SEIU Members Take Action to Fight Cuts, Job-Killing Proposals
SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members want to make sure their members of Congress know that we cannot solve the ongoing debt ceiling debate through cut and gut economic policies only. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid will cost jobs and hurt those who have helped support the programs. SEIU members visited the district offices of Representatives Tim Holden and Jason Altmire to make sure the message was delivered loud and clear.
“The proposed cuts of $500 billion to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security will put the lives of our most vulnerable citizens at risk,” said Denise Cox, a worker at Friendship Ridge Nursing Home. “Seniors and working families did not create this crisis, but the government is planning to fix the problem on the backs of seniors and the working class.”
- Click here to call your Representative and Senator RIGHT NOW and tell them to stand strong against these cuts.
- See TV coverage of the members in action.
- Read coverage of the visit to Rep. Holden’s offices here and here.
- Read coverage of the visit to Rep. Altmire’s offices here, here and here.
SEIU: Close Wealth Gaps with Good Jobs
In response to a newly released Pew Research Center report about the growing wealth gap for minorities, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said that “communities of color, despite decades of gains, will likely face an imbalanced recovery because of economic disparities.”
The report shows that millions of African American and Latino workers are experiencing the largest wealth gap in 25 years. The median net worth for white families is 20 times the net worth of African Americans and 18 times the net worth of Hispanics.. “We need to take a stand to create good jobs that help rebuild the middle class and help workers provide a strong future for their children,” said Henry.
- Click here to read the full statement.
- Click here to read Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics.
Pelosi and other Democrats Rally Workers to Defend Workers
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other congressional Democrats stood with workers today at a press conference calling out the right-wing’s state-by-state strategy to eliminate workers’ rights writ large and the GOP’s efforts to restrict the National Labor Relations Board’s authority. “We will not stand idly by while workers’ rights are violated and the middle class is under attack,” said Pelosi in front of an array of workers.
The House is expected to vote this week on legislation that would place limits on the NLRB.
- Click here to read more.
Ohio’s Middle Class Will Stand Up for the Affordable Care Act
Calling it an “amendment that will put the ability of all Ohioans to receive affordable and quality health coverage in jeopardy,” SEIU District 1199 President Becky Williams decried the proposed “health freedom amendment” in a statement released today. Under The Ohio Project’s guise of free choice, the amendment would, in effect, erode the progress made by the Affordable Care Act.