May 2010
Chandler Members Speak Up on Health Insurance Costs
As member-employees spoke, there was a definite buzz on the dais, with elected officials, city administrators, and the city attorney all doing a little "meeting and conferring" of their own. We know that in politics, the "action is in the reaction." Congratulations to the members who spoke and participated!
This won't be our last visit to the City Council. Watch this space or this one for details.
Jackie Awosika Elected Tempe Chapter President
Jacquelyn Awosika, an early and hard-working supporter of SEIU Arizona, has been elected President of the Tempe Chapter.
She won a closely-contested race that saw substantial support for both David Morriston and Shawn Thomson, two well-qualified candidates who have always gone the extra mile to build our chapter.
For the first time in our history here in Arizona, the leadership election was conducted online as well as at polling places located at various city facilities. More than 50 people cast online ballots for Chapter President and many also voted online for Union Representatives in their departments.
An Executive Vice President of the chapter during Jack Batty's term as President, Jackie brings enthusiasm and commitment to the position to continue growing our union based on the solid foundation laid by Jack and previous Chapter leaders.
Jackie Awosika joined SEIU Arizona in September, 2006 and has been active as a member of the Bargaining Team and as VP for membership growth, among many other tasks. She has also worked on the Communication Action Team and on the Labor-Management Committee representing civilian Police Department employees.
Originally from Chicago, Jackie has been a Tempe employee for more than five years. She works in Police Records and is also studying for a degree in criminal justice. Keep an eye out for a Chapter Update from her soon. She takes over the job from Jack Batty July 1.
Also elected were Union Representatives in three departments. Shawn Thomson, who served as interim Chapter President in 2007 and has been part of the Bargaining Team, was elected Union Rep for Public Works. Civilian Police Department members elected Corey Lines and Kim Miller as Union Reps and Solid Waste Department members chose Natalya Christenson and Tim Peek as their Union Reps.
Thanks to all the candidates who stood for election, and congratulations to Jackie and our new Union Representatives.
Member Update from Pima Chapter President
Maya Castillo, President of SEIU Arizona's Pima Chapter, sent this letter out to members Wednesday, May 19 ...
I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Maya Castillo and I am the new Pima Chapter President. I am not only a full time Pima County employee, working in the Pima County Public Library at the Santa Rosa Branch Library, but also a Tucson native, a wife, and the mother of a 2 ½ year-old girl who is the funniest part of my life. I am the daughter of a retired City employee and a retired County employee, so I guess it can be said that public service runs in the family. And when I told an aunt that I'd be taking on the role of chapter president, the first thing she said was that my grandparents would be so proud.
For me, union membership is a great way to be active in my community. Not only are we employees of Pima County, but we're mothers, daughters, wives and fathers, sons, husbands. We have families and friends who make up the community we serve and we ourselves benefit from the services that Pima County provides. We check out library books, we use parks, we need clean water and a healthy community. What better way to serve our families and friends than to belong to an organization that supports the very county employees that provide many crucial services to our families, friends, and neighbors?
I came to this position during a very exciting time for our union. We're in the middle of the Meet and Confer process, where we won an additional $3 million toward our county healthcare options when county management wanted employees to absorb the entire 16% increase imposed by United Healthcare. It's an election year. Our Arizona State employee brothers and sisters are getting themselves organized. SB1070 was signed by Governor Jan Brewer. And most importantly we're putting a significant effort toward growing our own union and our own power as Pima County employees.
There are many ways you can help with these efforts:
All members are invited to an orientation on Thursday, May 27 at either noon or 5:30 pm. We'll discuss member benefits, give you your member ID and free SEIU T-shirt, and get you connected with other members--and have pizza. Invite your friends and fellow county employees who aren't yet members and encourage them to get their questions answered and join. Members are eligible for work release time for this meeting so let us know if you can make it.
Join me and other members as we reach out to more county employees and ask them to join. We'll be at the union hall, 1600 N Tucson Blvd, Ste 100, every Monday from 5:00-7:00 pm. We'll provide some food so feel free to bring your families (I'll bring mine). We'll be making this a regular event so that everyone will get a chance to lend a hand.
Another way to help is to get your family, friends, and coworkers registered to vote. Our current governor has hurt State employees by not allowing them their fairly won right to vote to create a union and has hurt our economy even more by signing SB1070. We must replace her with someone who will allow our state employees the right to form a union and to Meet and Confer, the same rights that we in Pima County have.
SB1070 is hurting this state economically by forcing local governments to put additional funding into law enforcement - additional resources that we don't have. We cannot afford to put more public employees and public services at risk for further cuts or elimination.
