SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ --
What: The Health Care Workers Union, SEIU 250 celebrates 70th anniversary, energizes rank and file to turn out vote for Prop. 72 When: Friday, Oct. 1, speakers from 8-9 PM Where: San Francisco Marriott, 4th and Mission Members of the media invited to also attend reception and dinner free as special guests (6-8pm)
On Friday, Oct. 1, hundreds of Northern California health care workers will celebrate the 70th anniversary of their union and the milestone of reaching 100,000 members. National, state and city leaders will attend the celebration, which will also serve to energize caregivers as they continue their intensive efforts to pass Prop. 72 on the November ballot. The Health Care Workers Union, SEIU 250 has a mission of achieving high quality health care for all and Prop. 72, which would require big business to provide affordable health care for employees, is the latest battle in that ongoing effort.
That mission of achieving health care for all has also been the guiding principle for SEIU 250 members as they have achieved unprecedented victories in the health care industry and the American labor movement. SEIU 250 was founded in 1934 at San Francisco General, then called San Francisco Hospital. The union began a new period of growth and accomplishment starting in 1988 with the election of Sal Rosselli as president and Shirley Ware as Secretary-Treasurer. Since that time, tens of thousands of hospital workers have joined the union, and workers at Catholic Healthcare West recently won a standard-setting master contract covering 14,000 workers that includes a voice in staffing, a training fund, and 100% employer paid family health coverage. At Kaiser, members have used their strength to achieve a new model for delivering care, in which frontline workers are included in both big picture and day to day decision making. Nursing home workers have also been joining SEIU 250 in record numbers, and recently passed historic legislation which will guarantee greater funding to improve the quality of care for California’s seniors. More than 40,000 homecare workers have joined since the mid-90s, and recently beat back an effort to cut homecare funding which would have been disastrous for seniors and people with disabilities. By joining SEIU 250, emergency medical services workers transformed their profession from minimum wage jobs into stable careers with excellent wages and benefits. In 1999, SEIU 250 established the Shirley Ware Education Center, which trains and provides job placement for hundreds of health workers each year. In the legislature, members of SEIU 250 have helped pass safe needle legislation, the patient’s bill of rights and nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.
Lately, the members of SEIU 250 have been continuing their history of advocating for quality care by educating voters about Prop. 72 through a mail and media outreach campaign as well as phone-banking and door-knocking.
“On this occasion of our anniversary, I’m very optimistic about our union’s future and the promise of health care reform,” said Sal Rosselli. “Almost 60,000 caregivers have joined our union in the past 6 years alone, and with that new strength, we’ve been able to able to win unprecedented standards.”
“I’m very proud of our union and our achievements. For the first time ever on the West Coast, we’ve been able to achieve a formal training and education fund for health care workers,” said Martha Vazquez, who has been a Radiology Technologist at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton for the past 12 years. “When employees have a voice in staffing, educational opportunities and good benefits, quality of care improves.”
Media Contact: Dave Bates 510-773-8950 Kathleen Miller 510-773-7102
SEIU 250
CONTACT: Dave Bates, +1-510-773-8950, or Kathleen Miller,+1-510-773-7102, both of SEIU 250
Web site: http://www.seiu250.org/
