From the Desk of the President

It is hard to believe that the we are already in the month of July and the first half of 2009 is already completed. As I look back on the first half of this year the members of SEIU Healthcare Local 150-WI have been involved in many actions around healthcare, employee free choice, and contract actions, just to name a few. At the beginning of the year members had a chance to work on a new program to hold our elected leaders accountable to ensure that we pass Healthcare Reform and the Employee Free Choice Act at a National level. This program continues and we are on the horizon to actually see this happen. This has been a long time coming and is an accomplishment that we as a Union should be proud of. We are bringing the Middle Class back to America.
Members across the state have been telling their story on Healthcare Reform and have had a chance to Lobby both at the Capitol in Madison as well as our nations Capitol in D.C. We need to put the pressure on our elected officials to ensure that our agenda around Healthcare Reform gets Passed by the end of this year. So. call your senators and Congressmen and women to let them know that it is important to pass Healthcare Reform.
We are on the verge of passing legislation on Labor Reform through a bill in Congress called the Employee Free Choice Act.   EFCA would help to level the playing field and give workers the freedom to choose a union . When workers are free to choose to join a union, our economy can work for everyone again.
A lot of the political work wouldn't be possible without members contributing to COPE which is our Committee on Political Education. We have led the way in SEIU with COPE and want to con¬tinue to be a force. Without COPE contributions from Members we would not have been able to make it so far in pushing Healthcare Reform and Employee Free Choice. If you are not contributing to COPE and would like to you contribute please contact your Union Representative at your facility. We could not do this work without the Members Voice.
After over 8 years of dedicated work in the Home-care Sector the Independent Providers have won the right to organize. The governor signed the budget on June 20th making this happen. This is a great accomplishment for Homecare Workers in the State of Wisconsin.
As we enjoy the summer months we can look forward to a fall full of possibilities and regaining the middle class. We can start this kick-off with Labor Day Celebrations throughout the state. We all should be proud of the work that we do everyday.
In Solidarity. Mike Thomas