Last, but not least, I'd like your help in creating a friendly and welcoming environment at our union hall, one where we all feel comfortable and willing to bring our families. Some of my happiest childhood memories took place in offices just like ours, "helping" make signs and "managing" campaigns. I'd like our union hall and our chapter to be an easy part of our busy lives. Please let me know if you'd like to help with this effort.
Please call 884-8100 and let us know how you can help.
If you'd like to RSVP for the member orientation, want more information about our current activities, the Meet and Confer process, or just to chat about your experience as a Pima County employee, please give me a call at the SEIU office, 884-8100 or on my cell phone, 289-7936. I can also be reached by email at maya.castillo@seiu5az.org. I'd like to meet you and am happy to come visit your worksite or neighborhood coffee shop at a convenient time for you. I'll keep you all updated by email about the Meet and Confer process and other activities.
I look forward to seeing you and hearing from you.
Maya A. Castillo
President, Pima Chapter
SEIU Arizona
SEIU Joins Lawsuit Challenging SB 1070
As you may know, your union, the Service Employees International Union, joined with other labor unions and civil rights groups in a lawsuit to challenge the legality of SB 1070.
SEIU leaders have joined in this action to block implementation of the law because they know that it will harm the civil rights of individual members and hurt the financial interests of all members as cities and counties face out-of-control costs to enforce it. With budgets being slashed everywhere in our state, the last thing we need is an unfunded mandate to enforce federal responsibilities to control illegal immigration. (Read our earlier statement on this issue)
"Arizona's new immigration law is a flawed solution to a serious problem," said Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President of SEIU and one of the leaders who helped create our union here in Arizona. "If implemented, the law will violate our most basic civil rights, burden local law enforcement and undermine public safety, all while failing to solve Arizona's immigration problems."
In addition to SEIU, the lawsuit was filed on behalf the United Food and Commercial Workers International (UFCW), Arizona South Asians for Safe Families (ASAFSF), Southside Presbyterian Church, Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Asian Chamber of Commerce of Arizona, and other social justice organizations and individuals who may be subject to harassment or arrest under the law.
The issue of immigration reform is an emotional one, and opinions about the issue are as varied as the members of our union. Since our International union joined a widespread national boycott in response to SB 1070, SEIU Arizona has heard from many members who are angry about this law and heartened that our union is taking a stand - and other members who are angry about the stand we are taking. Our union is one place where public employees with different viewpoints but common interests can come together, say what we think, and then work together for our common good.
When all is said and done, however, we believe that SB 1070 is precisely the wrong answer to the immigration problem. We joined as plaintiffs because we also believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - the sooner this law is repealed, revoked or declared unconstitutional, the better for the members of SEIU Arizona and everyone in our state.
And the sooner the federal government takes responsibility for the problems Arizona faces because of the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, the sooner we can really solve the problem of illegal immigration.
The legal challenge filed May 17 by the American Civil Liberties Union, MALDEF, the NAACP, the National Immigration Law Center and others charges that SB 1070 unlawfully interferes with federal power and authority over immigration matters in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution; invites racial profiling against people of color by law enforcement in violation of the equal protection guarantee and prohibition on unreasonable seizures under the Fourteenth and Fourth Amendments; and violates the privileges and immunities clause of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit also charges that the law violates the Arizona Constitution's prohibition on investigatory stops by law enforcement without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
Member Orientation - Get Connected
If you haven't got your free SEIU Arizona T-shirt ... if you haven't got your SEIU Arizona Member ID Card ... if you haven't taken advantage of the terrific benefits available to members only ...
Well, you're just not connected. But here's the remedy ...
Pima Chapter Member Orientation
Thursday, May 27, 2010
12 - 1 pm OR 5:30 - 6:30 pm
SEIU Offices
1600 N. Tucson Blvd., Suite 100
Tucson 85716 (See Map)
Stop by either time and get connected. Got a friend or co-worker who wants to join? Bring 'em along. Pizza will be served, too! And Pima County employees are eligible for release time to attend the orientation.
RSVP on our Facebook page.
Go here for the 12 - 1 pm orientation.
Go here for the 5:30 - 6:30 pm orientation.
Questions? Email Pima Chapter President Maya Castillo or call her at (520) 289-7936.
Why Doesn't Self-Insurance Save Us Something?
Over the next 3 years, the City of Chandler wants to raise what we pay for health insurance by as much as 708%. Depending on your plan, you could pay up to $2,214.12 more per year.
