SEIU Local 1199WI

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Why Care About The Laws Affecting Jobs?

Some members are conflicted about our union’s active role in the realms of legislation and elections. As politics in America have in some ways reached new lows, this is perfectly understandable. However, SEIU and most other unions are active because we have to be. The truth is, very little can be gained and retained at the bargaining table unless we can increase our strength.

Some of the reasons we must have strength as a union of health care professionals are:

Our working conditions depend on legislation and elections. Many of the rights we take for granted, such as family and medical leave, workers compensation, and full pay for all the work we do, depend on public policy. These rights are under constant assault.

Funding for the services we provide (and our jobs) depends on legislation and elections. Roughly 40 percent of revenue for the hospitals where our members work comes from the government. Approximately 75 percent of nursing home funding is from tax dollars. Of course, 100 percent of the funding for our members’ services in public health and at public institutions is from taxpayers. Funding for these services is now under constant assault, and we must have strength to defend it.

Our missions as health care professionals depend on good public policy. Most of us are in our professions because we care about the patients and residents we serve. And yet the breakdown of our healthcare system jeopardizes everything we stand for. The only conceivable solution to this burgeoning crisis is action by strong elected officials with the will to act.

The right to even have a union and a contract depends on legislation and elections. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of public employees have been denied the legal right to organize and bargain. Human rights groups have extensively documented the war on union activists that continues to deny many millions of workers the right to have unions. Without legislation by elected officials, our rights will continue to be curtailed.

This web page is paid for by SEIU COPE, www.seiucope.org, with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.