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'SHOW SOME GUTS, STOP THE CUTS'
SEIU Local 73 members and staff were among the estimated 15,000 concerned citizens of Illinois who rallied at the Statehouse in Springfield on Wednesday April 21 in support of a sustainable solution to the state budget crisis. The coalition of teachers, government employees, health workers, social service agencies and seniors marched around the Capitol calling on lawmakers to fully fund essential public services, even if that means taxes must be increased. Click for coverage at progressillinois.com, Photos


SEIU PRESIDENT
ANDY STERN
ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

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April 14, 2010
     Today, Andy Stern, president of the 2.2-million member Service Employees International Union, announced his plans to retire.
     A 38-year member of the union, Stern has spent the last 14 years making SEIU North America’s largest and the world’s fastest growing union.
     “With the strength and power of SEIU members voices we have accomplished what once seemed unimaginable," Stern said.
     Stern explained his decision in this video to SEIU members.
Andy Stern: A lifetime of achievement
Share your message of appreciation with Andy Stern

Click on the READ MORE link below to read the entire SEIU news release: 

» Read more

Health Insurance Reform:
The Facts, Questions and Answers
For Workers Who Deliver Public Services


March 30, 2010
from the SEIU Public Services Division
  
     SEIU public service members were a national force driving the passage of the historic health care legislation President Obama signed into law on Tuesday March 23, 2010.
     The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an enormous victory for every working family who ever worried about how they were going to pay for their children’s health care, struggled in the face of medical bankruptcy or saw their dreams taken away by skyrocketing health care costs.
     SEIU members should be very proud to share this good news with their family, friends, and neighbors.

Click on the link below for The Facts: What Health
Insurance Reform Means to America’s Working Families

» Read the complete article

SEIU Local 73: Quinn should 'step up to the plate and meet with Labor' on pension bill

March 26, 2010
from www.ilafl-cio.org

     In what could have been the worst week in recent legislative history for public employees, Governor Quinn, Speaker Madigan and President Cullerton collectively threw state and municipal workers under the bus in a hasty political move that cut pensions, upped the retirement age, reduced COLAs and capped retirement earnings.
     “Labor has been denied a seat at the table on this critical issue of pensions and the future livelihoods of public employees,” said Christine Boardman, president of SEIU Local 73. “The Governor should step up to the plate and meet with Labor on an amendatory veto process for this legislation.”
    "This legislation was introduced and passed out of committee before anyone had a chance to review it, " said Michael T. Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. "That’s not the way you treat your employees. And that’s not the way you treat your friends who worked so hard to get you elected.”

Click below to read the complete article:
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Illinois' 'all-out-offensive' on union pensions

By Adam Doster
progressillinois.com
March 25, 2010

     In the blink of an eye yesterday, the General Assembly passed  (by a wide margin) a historic overhaul of Illinois' public employee pension system.
     It's important to remember that these cuts do not effect current employees.
     Still, organized labor is furious over the legislation -- and with good reason.
     Illinois' current level of benefits is modest and in line with other states in the region.
     The primary reason the state’s pension system is so out of whack is that state lawmakers -- instead of reforming the tax system to raise revenue sustainable and fairly -- have skimped on payments for decades, using money designated for the pension system to cover core services.
     In short, lawmakers misrepresented the problem instead of owning up to their own failures. And in devising a political solution, they threw their key allies under the bus.

Read the full article at progressillinois.com

 

Two-tiered pension system passed by state lawmakers; Quinn to sign measure into law


Springfield
March 25, 2010

     A pension reform bill to create a two-tiered benefits system for Illinois state retirement systems moved swiftly through both legislative chambers Wednesday.
     The changes to the pension systems would only apply to newly hired employees and would not affect the benefits of anyone currently working for government entities.
     Employees hired after the bill takes effect would have to wait until age 67 to get full benefits. They could start receiving benefits at age 62 with a 6 percent reduction for each year they draw their pension before 67.

