Results of KVO's Delegates Assembly

The Delegates Assembly of KVO went very well. It was so nice to see so many familiar faces. Delegates had to pick five out of twenty proposals for their top choices for health care reform. The proposals were gleaned from the health care stories from each of KVO's member organizations. The top 5 proposals are: Health care is a BASIC HUMAN RIGHT stemming from the sanctity of human life. A JUST SOCIETY must ensure that everyone receives compassionate, comprehensive and competent health care, independent of employment, age, health or family history. Health care should emphasize PREVENTION, and preventive medical care should be covered by every patient’s health care policy. AFFORDABILITY: Everyone pays on a sliding scale, based on financial ability. Special efforts should be made to provide care for geographic areas and populations that have been UNDERSERVED, such as rural areas, inner cities, and impoverished communities. Insurance companies and other third party payers, the pharmaceutical industry, and other commercial interests should not function as barriers to care, or impede the provider/patient relationship in making medical decisions. Representing MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 were Bruce Hodsdon, 1989's president; Melanie Collins, member of the child care provider's unit, 1989's newest bargaining unit; and Scott Neumeyer, an Area II director. Scott also gave testimony by presenting his health care story to the delegation. His story is very scary as well as very enlightening. It is scary in that he is very young and has two major diseases. These diseases came at a time when he had no health insurance. He and his wife made those tough choices of buying medicine, buying food, paying for the lights and buying oil. The enlightening bit is that he is Canadian born. When he came to the US, he thought it very odd to have to pay for a doctor's visit; very odd that there was a "VISA" sign on the door. MEPASA was also represented with delegates Joyce Gagnon, Dee Strout, Roberta Record and Julie Moulton. (Roberta and Julie are also my fellow Voices Institute graduates. It was so nice to see them.) KVO also had a Health Care Panel that presented insightful information on the state of health care in this country. The panel consisted of: Doug Clopp, Policy Analyst, Consumers for Affordable Health Care (CAHC); Glenn Beamer, Director, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center; Kerry Sirois, Administrator, Mount St. Joseph Holistic Care Community; Peter Crockett, Health Care Organizer, Central Maine Labor Council (AFL-CIO). Next comes Phase 3: Candidates Forum on Health Care On September 28, 2008, KVO will present our health care agenda to legislative candidates and ask them how they would work to support our health care goals if elected. KVO will continue working beyond the fall of 2008 to ensure that everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. For more information on this campaign and other things KVO is working on, check out KVO's website at http://www.kvo.org/ or contact KVO Lead Organizer Dan Koehler at dan.koehler2@gmail.com or get in touch with me helen.hnsn@gmail.com to find out how you can help the KVO Health Care Team.

What's Happening. . .

Today is a big day. We are starting our working sessions with Mila Kofman, Maine's Superintendent of Insurance, to look into pooling direct care workers in Maine for group health insurance. I am very excited about this! I am going to use the Coke case when they ask me what makes direct care workers so different from other workers. And, later today, the Kennebec Valley Organization is holding a Delegate Assembly to have delegates vote on healthcare reform proposals that KVO supports and then the healthcare team will bring forth to members to the State Legislature and Congress with the upcoming election. Get this, I'm co-chairing this event!! I'm excited about the work we're doing. I got a call last night from an SEIU organizer from Local 503 in Oregon who is gathering names of doctors, nurses, cna's, direct care workers, etc. to unite them to push forward healthcare reform at the federal level. He's going to get in touch with more information. I think SEIU is calling it HealthCare United. If any of you are interested in this united front, please let me know. I'll keep you posted as to how all this goes and the progress made.