SEIU and City management representatives have spent many hours at the bargaining table discussing the impact of the City's proposed move to self-insurance - a move SEIU supports.
Self-insurance cuts out the insurance company middle-man (last year Aetna made $1.3 billion in profits!), and means the City will start reimbursing our health care providers directly. This cuts out the insurance company's high administrative fees and exorbitant profit margin.
But how much of that savings will come back to employees and our families?
While the City's premiums will go down, the City proposes to start charging us 20% of premium costs. The current SEIU memorandum of understanding guarantees that "the City will pay 90% of any increase and employees will pay 10% of any increase in health insurance costs."
Paying 20% of the premium is not just double the current 10% of the increase. This last year, since the premium did not go up, we didn't pay any more. But next year, when the cost of self-funded premiums goes down, the City wants us to pay as much as three times more.
The chart below shows what the City's proposal would mean for our health insurance costs:
For example, let's use the employee and children under the HMO plan. In the first year (2011), by switching to self-insurance, the City will realize a savings of almost 27%. Sounds great, right? Here's the catch: looking to the column titled How much more would City pay Next Year", we see that the City's cost per month goes down (by 36%) while the City proposes an increase in the employee's share.
Right now, an employee insuring children through the HMO pays $21.65 a pay period. Under the City's proposal, the cost would increase in 2011 to $95.63 a month - a jump of 104%!! So the City saves a huge amount, and passes on an increase to employees.
For most of us, our health insurance is as important as our wages, retirement benefits, and job security. And in a year when the City is offering no wage increases, we question a proposal that would cut employee take-home pay while the City saves money.
Chandler employees, what do you think about this?
Meet SEIU's New President
Mary Kay Henry, one of the strongest supporters of Arizona's working families as an architect of SEIU's program to win a voice for employees in the South and Southwest, has become the President of the Service Employees International Union.
She was elected May 8 at a meeting of the SEIU International Executive Board and becomes the first woman to lead our union. Mary Kay succeeds Andy Stern, who stepped down after 14 years leading SEIU through a period of impressive growth and strong advocacy for working families on a variety of fronts, including passage of landmark health care reform.
She began her career as a researcher, working on campaigns for child care and public sector employees. She is a gifted organizer who directed campaigns that resulted in ground-breaking labor agreements between SEIU and some of the largest hospital corporations in the country, including Catholic Healthcare West, Tenet and HCA. She was elected as an SEIU Executive Vice President in 2004.
Growing up in Michigan as the eldest of 10 siblings, Mary Kay credits her skills as an organizer to her years of herding her brothers and sisters to school every day.
Along with SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina, Mary Kay was instrumental in developing SEIU's bold program to raise standards for working people in 17 South and Southwest states, many of them, like Arizona, so-called "right-to-work" states.
As a result of that courageous decision by SEIU - and a substantial contribution of both people and funding from SEIU members on both coasts and in the Midwest - tens of thousands of working people in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina now have a voice at work and a brighter future for themselves and their families.
A former resident of Arizona, Mary Kay has been particularly supportive of our work here since we started in 2003. She has visited several times to talk with members who were clearly impressed with the passion and excitement she brings to raising standards for all working people.
Congratulations, Mary Kay! SEIU Arizona members are ready to work with our new International president and we look forward to a return visit from you soon.
Watch this video of Mary Kay as she explains her vision for SEIU. You can also let her know what you think are the most important issues facing working Americans today.
Photo: Mary Kay Henry at our Phoenix office, November 2006.
Member Spotlight on...Sofia Blue!
As a high school student, Sofia became a library aide. She has been an employee for 14 years, the last four in the Sam Lena - South Tucson branch.
"I love the diversity within the job," notes Sofia. "It's not just helping people find books. Yesterday, we hosted a cooking competition for teens and I did a puppet show. There's a lot going on in libraries ... it's one of the more fun departments in the county!"
Sofia is proud of her branch's efforts to help the unemployed. "We've responded to layoffs that people are experiencing ... they don't know how to use computers and a lot of job applications are online. Many of our patrons live at the Gospel Rescue Mission. They come in every day and use computers and quite a few of those people make it up and out, get their own apartments and jobs. They come back and visit to tell us how they're doing."
Sofia is committed to the value of her union membership. "Having a union has been really exciting for me. In the city, we didn't have one - or I didn't know about it. This has been interesting for me. I only regret that I haven't had more time to get involved."
Sofia's community service as a library employee, along with her volunteer fundraising for the Fox Theatre (you can help by clicking here), are what SEIU membership is all about. Keep up the good work, Sofia!