Dear SEIU Local 500 Members,
To change Workers’ lives, SEIU Local 500 members, leaders and staff must be committed to an all-out effort to Lead
Unite Fight and Win for all workers.
We know the only way to end income inequality is for our
members to come together, to create strength in numbers
through a broad and robust movement to fight for a Vision
for a Just Society: where all workers are valued and all people are respected;
where all families and communities thrive, and where we leave a better and more
equal world for generations to come.
Achieving goals as important as these will require an unprecedented level of engagement and action by SEIU members, families and retirees if we are going to
achieve our vision for a just society.
We know that we cannot transform the world without first transforming ourselves.
We must accept the responsibility of recruiting and mobilizing hundreds of new
activists and leaders inside our union. We must expand the ranks of inclusive and
diverse leaders across our union and our communities.
We must also link arms with partners globally, nationally and in our communities
to create a strong unified and politically independent social movement that wins
economic justice and vibrant democracy.
There is nothing more powerful than influence. Influence can move those in authority and power. To have influence you must engage in nurturing relationships
with each other, family and friends, your community and politicians.
We will look forward to connecting our members’ diverse interests and passions
with a wide variety of leadership opportunities within Local 500.
We have an impressive past, let’s proclaim “We Are All In” to moving forward to
an even brighter future!
Merle Cuttitta,
President, SEIU Local 500
On behalf of the officers and members of the SEIU Local 500 Executive Board
SEIU LOCAL 500
Workers Standing Together
for Over Fifty Years
THE BEGINNINGS OF
LOCAL 500
MCCSSE: OUT OF
HARD WORK AND
HOPE, A UNION
EMERGED
Almost fifty years ago, a small group of supporting service employees in
the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) had a vision of uniting all
support staff to empower workers to believe they were entitled to respect
and decent wages and benefits.
Along with this vision, support staff professionals had big dreams: job
security, career opportunities, and a better future for their families. This is
their legacy. This is the history of SEIU Local 500.
MCPS supporting services workers knew they needed a union, but they faced two major obstacles. First,
workers needed a law in Maryland to allow them to bargain with their employer. Second, to succeed
supporting services workers needed to stand together across the county and across job classifications.
BEGINNINGS (mid-1960s)
Supporting service employees of the
Montgomery County Public School
system (MCPS) began meeting to
find ways to improve their working
conditions.
CREATION OF MCCSSE (1970)
MCPS supporting services employees
passed bylaws to form a union
named Montgomery County Council
Supporting Service Employees
(MCCSSE).
VISION FOR UNITY (1969)
MCPS employee Vincent Foo led
a campaign to unite all MCPS
employees to form a union and
lobby Maryland legislators for a
law allowing supporting service
employees to bargain collectively (a
right Maryland’s teachers state had
just won).
LEGAL RIGHT TO BARGAIN
In 1974, after nearly a decade,
supporting service employees won
the right to engage in collective
bargaining thanks to a bill fought
for by MCCSSE and passed by the
Maryland legislature. MCCSSE and
the Montgomery County School Board
enter into the first official collective
bargaining agreement for supporting service (“non-certified”) school
employees in Maryland.
BUILDING MOMENTUM (1970 - 1973)
MCCSSE signed a “memoranda of
understanding” agreement with MCPS in
1970 — the first of its kind for supporting
service employees in the state. MCCSSE
represented supporting service workers,
worked with MCPS, lobbied the state,
and grew its union, even though it wasn’t
officially recognized as such.
A Rare & Successful
Transition
VINCENT FOO LED MCCSSE AND LATER SEIU LOCAL 500
FROM 1969 TO 1993.
MCCSSE gained recognition and helped
workers resolve their problems, negotiated
agreements, and won passage of a law that
allows collective bargaining for “non-certified”
employees. Ultimately, it became part of a major
international labor union.
“Winning bargaining rights for MCPS supporting services employees
took time, action and unity. We learned a lot along the way...”
