Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The 503 voice. (Salem, OR) ????-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2004)
DISTRICT!: Di strict Director (3 p< Dsitions available) Why are you seeking this office, your goals? Name Barbara Ca isey DHS o? Michael M. Simpson DHS ML, d TM - Biggest single issue/how to resolve? Participated in Leadership Training 1 and II, Chief Steward trainings in 2003 and LERC 2002 and 2003. 1 am the Vice Chair of our Sub Local and was a General Council delegate in 2002, a member of the Staff Screening Committee and CAPE. 1 attended SEIU MPAC conference in 2003.1 have done Phone banking, lobbying, GOTV work for national, local candidates and ballot measures. I have worked as a CAT organizer and a Steward 2001 - present (awarded the Hammer of the Working Class in 2003). I can be an effective voice and articulate to our membership our common agenda "show Bush the door in 2004", defeat ing one of the most anti-labor administrations in history, advancing a pro worker, pro family agenda continuing to make politics work. Also as we build our union externally we must strengthen our member ship internally. Recognizing that our members may per ceive, as we organize new worksites, that their issues are not being addressed adequate ly we must be attentive to those perceptions and not have our members polarized. Communicate to our members the correlation between politics and our work, Connect the dots with them. Recognizing the many areas that our members are already stretched, SEIU must remain relevant. Participation cannot be "you have my dues, nothing more". It must be Our Union, not The Union and it is not just Your Union. After the Election-Bargaining a contract in an atmosphere of unstable revenue, underfunded public services and maligned public employees Will members who accepted a painful contract as part of the "shared sacrifices" of 2003 face even more ? Can we move this state politi cally to stabilize and increase revenue stream, creating tax reform so that our fellow citizens won’t feel that every benefit we earn is one that now must be taken away from or denied them? 1 have been an active union member for more than ten years. This included attending district meeting, phone banking, Assistant District Director, participating in worksite actions at PSU, OPB, and NWREL; canvassing in political campaigns in Marion, Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah Counties, District Labor- Management Committee, 1 am currently completing my first two year term as District Director for Steward, Chief Steward, Member Political Organizer, General Council 2000 & 2002 Delegate, Statewide Stewards Committee, Executive Committee of Board of Directors (2002-3), 2002 General Council Planning Committee, Oregonians for Health Security Committee, Initiated Electronic Stewards Grievance Database, Initiated union sponsored PERS coun seling for members, Statewide Labor-Management Committee. To protect our Health Care Benefits, Take Back Our Step Increases, Protect Our Members from Bully-Bosses, Address Workload Issues and Stress Related to Piss Poor Management (PPM), Strength Our Unity, Organize Our Membership, Make certain every interested members feels they are a part of this union and that the union is respon sive to their concerns, Prepare Our Members for Battle In Our Next Contract Bargaining, and Make Damn Sure We Win Our Identify each worksite and members, improve the efficien cy and timeliness of communi cations to and among mem bers, strengthen steward activism, actively reach out to PSOB, PSU, NWREL, CODA, and other district locals, edu cate district members about critical issues, increase district participation in Oak Parks Labor Day. Lack of iron hard unity, com mon purpose, and shared vision among our members and some union leaders which helps us have more control over decisions and events which negatively affects our quality of life. Educate, Motivate, & Mobilize our members to focus our strength in such a way as not just to react to threats to our health care, wages, jobs, and working conditions, but to set and achieve realistic objectives which adds to the quality of life for ourselves our responsibility to our family. Make sure we have good representation at General Council. Recruit new workers into union and make sure peo ple know the importance of coming to District meetings to share info with their job sites. The budget cuts if Measure 30 fails will affect many union members in many kinds of worksites. ADD, and Directors will need to help make sure the cuts are not too severe. We will also strive to get Bush replaced with a man who is sensitive to the working class and not the conglomerates like pharmacu- tical and tobacco cos. District One, District Labor Next Contract in July, 2005. Day Plan nilng Corn m ittee. J oye Willman 1 am a Dist 1 Director now. I was just installed from A.D.D. to fill the position Nancy McGill. I am very involved in