SEIU members and activists set out today with renewed efforts as we entered a critical 36-hour phase in the campaign to help protect Fresno home care workers and services. Many members started receiving their ballots today, and SEIU-UHW members like Nubia Brennan, a transcriber at Kaiser LAMC were out meeting with Fresno home care workers.
Nubia met with home care worker Maria Alvarez, who showed her the envelope and confirmed, "Yo voté hoy para SEIU-UHW. Ayer no sabía cual era el verdadero, pero SEIU siempre ha sido mi unión. Le dije a mi hermana que tiene que votar también." ["Today I voted for SEIU-UHW. Yesterday I wasn't sure which was the real deal, but SEIU has always been my union. I told my sister she better vote too."]
"There's a lot of responsibility on our shoulders today and tomorrow, but we'll go the extra mile to make sure we help these workers," Nubia said.
As part of this critical push, Los Angeles home care member Frederick Lee caught up today with Bobbi Banks, a Fresno home care worker who takes care of her husband. Bobbi said she's an enthusiastic supporter of SEIU because, "I worked in Las Vegas when I was in my 20s, and SEIU was strong then and strong now."
While Bobbi and Frederick talked about the union and the need for its strength, it became clear that the budget crisis--and the governor's plans to cut home care--is taking a toll on her. Tears welled up as she described the effect of the economy on her family. Pointing above her, she said, "We used to have the two bedroom apartment upstairs. But with the threatened cuts to my pay, and the cuts to my husband's Federal support--well we just couldn't afford it." The proposed cuts in Fresno County could cut home care worker pay by more than $1 an hour as early as July 1st.
She went on to say, "We can't afford to take chances on some union that doesn't have any members. Now Schwarzenegger is talking about even more cuts. We need a union with 2 million members. People are hurting, we don't need some organization that just has a few hotshots trying to divide us."
Joey Santana, an SEIU-UHW member from Modesto met up with Fresno home care worker Kathi Ball and her consumer, Bobby Moulds to talk about the cuts today. "My primary concern isn't even so much about keeping a good job for me. I'm more concerned about what's going to happen to Bobby. He's tried a convalescent home before and it just did not work out. If the County keeps cutting back on services I don't know what's going to happen to him," Kathy said.
After they visited, Joey talked about his experiences at Modesto's Doctor's Medical Center where he works for a company called HHS. "When I started working for HHS we were getting a lot of fliers from UHW bad-mouthing SEIU. It didn't make any sense to me; I mean, we're all part of the same organization. It didn't seem like fighting amongst ourselves was going to be of any use to the members. That's why I'm sticking with the side that wants to keep the union members together--that's the only way we'll win." Joey is on the SEIU-UHW bargaining team at Doctor's and just helped negotiate a great new contract.
A Voice for the Hmong Community
Fresno County has a large population of Hmong-speaking home care workers. To help keep this community strong within SEIU-UHW and fight back against the budget cuts, a number of SEIU Hmong-speaking members and activists have come from other California cities and Minnesota to talk with home care workers on the doors.
Kham Mova is a junior at Winona State in Minnesota, and he volunteered his time to come and speak with members of his community about the real issues they face as home care workers. "I think it's important that people come together and protect what matters to them--especially keeping what they've won like health benefits. My grandmother was a home care worker and when she was sick later in life it was home care workers who took care of her. It means a lot to me to be here."
Kham was joined by Joseph Yang, also from Minnesota. He commented that, "In reaching out to home care workers I see they have a voice in SEIU-UHW--this matters! It's a great experience talking to members who feel safe in their union."
SEIU-UHW Vows to Block Governor's Assault on Home Care
In response to Governor Schwarzenegger's speech to the joint session of California legislators this morning--SEIU-UHW trustee Eliseo Medina said, "The governor's proposed cuts to home care would add up to 340,000 people to the ranks of the unemployed, moving California's unemployment rate to 12.8 percent--nearly tied with Michigan for the highest in the nation. This is exactly the opposite of what California needs."
The governor's proposed cuts would:
- Cost the state more than a BILLION DOLLARS a year in lost federal funds.
- Possibly force 395,000 elderly or disabled Californians out of their homes as they lose home care services.
But SEIU-UHW is fighting back with:
- An aggressive statewide campaign to stop the cuts made by the Fresno Board of Supervisors and the legislature from going into effect.
- A class-action lawsuit to stop the State of California and Fresno County from slashing the wages of home care workers.
- A 48-hour vigil in Sacramento last week where hundreds of home care workers from across the state descended on the state capitol to meet with assembly members.
Watch new SEIU-UHW member and upcoming leader Frank Valdez canvass for the first time with mentor May Santiago. In the process, he strengthens his commitment to support and fight alongside his fellow union members in their time of need.