For-profit Health Care Isn't Working

MAINE VOICES The problem isn't the wealthy or the poor, it's the working families that can't get coverage. CHRISTOPHER T. BARTLETT, Special to the Press Herald June 11, 2008 about the author Dr. Christopher T. Bartlett (DoctorBartlett@mac.com) is a family physician in Portland. As a family practice physician caring for patients here in Maine, I worry that the health-care system itself is in critical condition. One would think that most of my office time and energy would be focused on patients and their medical concerns. In truth, much of the time that my nurse and I spend each day is focused on finances. In the exam room, I have to ask which drug my patient can afford. Has my patient met the deductible? How can we present a case to the insurance company to get the surgical procedure paid for? While most wealthy people and most impoverished people receive good care, a large population in the middle often has to do without any medical care. Many of my patients have worked and gone to school in an effort to get off MaineCare and welfare. When they "succeed" and get an entry-level job, they often find they no longer qualify for MaineCare and now must shoulder the burden of their health-care expenses alone. When low-income patients apply for "free medicines" through drug companies, they often send me their entire application packet, complete with personal financial details. I am uncomfortable seeing their finances laid bare to me. I can look upon naked bodies all day; I am trained for that – but I shudder when a tax form or balance sheet of such intimate, mortifying detail is laid before me. My discomfort with doing more and more accountancy instead of medicine has bothered me for years, but I realized the other day why it bothers me so. I believe that what is wrong with health care today is the profit motive – attracting entrepreneurs at every stage of health-care delivery. I believe that capitalism and free markets have made this country great. Certain essential services, however, require other kinds of solutions. To subject these essential services to market forces could compromise our well-being. Let me give you a few examples where this may be true. If your house is on fire, you call the fire department. Highly trained professional firefighters rush to your house with multimillion-dollar equipment to extinguish your fire. Nobody asks for a co-pay. Nobody asks to see your "fire insurance card," and nobody fills out paperwork for prior authorization. This is a service that we as a society have decided we each need and deserve, and we pay for it through taxes. Police protect us in the same fashion – no charge, no co-pay. Post office? Everyone pays the same rate for a stamp. Roads are built, borders secured, foods inspected, and our armed forces stand at the ready. Why is something as important as medical care treated so differently? Why do so many of our friends and neighbors go without basic health care because they cannot afford it? When you look at the many insurance companies and government programs paying for medical care, imagine how many different people it takes to push around all the different forms, publish all the rule books and pay people from CEOs to secretaries. It's no wonder our system is so expensive and inefficient. As a simple family doctor, I don't have a prescription to fix this problem. I am trained to recognize disease, and our health-care system appears to be gravely ill. We all have a stake in keeping this patient alive. My sense is that removing the duplication of services, high administrative overhead and profit motivation is a good first step. How best to accomplish this is an enormous challenge. I think we need to talk amongst ourselves, talk with our legislators and work for a system that provides a "healthy" health care system. Copyright © 2008 Blethen Maine Newspapers

