SEIU-UHW Executive Board Meeting Starts the Year with a Bang
By William Becklehimer
Evergreen Springs Road Healthcare Center
SEIU-UHW Executive Board Member
It’s only February and already our SEIU-UHW Executive Board is hard at work. 2012 is a big year for SEIU-UHW members statewide moving Let’s Get Healthy California! forward.
This Feb. 2-4 our Executive Board met for the fourth time in Fresno to move our plans for 2012 forward, debate and approve our union’s 2012 budget.
We also reconfirmed a commitment to our top priorities:
- Win strong contracts for the more than 100,000 SEIU-UHW members in contract negotiations this year.
- Re-design and re-envision home care in California.
- Let’s Get Healthy California! to improve healthcare in California
- Work to reduce healthcare costs and increase charity care for the needy.
- Help more healthcare workers form their union with SEIU-UHW, to raise standards for care and working conditions statewide.
- Mobilize members to elect state and national leaders who prioritize healthy communities and good healthcare jobs.
- Recruit 10,000 SEIU-UHW members to lead on politics, organizing, healthcare and representation, AND implement a program that is the gold standard for union member representation and problem-solving.
Nataliia Shyngirii, Executive Board Member
“We’re working on legislation now that would make the in home care program more sustainable and equal throughout the state that would allow us to be part of our clients’ healthcare team. It’s an innovative solution and we need everyone’s support.”
Natalia Shyngirii, San Francisco County Home Care
Connie Taylor-Smith, Executive Board Member
“I’m excited to support getting Californians healthier and lowering healthcare costs. In order to maintain our benefits and ensure our friends and families—and even us—have access to healthcare, we need to bring costs down. Together we can do it.”
Connie Taylor-Smith, Sutter Eden Medical Center
Vidail Menjivar, SEIU-UHW Executive Board Member
“This year we’re doing negotiations differently. We’re still going to win another great contract to protect our benefits, win raises and improve our job security. But we’re also going to negotiate to ensure total health for members and our patients. We want to reward people for stepping up to be healthy role models, incorporate more preventative healthcare to lower costs and expand healthcare in our communities.”
Vidail Menjivar, Kaiser Woodland Hills
Our work to push for better healthcare and better healthcare jobs has not gone unnoticed in the State Capitol either. During this latest meeting, we announced that Governor Jerry Brown will soon sign a new Executive Order called “Let’s Get Healthy California!”—and that definitely got a standing ovation. Then, California Secretary of Health and Human Services Diana Dooley joined our meeting via video to answer our questions and concerns about the state of California healthcare.
This is just the beginning and there’s so much more to do this year. We need every single SEIU-UHW member to step up with us. Come on, Let’s Get Healthy California!
Key Documents:
Budget resolution approved Feb. 4, 2012
Resolution approving accounting firm, Feb. 4, 2012
Meeting minutes coming soon.