Betty Montgomery,
Executive Vice President of SEIU Local 500
MCCSSE AFFILIATES WITH SEIU (1978) MCCSSE affiliated with the Service Employees International Union and became SEIU
Local 500, moving from an employee association to a union. SEIU is the fastest growing union in North America and a strong
national voice for working families.
FIGHT FOR STRONGER MCPS CONTRACTS
For many years, Local 500 members had negotiations and won hard-fought gains. For example, in 1987, 3,000 bus operators,
and cafeteria and maintenance workers stayed home sick to protest stalled contract negotiations. Ultimately, a positive settlement was reached.
FOUNDING PRESIDENT, VINCENT FOO, RETIRES (1993)
SEIU Local 500 President Vincent Foo retires after 23 years of service to the organization and MCPS supporting service
employees. Over the next eight years, Presidents Marty Strombotne and Stephen Poor led SEIU Local 500.
MERLE CUTTITTA BECOMES LOCAL 500 PRESIDENT (2001) Merle Cuttitta, MCPS employee, officer of Local 500 and daughter
of Vincent Foo, became president of SEIU Local 500.
Into the 21st Century
A NEW VISION FOR OUR LOCAL IS TAKING SHAPE
AND BEING PUT INTO PLACE OPERATIONALLY
AND STRUCTURALLY. NEW POLICIES ARE BEING
IMPLEMENTED TO BETTER REPRESENT MEMBERS
AND BUILD OUR STRENGTH, AND AN AMBITIOUS
PROGRAM TO GROW LOCAL 500 HAS BEEN PUT IN
PLACE.
FOUNDATIONS FOR GROWTH & PROGRESS
PROGRESS FOR SUPPORTING SERVICE EMPLOYEES
Local 500 has negotiated ground-breaking labor agreements with MCPS that
provide economic gains and new protections for supporting service employees:
Wins over the years for MCPS members:
class coverage pay for paraeducators
continued exceptional family health care benefits
translation pay
tuition reimbursement
professional growth & respect
the right to bargain about discipline and discharge
“We can’t expect to winat the
bargaining table when our
neighbors are losing their
benefits, and seeing their pay
and their families’ way of life
eroded. It’s become apparent
that MCPS is not an island,
and all workers in the region
are in this together.”
Sally Murek, Local 500 Vice
President
ORGANIZING TO PRESERVE & BUILD ON WHAT WE’VE WON
Since 2001, SEIU Local 500 has worked to organize new workers in the fields of
education and public service. Today, Local 500 represents over 20,000 workers,
more than twice as many as in 2001.
Local 500 organizes workers in child care, Head Start, developmental disability
services, universities, community colleges, and non-profit advocacy organizations.
Local 500 members understand that to protect what has been won, we must
bring more workers the benefit of the union.
Union Strength and Solidarity
SEIU Local 500 is the fastest education and public service union in the region and one of
the fastest growing unions in the nation.
By being part of SEIU Local 500, you are joining with thousands of other people who work
in public schools, colleges & universities, childcare & head start programs, and homes
for the developmentally disabled. You earn the right vote for contracts, contribute to the
bargaining process and elect your union members. Your participation allows you to have a
real and positive effect on your workplace, your community and your country.
Our Future & Who We Are Today
SEIU LOCAL 500 HAS GROWN TO BE THE MOST ACTIVE EDUCATION AND
PUBLIC SERVICE UNION IN THE MID-ATLANTIC. AS MORE WORKERS JOIN OUR
UNION AND SPEAK OUT FOR THEMSELVES AND THOSE THEY SERVE, THE
STRONGER WE ALL BECOME.
“If you don’t know where you came from, you don’t know where
you are going. The visionary leaders of our local union’s past
give us a model of strength as we face future challenges. Their
story is our story.”