One Delegate's Take on SEIU Convention 2008

I was a delegate to the 2008 Justice for All, SEIU convention and there are at least two completely opposite views of what happened. One view says that Union Democracy triumphed and the other claims that this is the biggest power grab in Union history since Jimmy Hoffa. The SEIU changed its constitution in Puerto Rico. Yes, locals will be sending more money to union headquarters in D.C. Is this a power grab or will SEIU Leaders use the cash to run a campaign to elect Barack Obama president and send pro-union lawmakers to Congress? No matter whether you think this is a power grab or the smartest move since the invention of the wheel, Union Leaders will use the money to elect a labor friendly government and pass labor friendly laws. Whether they want power or justice for all they know only a labor friendly government will allow the growth of Unions. No matter what your take on it, Andy Stern is too smart not to do exactly as he claimed. We can debate Andy's motives but his goals are the same as ours, better jobs and representation locally and in Congress.The cash will not go to heavily unionized states because they will already be voting Democrat. The cash will move to swing states like Florida and Michigan where the extra money may make the biggest difference. Remember we have suffered eight years of George Bush for the lack of a handful of votes in Florida. International President Andy Stern’s agenda at the 2008 convention, called “Justice for All” will consolidate bargaining and organizing efforts at the national level. This will possibly limit the power of local unions but at the same time give the union greater leverage with multi-state or international employers. Just imagine a heavily unionized Maine, where tens of thousands of SEIU brothers and sisters would tell the legislature they needed to treat SEIU employees fairly or go home.UHW, United Health Care West opposed Stern’s plan. That opposition grew out of a fight over whether information published on the UHW web site should have been kept to an in house fight or whether the members needed to know that there were questions about contracts being signed at the National level with little or no rank and file input. According to UHW, Stern made secret deals with corporations, keeping members in the dark about the trade-offs he agreed to. According to Stern UHW harmed the SEIU by taking an internal argument public and was responsible for losing a huge campaign to organize nurses. Stern claimed at the convention that his plan will decentralize union power. What Andy didn’t say was that power does not tolerate a vacuum. Where member involvement is weak the local Union leadership is forced to make decisions and the International is forced to make more decisions that should be made at the local level. If the locals do not have an involved membership decisions will be made only by the few.Is Stern’s plan the biggest power grab in a labor union since the Teamsters? Millions of dollars will move from local Unions to SEIU headquarters in Washington, D.C. Is the plan the smartest move that could be made, using the only power politicians seem to recognize; money?I say it is about consolidating power and it doesn't matter whether Andy Stern gains power. This move will consolidate Union power as never before. When one man can make the same wage as 500 or a thousand or more of his employees by destroying good jobs and outsourcing American jobs we need the money to fight back and we need it in one place with two goals. Elect Democrats and hold them responsible for keeping their promises.Justice for All is a great slogan, yet it is far more than a slogan. Without good pay, benefits, and respect for American workers the right will continue to use the few good Union jobs left as a target, blaming Unions for all the lost jobs, all the tax breaks for the rich. We need to support others if we expect to get their support in the voting booth. .There will be massive shift union finances. Half of the SEIU budget will go to the national effort; the SEIU calls the “Accountability Project.”The SEIU goal is to elect pro-labor members of Congress, spending money to offset the buying power of the corporations and then spend $10 million more “to take on elected officials who fail to live up to their promises.” If a politician runs on a pro-labor promise they will live up to the promise or they will feel the heat.50 percent of the national and local organizing budgets, including half of the SEIU staff will be used for the “Accountability Project.” Accountability Project is a nice name. Another name I heard was "payback is a bit*h".In Maine we may not see the same 50% hit in budget and staff due to our affiliation agreement, the long term good relationship with the SEIU now handled by Bruce Hodsdon as our president and International Executive Board member. If we don’t get good politicians here and in Washington you can kiss your pay and benefits goodbye. Just this year one of our so called friends in the legislature voted down the cliff bill even though the evidence was there to show the financial impact would have been minimal. Our so called friends took nearly thirty million dollars from our health care plan; they would love to figure out how to get their hands on our pension funds. Funds that have been far better invested than any State fund. Your delegates knew there are union members opposed to Stern’s plan and made any decision on what was best for Maine and then what was best for the rest.A lot of members think our dues should stay at home; all decisions made locally. George Bush tried to sell port security to an Arab country. Would you put it past a politician to outsource the DMV?There were no easy, perfect decisions. Your delegates did not agree on every vote. But be assured, no one tried to tell any of your delegates how to vote. The one complaint I heard about our President is that when asked for a decision on a vote, he suggested that the delegate study the issue and make the best decision they could for the members that elected them. That is Union democracy. I am not a cheerleader for Andy Stern. I would never cross the road if I saw him driving my way, but I am convinced focusing this money and power in order to hold politicians accountable is the right move. from UnionMaine blog

SEIU hits 2 Million Member Mark

The SEIU has reached a historic level of two million members. In Maine many MSEA members have asked why we organize outside of our original group, state employees. The victories in the old south where North Carolina state government is now SEIU. The raises gained in so many other locations. The reason behind these wins is because the public is beginning to wake up to find out that tearing Unions down will only guarantee low wages for all.The SEIU is becoming a real force in politics and we can expect to start seeing results after November with passage of the Employee Free Choice Act if we don't get complacent and sit home and let the third Bush term happen. The country must become US. The votes will be with us if the public starts to share the benefits and respect of being a part of something that cares about them, not just the botttom line. from UnionMaine blog

Thank You to MSEA-SEIU

I want to thank Bruce, Ginette and Tim for inviting me to the SEIU Convention 2008.

This was my first time at an SEIU convention of this size, all three divisions of SEIU were there. The Property Services Division; the Public Services Division, of which MSEA-SEIU is under; and the Healthcare Division all had delegates.

It was real interesting to see the resolutions and amendments to the SEIU Constitution and By-Laws unfold and open up for debate.

