”
For more information about SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign visit
http://www.seiu.org/division/propertyservices/justice-for-janitors/