Read more about what's in the bill at the Illinois Issues blog
More coverage: progressillinois,com, chicagotribune.com, sj-r.com

» Read more

CENSUS 2010:
EVERYONE COUNTS!!!

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     Census forms are now arriving in the mail at every household in the United States. 
     By law, the census is a count of every person residing in the U.S.
     The count must include people of all ages, races, and ethnic groups, citizens and non-citizens - and YES, THAT INCLUDES IMMIGRANTS.
    The census is crucial to all of us. IT SHAPES THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITIES AND DEFINES OUR VOICE IN CONGRESS.

     No matter what you may hear, it is a fact that the information collected by the Census Bureau is COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL.
      What is the census? Why is it important? Who gets counted?
Click here for the answers and much more

» Read more

Open letter to U.S. Senate from 180 organizations: Vote for health care reform

March 24, 2010
By Jessica Kutch, seiu.org

     Today, SEIU joined hundreds of groups and organizations across the country in signing onto an open letter to the U.S. Senate. The message was simple: a "no" on amendments is a "yes" on health care reform.

Click here to read the entire letter at seiu.org
UPDATE: Senate passes recondillation package (seiu.org)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: THIS IS WHAT CHANGE LOOKS LIKE

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(White house photo / Lawrence Jackson)

March 22, 2010   
    The House voted last night to pass the most significant health reform legislation this country has seen in decades. And now, millions of Americans stand to benefit from lower costs, expanded coverage and tough consumer protections. 
   After the historical vote, the President, with Vice President Joe Biden at his side, spoke to the nation: VIDEO
    SEIU President Andy Stern reacts: It's a new day.
   The vote is one of the most important achievements by the U.S. Congress in a generation. And you made it happen. seiu.org.
     How did your representative vote? Find out and contact them.

» Read more

MARCH FOR AMERICA:
THOUSANDS TURN OUT
FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

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March 22, 2010
     Nine of our Local 73 union brothers and sisters stood shoulder-to-shoulder with tens of thousands of immigrants, union members and activists on Sunday for a rally on the National Mall to demand that Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform.
     "It was a true honor to participate in this important event for our community," said Union Representative Ricardo Loza, who led the Local 73 delegation, which traveled by bus from Chicago to Washington.
     March coverage: seiu.org, washingtonpost.com, Video, Photos
     Eliseo Medina: The Time Is Now, Get involved: Call your senators

» Read more

QUINN REVISES PITCH FOR NEW REVENUE

Springfield
March 10, 2010

     In his budget address today, Gov. Pat Quinn tweaked, re-framed, and scaled back his plan to raise taxes to ease the state budget crisis.
     Quinn called for a 33 percent increase in the state income tax rate to raise money for education and ease deep cuts proposed in his new budget plan.    
     His latest proposal, raising the tax rate from 3 percent to 4 percent, is more modest than any of his previous plans.

Click here for text and analysis at progressillinois.com
VIDEO: Gov. Quinn makes pitch for income tax hike
VIDEO: Speaker Madigan admires Gov. Quinn's 'courage'

Activists demand federal action on unemployment

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(March 3, 2010)     
     As the U.S. Senate prepares to take up a bill to extend the deadline for unemployment benefits through the end of the year, anti-hunger and labor advocates in Chicago want lawmakers to remember just how intensely people are struggling here in the Midwest.
     Wednesday, Chicago Jobs With Justice (CJWJ) organized a "Senate Soup Kitchen" in Federal Plaza to dramatize the need for relief.

Read more at progressillinois.com
VIDEO: Chicagoans visit the 'Senate Soup Kitchen'
GOP filibuster kings 'taking a stand' on backs of jobless 

» Read more

Stern 'honored' to serve
on Obama's debt commission

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(February 26, 2010)
     Today, SEIU President Andy Stern was chosen by President Obama as one of his six choices to serve on a bipartisan commission to recommend ways to reduce the national debt.
     The panel will consist of 18 members: eight Republicans and 10 Democrats.
     "I am honored to have been asked to serve," Stern said. "and thank President Obama for ensuring that the voice of ordinary working Americans will be heard."
 