Three committees, Resolutions, Program and Law considered the resolutions and amendments submitted by the International Executive Board, of which our own president, Bruce Hodsdon, is a member; and various locals throughout SEIU, before the delegates voted on them. The committees considered the resolutions and amendments, submitted their recommendations to the convention, then the delegates from SEIU Locals voted to adopt or pass them. If the resolutions and amendments were adopted, they became part of SEIU’s Constitution.

The floor would open up for some very heated and interesting debates among delegates.

A few of the resolutions I was very interested in were ones concerning health care for everyone and the ones for SEIU to have a healthcare local in every state.

The delegates voted to adopt a resolution that would throw SEIU support behind national healthcare reform, but not specifically HR676, the single-payer healthcare plan. Local 1021 tried to get the wording, “SEIU shall activily campaign for HR676 to establish a strong, progressive role in the healthcare debate and will urge support of similar legislation in the States. By doing so we will set a benchmark for the healthcare system we believe will serve people best.” into the resolution by amending it. This amendment did not pass and the original resolution was approved.

What the resolution does do is get SEIU members actively involved by participating in a nationwide bus tour, The Road to American Health Care, http://roadtohealthcare.org; help build and grow Healthcare United, an organization of both union and non-union nurses and healthcare workers; secure pledges and commitments from key members of Congress; take on the enemies of health care like John McCain; build strong healthcare coalitions with allies and strategic alliances; help identify 1,000 members who are healthcare reform leaders among SEIU member political organizers, leaders and activists; commit to making 10 million phone calls to members of Congress; raising $10 million for post-election political accountability; committing 50% of growth budgets and 50% of non-growth staff during the first 100 days of the 111th Congress to pass National Healthcare Reform and the Employee Free Choice Act. It sounds like a lot, but SEIU can do it.

This resolution was originally sponsored by the International Executive Board and was heard in the Resolutions Committee. The committee changed the language some before they recommended it to the full convention. The two resolutions specifically naming HR676 were considered by the Resolutions Committee but not recommended to the full convention. One resolution on HR676 was submitted by Local 1021 and the other submitted by Local 1199UHE (United Health Care East)

The second resolution that was of special interest to me was one that creates one Home Care Local per state. This resolution was submitted by Local 880 and was heard by the Program Committee. They considered it then recommended it to the full convention. The Program Committee also considered two resolutions pertaining to SEIU Homecare and Long-term care workers in California, uniting them to give them one voice. These two were submitted by Locals 6434 and 4034.
The Program Committee combined the best of the three resolutions into one. This resolution would create one health care local in each state, giving a united voice to home care workers, unifying workers to have one voice to gain better funding through Medicare, which in turn gains better pay and benefits. After strong discussion and debate and a lot of talk against this resolution from the Locals in California, the full convention passed this resolution.

It unifies separate Home Care Locals in states where there are more than one, like in California. Here in Maine, I’m glad we’ve got Local 771 under MSEA-SEIU. I’m glad that we are small, but growing slowly and do not have the rift between locals like out in California. Where funding is dependent on state and federal budgets, I’m glad to have a strong, unified, SEIU voice at the state and federal level.

It was great seeing a sea of purple, it was great seeing Barack Obama receiving endorsement from SEIU, it was great hooking up and swapping contact information with folks in other locals, like 503 out of Oregon and 1199 UHE in New York and 1199UNE United Healthcare New England from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Again, I must thank Bruce Hodsdon, MSEA-SEIU President; Ginette Rivard, MSEA-SEIU Vice-President; and Tim Belcher MSEA-SEIU Executive Director for the invitation to this wonderful experience of the SEIU Convention 2008.

Helen Hanson
President, Local 771
MSEA-SEIU Local 1989

Barack Obama speaks to SEIU Convention 2008

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/462637

ACTION ALERT

Please say 'NO THANKS' to the Petition Cutting Health Care

Dear MSEA-SEIU Member,

We know what it's like to have our health care under attack. While we successfully fought off attacks in the last legislative session, now there's another effort under way that threatens to undermine the health care of thousands of other Mainers.

The beverage industry has hired an out-of-state company to collect signatures for a petition exempting this industry from paying its share for health care. This petition would eliminate health insurance for thousands of Maine children and adults. If someone asks you to sign this outrageous petition, please politely say 'NO THANKS'.