the working of the union. -lomecare /’M DISTRICT!: A sj •Vice President for Homecare • C. A. P. E. member - politically active • I was on contract board for Homecare • On board for RWJ Grant. sctor (3 positions av What are your qualifications for this office? Mame I would like to be District Director because I believe I can be a asset to the board. I want to make sure that Homecare is included in the decisions being made and that our 12,000+ members of Homecare realize the importance of solidarity and being one union voice. Why are you seeking this office, your goals? Vickie Axtell Wanda G. E ickhoff * * Holly Fries Homecare * (athlee J ustice * 1 Goals for your District? Biggest single issue/how to resolve? Other info: Building a strong(er) Union for the upcoming bargaining in the next two years I will play a crucial role using my strong leadership skill. I will speak out for our rights! DHS ustice I am knowledge able, a fast study and articulate, not afraid to speak in public, I am also an empathetic listener - learning what is not being said as well as what is. imar My leadership skills were developed as a 4-H member for 9 years. My general achievements, including leadership were recognized thru county, state and national awards. The value of serving the community as been the foundation for serving as a Steward, District 1 Represen tative in my local, as Secretary for my local and now as a CAPE delegate. I have worked collaboratively to resolve issues for Justice Local 137. I am seeking the ADD position because I strongly believe we need to balance the needs of members who have worked 7 years or less for their agency with the long standing members needs. We must find ways to recruit and retrain members and leaders (especially stewards) who are under the age of 40. I want to support getting the Grievance Database available statewide by working to get all Stewards in District I to use the Database for training new stewards. It is vital to our suc cess that we know what is hap pening in every agency to pro tect members. The biggest issue will be maintaining Health Care benefits and getting back step increases and COLAs. We need to begin a media campaign which highlights the work done every day that is unseen, make the campaign about our membres - up close and personal. I have been a member of 503 since Sept 04,2001,1 was on the Bargaining Team for Homecare's 1st contract I am an Asst Council Director of the Homecare Local and rep resent District 1. I attended the 2002 General Council as a Assistant Delegate. I am seeking the office to help build relationships and strenth of our Homecare Local, I believe help our members understand the power struc ture with help the union, our community and the clients the Homecare Local serves. Building membership and member participation within Multnomah & Clackamas County. To work toward empowering members in District One to fight for their rights and the Right of their clients. The biggest issue for me is the political issues and building voter registration for Homecare and all of our members. I've been a steward in the Oregon City Division of Child Support for almost three years; I've also been the steward for Milwaukie DCS for over a year. As a steward/activist, I have organized coworkers within my own agency for work site actions and meetings, and work with local DHS stewards to ensure unity within our shared office building. I have also led my colleagues to organize around different issues within our agency, including developing a survey used statewide for Child Support Case Managers to determine where current and potential problems are within the agency. I have served the last two years as General Council Delegate for SEIU Local 503, District One. I've attended statewide actions and coalition rallies, as well as marched through the capitol building during the 2003 bargaining. I observed central table bargaining and attended several bargaining conferences. I have taken several leadership trainings through S EIU Local 503. I have accomplished many skills required to be a leader, and feel strongly about continuing to develop my leadership skills. I also want to develop a better relationship with members of other agencies and help develop a stronger, more organized SEIU. I want to see greater member ship participation and help my brothers and sisters feel their voices are heard. I want to see more members in our district as well as statewide. Public employees will have a very difficult battle to retain our medical benefits and reinstate step increases. I want to help create a stronger, loud er membership that is very organized and ready for action as bargaining approaches. I would encourage actions by all SEIU members, not just those who are in bargaining activities, and encourage a continued relationship with all union members outside of SEIU Local 503. In conclusion, I take my commit ments seriously and attend meetings and and activities required by my position.