Read Andy Stern's complete statement (seiu.org)

» Read more

SEIU's Anna Burger on jobs bill: Good
first step in getting America back to work

Washington
February 22, 2010

     SEIU has released a statement from Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger on the Senate's successful cloture vote on the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act.
     The Senate moved to advance the $15 billion job-creation package to the floor, with support from five Republicans, including newly-elected Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
     "Today the Senate took the first step in getting America back to work," Burger said. "The next step is even more critical."
      "With a crisis of such epic proportions, Congress and this Administration must act boldly and bravely to get people back to work -- and to solve the problems that got us here in the first place."

Read Anna Burger's complete statement

     

Protesters flood Springfield
to push for fair, sustainable budget

Springfield
February 17, 2010

     Today, SEIU members and staff were among the more than 1,000 members of the Responsible Budget Coalition who traveled to the state capitol in Springfield to remind lawmakers that they must pass a sustainable budget this year.
     At large rally in the rotunda -- followed by individual office visits -- the protesters reminded their representatives that no part of their job is more important than passing a budget that protects the health, education, and well-being of Illinois' citizens. And doing so will require new revenue.

Click here for coverage at progressillinois.com
VIDEO:  RBC members rally in Springfield (progressillinois.com)

 

SEIU: Recovery Act,
Unsung Hero of the Year

Washington
February 17, 2010

    One year in, the evidence is clear – and growing by the day – that the Recovery Act is working to cushion the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and lay a new foundation for economic growth.
     Today, SEIU marked the anniversary of the act by releasing a report that explains how the legislation helped counter the recession by protecting human services and the workers employed to deliver those services at a local level.
     Click here to read more at seiu.org
     Click here for Anna Burger's statement on the Recovery Act
     Vice President Biden also issued a report today on the progress made since the Recovery Act was signed into law.
     Click here to read more at whitehouse.gov
     What does the Recovery Act look like in your community?
     Click here to find out at recovery.gov
     And according to blogger Ezra Klein of the Washington Post:
      The big story on the stimulus: It worked
  
   

LOCAL 73, ALLIES DONATE HUNDREDS OF COATS, HATS, GLOVES TO OUR VETERANS

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     The SEIU Local 73 Veterans Caucus would like to thank everyone who participated in our coat drive for veterans and their families.
     The effort was a smashing success with hundreds of coats, hats, scarfs and gloves collected for our brave fighting men and women.
      Teamsters Local 786 and Teamsters Joint Council 25 also participated in the effort -- as did the office of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.

Photos: Veterans coat drive

» Read more

Attention SEIU Local 73 Members at Chicago Public Schools

Please be advised that your Union is closely monitoring the budget and staffing situation at CPS. About four weeks ago the Chicago School Board voted to pay scheduled wage increases. To date the Board has not advised the Union of any large scale layoff nor asked for salary or other concessions (unpaid holidays or furlough days, etc.) although there have been meetings in which the budget was discussed in general. The union has made requests for lists of laid off and to-be-laid-off members. CPS has not yet responded to local 73's request, even as layoff letters have gone out to CTU members according to press accounts. 

 

GENERAL
MEMBERSHIP
MEETINGS

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Saturday July 17
Downstate Illinois (Cancelled)
Saturday October 2
Chicago (Teamster City)

» Read more

Attention SEIU Local 73 Members at Chicago Public Schools

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 Please be advised that your Union is closely monitoring the budget and staffing situation at CPS. About four weeks ago the Chicago School Board voted to pay scheduled wage increases. To date the Board has not advised the Union of any large scale layoff nor asked for salary or other concessions (unpaid holidays or furlough days, etc.) although there have been meetings in which the budget was discussed in general. The union has made requests for lists of laid off and to-be-laid-off members. CPS has not yet responded to local 73's request, even as layoff letters have gone out to CTU members according to press accounts. 

» Read more