The only way to protect our health care is to make sure we're not the only ones with it! Please say 'NO THANKS' if someone asks you to sign the beverage industry's petition.

In Solidarity,

Bruce Hodsdon, President, MSEA-SEIU Local 1989

Fellow Members of the Maine Direct Care Workers Union, I'm writing to update you on our union's efforts to ensure quality, affordable health care for everyone in Maine, including us. Although our health care legislation on behalf of direct care workers was voted down in the last legislative session, we're not going away. Instead, we've retooled and broadened our focus to push for health care for everyone in Maine. This approach appears to provide the best opportunity for us to achieve some level of health security. Our union is working with the Kennebec Valley Organization, a group made up of faith communities, labor unions and other determined to improve life in Maine. Members of the Kennebec Valley Organization have been holding roundtable discussions to gather and hear personal stories about health care, good and bad. These stories will form the basis for a comprehensive health care campaign in the coming months. I'm asking for your help by taking just five minutes of your time to share your health care story. I know that we all have some very compelling health care stories. My health care story, for example, is one of ups and downs. I had health insurance through my husband when he worked at Blue Seal Feeds. He left that job and started up his own business. With that change, we now buy our own health insurance. Quite frankly, it is horrible. It is very expensive, $300 per month, with a high deductible of $10,000 per yer per family member and it only covers catastrophic care. Since November of 2007, I've been through multiple screenings for ovarian cancer. I am grateful to report that I am cancer free. The downside: These screenings are not covered by my health insurance; it doesn't cover any diagnostic services. The bill is upwards of $3,000. That's my health care story. Please share yours, such as being with or without health insurance, or how having it or not has affected you, your family and your work. Sharing your story is easy. Send me an email at helen.hnsn@gmail.com. As part of this health care campaign, the Kennebec Valley Organization will hold a health care forum on June 18th with policy makers. Then in the fall, the group will contact candidates for the Maine Legislature and Congress to sign its resolve of health care for everyone. This is all exciting work. Please be part of it by sharing your health care story. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. In Solidarity, Helen Hanson Maine Direct Care Workers Union MSEA-SEIU Local 771 (MSEA-SEIU Local 1989)

Some Myths about the Employee Free Choice Act

Sen. Collins uses same talking points and backs up lies of Union Busting group "Union Facts" It is outrageous that Senator Collins’s office issued a written statement using the exact same deceptive language as the Center for Union Facts (the recent anti union ads blanketting Maine) in misrepresenting the Employee Free Choice Act. Collins is showing her true colors and she's either choosing to so grossly mislead the Maine people on such an important piece of legislation or simply doesn’t understand it and uses the spin of Richard Berman’s anti-union front group. Senator Collins owes the Maine people an explanation on her misrepresentation of this important piece of legislation. She must also denounce the sleazy, deceitful ads of all the Berman front groups that are getting involved in Maine (Center for Union Facts, Employee Freedom Action Committee, etc.) The Center for Union Facts misrepresents the Employee Free Choice act to equate it with electing people to office. Their ad depicting classroom elections for school officers is deceptive as it states that this is exactly what unions want to do with the Employee Free Choice Act. The Employee Free Choice act is about forming unions, not about how to elect union officers. Unions in America elect officers by way of healthy democratic processes. No-one is advocating to change that. The question is: what is the best process to form a union in the first place. It is important to note that no – one voted on whether or not we should have a Maine legislature or a U.S. Congress, our votes are to elect the representatives. This is a very, very different process. In response to the EMLC press conference on Thursday, the Washington D.C. based Center for Union Facts’ managing director J. Justin Wilson told WLBZ: "In organizing elections people go and have a vote, just like election day in Maine," Wilson explained. "They want to switch to a system where a union organizer approaches you at your house and say sign this contract and theydon't even show you the fine print." Senator Collins is against the legislation, Felicia Knight, Collins' DeputyCampaign Manager issued a written statement addressing the ads."Senator Collins' campaign has nothing to do with these ads, which are currently airing in several media markets around the country. On the issue, Senator Collins strongly believes that all workers are entitled to their long-standing right to a secret ballot. It is ironic that a public servant, elected by a secret ballot, would vote to deny union employees the same right." Brewer: Union head slams ads By Eric Russell Saturday, June 07, 2008 - Bangor Daily News BREWER, Maine — Local union representatives are hitting back at a national nonprofit agency that has been running targeted television advertisements, including some in Maine markets, slamming labor practices. Jack McKay, president of the Eastern Maine Labor Council, said the Center for Union Facts of Washington, D.C., claims to support workers’ rights but "everything they do undermines workers." "The biggest thing, I think, is that these ads are deceitful and they misrepresent what unions are asking for," McKay said Friday of the ads, which ran on local NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates in recent weeks but have since stopped. "Truthfully, they know what we want and they are deliberately misrepresenting that." One of the ads in question portrays children voting in a class election and then depicts union bosses hijacking the process. The ad campaign is centered on the Employee Free Choice Act, a piece of legislation that has been supported by the U.S. House but has yet to make it through the Senate. Union supporters and many Democrats are in favor of the bill, but Republicans have generally opposed it. The Center for Union Facts claims the Employee Free Choice Act would strip workers of their right to vote privately when forming a union. McKay said unions have always conducted their elections in the open and will continue to do so. The reason the ads have flooded the Maine market is because of the contested Senate race between Sen. Susan Collins and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who have differing views on the Employee Free Choice Act. McKay said the ads are particularly outrageous because the Center for Union Facts is little more than a nonprofit arm of Berman Associates, a powerful Washington lobbying firm. McKay said its founder, Richard Berman, has represented interests of the tobacco and fast food industries. Center for Union Facts managing director J. Justin Wilson issued the following statement regarding the group’s advertising campaign in Maine: "Union bosses are the ones with a long history of corruption, deception, and mismanagement. Given that, we think Mainers should be especially concerned with their deceitful attempt to eliminate workers’ fundamental right to a private-ballot election when unionizing." McKay said his first instinct was to ignore the ads, but he wants the public to have both sides. "It was important for us to come out and denounce these ads because they received so much air time," he said. "And I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of them."

