Protect your voice in healthcare decisions

SEIU Local 888 members have a lot at stake during conference committee consideration of municipal health insurance provisions, where selected legislators from the House and Senate meet to negotiate differences in their respective Bills, that will be part of the final state budget that is sent to the Governor for signature into law. There are two versions of the legislation – one passed by the House and one by the Senate. They are now being considered by a House-Senate conference committee, and it is important for SEIU 888 members to call on legislators to take the course that gives workers a voice in health care decisions and protects the economic security of working families.

The Senate provisions are an improvement over those approved by the House. The House language calls for giving municipalities the unfettered right to force employees into the GIC or to make plan design changes increasing employee costs to GIC levels. In contrast, the Senate plan protects retirees and the very sick. It calls for coalition bargaining and a dispute-resolution panel, and it includes fairer mitigation provisions for people with high out-of-pocket costs.

Act Now by clicking on the big red button above to send a message to your state representatives!

Union News:

May 18, 2011

April 30th Statewide Emergency Membership Meeting

Members who turned out for the April 30 Emergency meeting discussed the attacks on public workers here in Massachusetts and across the nation, as well as our legislative efforts on municipal healthcare reform and enacting a fair tax system in Massachusetts.

We also heard from speakers including SEIU Executive Vice President Eileen Kirlin and Chuck Collins; author, senior economic scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-founder of USUNCUT. (Members who were unable to attend can watch their presentations on our YouTube channel by clicking here or by clicking on the video at the top of the page.)

The event itself was planned and coordinated by rank and file members of the Member Power Team. The team is group of Local 888 union activists from chapters across the state who have been meeting regularly to reinvigorate our union and build power for our members. The Member Power team is moving forward with a series of regional meetings to shar

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Invest in Our Future: Stop Deep Budget Cuts!

What: Revenue Committee Hearing
When: Thursday, May 5, 10:00-3:00
Where: State House, Gardner Auditorium
The House Budget will make well over a billion dollars in cuts to essential services for our communities!
We need a balanced approach to this deficit so we can still invest in our schools, our children, and our communities, and rebuild our economy.

The Revenue Committee will hear our legislation on May 5th!

Testify or support testimony calling for a fair and progressive solution to the budget crisis:

“We can’t cut our way out of this deficit. We need to raise new revenue, in the fairest way, to invest in our future.
Support An Act to Invest in Our Communities!”

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SEIU 888 Members Adopt Bargaining Principles

Members who attended the Bargaining Bash on January 29th voted to stand together on the following principles:
• Unity on preserving health insurance
• Protecting the most ill members among us
• Parity on mental health in sick leave
• Fight for legislation to protect all workers for health care issues
• Within employer, combine 888 bargaining units whenever possible
• Parity within bargaining units with respect to benefits
• Advocate job sharing/flex schedules
• Fight against management's efforts to create tiers of members '
• Advocating pro-worker pension reform
• Educate ourselves on municipal laws and city ordinances
• Working towards parity within SEIU statewide
• Encourage member education through SEIU and other unions
• Working toward making benefits (i.e. seniority rights) apply to members across all contracts
• Work toward stronger alliances with other unions
• Be creative in how we address problems through actions (ex. petitions, phone calls, job actions, etc.)
• Finding ways to expedite the arbitration process by evaluating other options
• Initiate and support progressive public policy debates and legislation
• Encourage more member involvement

New 888 Boston Office Open for Business

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Chapter Statements

Starting September 15, 2010 monthly statements will be emailed to all Chapter Chairs/Chapter Presidents, Chapter Vice Presidents, Chief Stewards, Chapter Secretaries and Chapter Treasurers. The purpose of Chapter funds is to support membership building activities by paying expenses such as:

Meals for meetings
Holiday parties
Hall rentals for meetings and holiday parties
Time loss
Travel expenses
Bereavement donations or flowers for members and/or members' immediate family
Charity donations

If you're a leader of your chapter and would like to receive your Chapter statements, please send your updated email and address to chapterfunds@seiu888.org.

You can also download a copy of the Chapter Funds Policy by clicking here.

Debunking the Myth of the Wealthy State Worker

http://www.seiu.org/2010/05/debunking-the-myth-of-the-wealthy-state-worker.php

By Kate Thomas & Jessica Kutch

The Grover Norquists of the world have waged a coordinated, decades-long war on public sector employees. Whether you're a teacher, fire fighter, social worker or engineer - nobody has escaped the right's smear campaign. Attacking the imagined wealth of public employees is a constant refrain in the Republican playbook:

* Sen. Scott Brown denounced the "lavish pay and benefit packages [that] have unfortunately become a way of life for public employees."
* The Wall Street Journal editorialized that public employees - and their unions - "may be the single biggest problem" for the nation's economy.
* And CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger claimed that the "The single biggest threat to the fiscal health and California's future, obviously, is our public pension system."
* Reason.com continues, writing that public sector workers have "turned themselves into a coddled class that lives better than its private sector counterpart."

But this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, while we've demanded more from public services in the past decade, we've paid our public servants far less. The gap between public and private sector wages has widened, making public sector jobs less competitive than they were 20 years ago. A new report by the National Institute for Retirement Security (NIRS) and the Council on State and Local Government Excellence (CSGE) finds that we pay our state and local public sector employees 11-12% less than their private sector counterparts.

The right wing has seized on the economic downturn as an excuse to rail against public employee compensation, often in favor of private contractors and overhyped privatization schemes. Recently, the headlines have only gotten worse. The Christian Science Monitor printed a commentary, "Want a balanced budget? Cut state workers' pay." Michelle Malkin has invited readers to "compare your salary to a California public employee's."

But pegging the massive economic crash on an underpaid civil servant is not only misguided--it's highly suspect. Writes Amy Traub of the Drum Major Institute, "Those looking for a 'coddled class' should look to the Wall Street bonus pool, not the Parks Department." It's just too bad that the right isn't more interested in Lloyd Blankfein's lavish pay.

Jobs at 888: Staff Attorney

Responsibilities: The Staff Attorney will serve as chief legal advisor for all legal matters of the Union.

Example of Duties:
   •   Provide legal advice to leadership and staff on all aspects of Union operations.
   •   Consult with Union departments on legal issues pertaining to their work.
   •   Provide advice on compliance with federal, state and local laws.
   •   Provide advice and recommendations on appropriate legal strategies.
   •   Represent the Union in legal proceedings.
   •   Monitor work and billings of outside counsel.

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SEIU 888 Local Leaders

Pervasive Democracy
Transparent Finances
Aggressive Representation
Vigorous Negotiations
Persistent Growth

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PUBLIC WORKERS ARE NOT PUBLIC ENEMIES

There have been a lot of negative things written about public workers lately. not just in our local newspapers, but everywhere we turn. Our healthcare benefits are too generous. Our pension costs are too onerous. Governments should make do with less, as should the people who staff them.

Our healthcare benefits have been won over a period of years. Our unions have done like other unions. We have traded higher wage increases for better benefits. That is the case not only with our healthcare benefits, but our pension plans, our sick days, our personal days and other things dickered over at the bargaining table. We have behaved no differently than autoworkers, steelworkers or airline workers.

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