– Merle Cuttitta
President, Local 500
MERLE CUTTITTA, PRESIDENT
SEIU LOCAL 500
MEMBERS
PRESIDENT
EXECUTIVE VICE
PRESIDENT
LEGAL COUNSEL
LOCAL STAFF
LOCAL STAFF IS
ORGANIZED INTO
DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS,
UNITED BY THE GOAL
OF HELPING LOCAL 500
MEMBERS TO BUILD A
STRONGER UNION AND
CREATE A MORE JUST
SOCIETY
• Representation &
Contracts
• Member Strength
• Communications
• Human Resources &
Finance
• Operations
• Political
• Research
TREASURER
SECRETARY
VICE PRESIDENTS
VICE PRESIDENTS ARE
ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
OF ALL SEIU LOCAL 500
DIVISIONS
Early Learning
Child Care
Human Services
Higher Education
Public Services
MCPS Building Service
MCPS Food Service
MCPS Maintenance
MCPS Media & Technology
MCPS Office Employees
MCPS Paraeducators
MCPS Security
MCPS Transportation
Into the 21st Century:
SEIU International Mission Statement
We are the Service Employees International Union, an organization of more
than 2.1 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 Local 500 Strategic Goals
In 2011, SEIU Local 500 took on an
impressive task. We began a process to
create a new strategic vision and goals
for our local union. This new vision
and updated goals came from you, the
members of the union. We held our first
annual vision and action conference as
well a number of visioning meetings with
members from throughout the union.
Together we developed a joint vision of a
just society. Our vision was added to the
dreams and goals of thousands of other
SEIU members throughout the country
to create our new national mission
statement. This document reflects the
best thinking of the member leaders,
staff, and all members of the union.
A unified vision and increased action by
the members of our union have never
been more important than they are
today. Public sector workers are facing
unprecedented attack. In Wisconsin and
Ohio, we have seen the ferocity of the
1% as they attack our power and look to
break the backs of the unions and
ultimately, the middle class. We provide
vital and valuable services to the
families and communities of the state of
Maryland and Washington, DC. We will
protect those services, both in support of
our jobs but also to protect those that we
serve.
The hard work of our past leaders
and the new gains we have made in a
variety of workplaces has shown SEIU
Local 500 is the most active education
and public service union in the MidAtlantic. Together we can build on this
momentum if we commit to working
together as one unified union. These
goals represent how we, as members,
staff and leaders, will move forward to
fight for the rights of all working people.
Leadership Development
The role of an elected leader in Local 500
has evolved considerably over the past
few years. Our first obligation as leaders
must be to the union as a whole. Building
the capacity of leaders to carry out the
increased responsibilities resulting from
these changes must be a priority of our
union. We commit to being active and
to being the face of the union. We know
that we are the union and that without our
active participation, we cannot meet our
goals. Local 500 will:
Continue to develop a future vision and
strategic plan for the union’s expansion
both geographically and within
industries through 2012.
Continue Leadership Assemblies and
focused meetings that will provide
training, education, and skills to
develop new leaders.
Further modify our governance
structure to accommodate rapid growth.
Play a leadership role in creating strong
membership support for the local’s plan
for strategic growth. We will be the
top tier of leadership—those that plan,
organize, and implement new programs
for the union.
Develop strategies to significantly
expand the number of members
engaged in the leadership of the union.
The Union will support new units
with staff and resources to grow full
members and future leaders within the
newly organized unit.
Review, and where necessary, adapt
Officer and Executive Board Member
responsibilities to advance the union’s
evolving goals. Executive Board
members and recognized Union leaders
will support other units as needed when
staff is not available.
Build a united vision and community
of interest between Executive
Board members and give them the
opportunity to lead by learning about
other units other than our own, i.e.,
“shadowing,” “ a day in the life…”
Make recommendations to the
membership on a progressive dues
system.
Develop internal capacity to record our
history and chronicle our future. As
leaders, there will be defined means of
communication to broaden awareness
of all units in Local 500.