The Kennebec Valley Organization

Special Delegates Assembly on Health Care

"Everyone should have the opportunity to get

quality, affordable health care."

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008

6:30 - 8:30 pm

First Congregational Church UCC

7 Eustice Parkway, Waterville

please register in advance to use free, on-site child care

Join KVO member delegates, health care policy experts, allies and friends as we:

• Report the stories and testimonies that surfaced from more than 100 participants in "Our Health Care Story" meetings held within our member institutions across the Valley;
• Hear from a panel of policy experts on the current status of health care in Maine and the country, and the best possibilites for reform;
• Decide on an action plan that will help to achieve our goal of health care opportunities for all.

for more information or to register for the event, please contact KVO Lead Organizer Dan Koehler at 873-5844 or kvo@gwi.net

Vote Yes on Question 1 Transportation Bond

Maine's transportation systems are in critical need of repair and improvement. That's why members of MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 are urging MSEA-SEIU members, families and friends to vote 'Yes" on the Question 1 Transportation Bond on the statewide ballot June 10. By approving Question 1, Maine will secure over $29 million in federal and private matching funds for repairs and improvements to Maine's highways and bridges, passenger and freight rail systems, ports and ferries, airports and bike trails. This is very affordable way to make critical repairs and improvements to Maine's transportation systems. Please vote "YES" on statewide Question 1 on June 10. Click here for more information about Question 1. Click here for the Kennebec Journal's editorial endorsing Question 1.

SEIU Unified in Support of Bold, New Program

Delegates Leave Puerto Rico Unified in Support of Bold New Program On Wednesday, June 4, in San Juan at SEIU’s 24th International Convention, member delegates overwhelmingly voted in support of a unity resolution. “After months of discussion inside and outside our union leading up to the Convention, nearly fifty hours of passionate debate and open discussion at the Convention, and vote after vote by the delegates, one thing has become abundantly clear," the resolution reads. "We are unified…. Now it is time for us to get to work." As part of the resolution, the members committed to honor, respect, and implement the decisions made by this Convention, hold each other accountable for these decisions, and have respect for all the voices that have made us stronger and pledge to engage in constructive debate going forward. The member delegates on June 4 also launched a new global action to take back the economy. For more information, visit www.July17Action.org