SEIU Arizona Delegates Elected

SEIU Arizona Delegates Elected

Arizona to Send its First Delegates

Four years ago, the Service Employees International Union held its last convention in San Francisco. SEIU President Andy Stern defined an important goal in his keynote address:

“At this convention, I will ask you to approve a United Strategy for Strength . . . so we can start building the new strength we need in the South and the Southwest.”

As a result of that decision, and the resources that followed, SEIU Arizona today represents more than 7,000 city, county and state public service employees across Arizona. And because of our growth, SEIU Arizona will now have the chance to help define SEIU’s future programs as we send two delegates and one alternate to the next International convention in Puerto Rico this June.

(From left) Arizona delegates James Kame and Martha Seaman and alternate Scott Washburn.

To determine who represents SEIU Arizona’s members, we followed a democratic process open to members in good standing. In early March, a notice was sent to all members detailing the election process and listing the nomination meetings being held in nine locations.

Nominees had to collect 40 signatures of SEIU members to qualify for the delegate elections. All relevant materials were also available in a downloadable format on our website at www.seiuaz.org. In addition, a Delegate Election Committee ‘hotline’ was established to ensure all members had easy access to election information.

The results are in. Three members qualified for the ballot, collecting more than 300 signatures between them. They are SEIU State Director Scott Washburn, Chandler Chapter President James Kame and State Organizing Committee member Martha Seaman.

As only three candidates qualified, the rules call for those three to be automatically elected. A random selection was used to determine which two would attend as delegates and which as the alternate. In a brief ceremony conducted by members of the Delegate Election Committee, it was determined that Scott Washburn will serve as the alternate at the June convention.

“We’re united and plan to spread the good word about what we’ve done in Arizona,” said Washburn. “We’ll come back with more resources and a strong commitment for the next four years.”

We'll have a full report on the convention after the convention.

For more information about the convention, click here.