Membership Empowerment and
Engagement
Building meaningful strength for
ourselves means creating a memberdriven organization and opportunities
for us to assume greater responsibility
in winning on critical issues. We must
create greater workplace leadership and
those leaders must become the day-to-day
face of our union—both at our worksites
and in the community. Local 500 will:
Develop and implement a plan to
educate and invest Local 500 members
in the union’s Strategic Growth Agenda,
clearly define how it will directly
benefit current members, and how
new members will be provided with
services.
Continue to build and train worksite
leaders and create other leadership
opportunities so that 10 percent of
members are engaged in the leadership
of our union.
Increase participation in COPE (the
local’s political action committee) by all
eligible members by twenty percent per
year.
Increase lobbying activities—on the
local, state and national level—to
forward the interest of SEIU Local 500
members and their allies.
Create opportunities for our divisions
and chapters to develop their own
strategies for expanding membership
participation.
Develop and implement a plan to
mobilize members in elections in
Maryland, Washington, DC, and
other jurisdictions significant to our
members.
Develop a program for ongoing
bargaining issues.
Increase our members’ knowledge
of what “One Big Union” looks like
and feels like. Be proactive and open
minded to information from the Union.
Encourage and support our members as
they engage in broader movements that
focus on economic and social justice
for all peoples in our community.
Provide ongoing communication to
our members to encourage them to
get active, stay informed, and, in turn,
communicate with their coworkers,
allies, and family members.
Uniting Our Strength
There is an absolute connection between
the size of our union, our geographic
breadth, the percentage of industries
that we have organized, and our ability
to create meaningful change for our
members. Our growth must be targeted,
strategic, and consistent with our future
vision. Local 500 will:
Fully align our union’s external growth
strategy with the industry focuses
identified by the SEIU Public Division.
Building on our successes in uniting
part-time faculty at the George
Washington University, American
University, and Montgomery College
into a movement of part-time faculty
throughout Maryland, Northern
Virginia, and Washington, DC.
Build on our success in uniting
subsidized home-based childcare
providers in Maryland, and unite
center-based and home-based childcare
providers in Maryland, Virginia, and
Washington, DC.
Continue to unite developmental
disabilities workers in Maryland and
Washington, DC.
Local 500 is committed to continuing
to employ “Justice for All” strategies to
improve the lives of union members and
all working people.
Identify members to develop a
Washington, DC non-profit organizing
committee and develop a strategy to
bring more non-profit workers into the
union.
Develop a strategy to engage members
who are interested in forming
organizing brigades.
Political Action
In the public sector, we elect those who
employ us. We cannot win for our
members and our communities without
helping to elect progressive leaders.
Local 500 will:
Work to support full implementation of
affordable healthcare for all Americans.
Create more training opportunities and
more actions that broadly engage our
members in politics and give them a
leadership role in lobbying and electoral
campaigns that impact their future.
Win omnibus legislation that expands
the rights of public employees to form
unions in Maryland and Virginia.
Work collaboratively with SEIU’s
State Council to elect leaders at all
levels of government in Maryland and
Washington, DC who are committed to
the interests of our members.
Refine and expand Local 500’s political
action and candidate endorsement
process that is transparent and broadly
inclusive of our membership.
Fight for a clear path to citizenship for
hardworking, taxpaying immigrants.
Develop projects that make SEIU
members the leading force for quality
services at the local, state, and federal
level and to ensure that everyone,
including big corporations and the rich,
contribute their fair share.
Create opportunities for greater
participation by our Republican, thirdparty, and unaffiliated members in
Local 500’s political program.
Develop the union’s political program
and presence in newly organized
jurisdictions (such as Anne Arundel
and Howard Counties) and expand our
COPE Committee to include members
from those jurisdictions.
Win political commitments from
elected officials and increase
accountability to our members in
Maryland and Washington, DC to
expand organizing and collective
bargaining rights.