Healthcare
Voters Unite!
by Maribeth Healey. Executive Director
Oregonians for Health Security
Got health care? You are one of
the lucky few. Nearly one million
Oregonians lacked health care
coverage at one point in the past
two years. Over 80% were from
families with someone who was
working or looking for work.
By educating
and electing
pro-affordable
health care
candidates
from Laurie
Monnes Anderson for
State Senate in Gresham
to John Kerry for President,
we canimprove access to
health care and reduce
costs. That's what I'll be
working for this year. 99
SHF
I
SEIU International convention
highlights healthcare and finding ways
to win for working families
bvKathie Best, President
Having just attended the SEIU
Convention in San Francisco, I'm
reminded about the importance of
being part of a national movement
to improve the quality of life for
working families in this country.
Barney Gorter
Whether it's expanding access to
healthcare for millions of people,
creating secure jobs that pay a family
wage, or protecting the rights of
workers everywhere to organize and
have a voice on the job, we must
engage in these fights nationally,Jf
not globally.
Health care is becoming a bigger
SEIU retiree and health care voter
and bigger fight in contract
negotiations in Oregon and across
the country. Health insurance
premiums have increased at double-digit rates for the past
five years.
One result of increasing health care costs is that employers are
attempting to pass more costs onto workers in the form of
higher premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, in one survey,
42% of Oregon employers surveyed said they would increase
the percentage of premium/plan cost contributed by employees
and 38% said they would increase cost-sharing provisions such
as deductibles, co-pays/co-insurances and out-of-pocket
maximums. (Mercer
Sponsored
I HeaHh Plans 2003)
The increasing costs of health care make it more difficult to
negotiate on workplace issues, wage increases and other benefits.
We need to maintain fully paid health insurance as the standard
for all employers. This will be our fight in the 2005 legislature
and at the bargaining table. Oregon is one of only a few states
to offer fully-paid family health care benefits to state employees.
We must maintain these benefits.; < .. , .
*
;
Health care is a top issue in the election this year and an area
where the Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, has a
plan that will reduce the number of uninsured and reduce costs
for employers.
Oregonians for Health Security, along with SEIU International's
Americans for Health Care are designing common sense
solutions to pass in State legislatures from Augusta, Maine to
Salem, Oregon.
We are finding Oregonians who want to join us by becoming
"health care voters" by pledging to support candidates who will.......
stand for quality, affordable and secure health care. Electing
pro-affordable health care candidates at the local, State and
national level will help find solutions to the health care crisis.
Join us! Sign up to be a health care voter at:
http://www.oregoniansforhealthsecuritv.org.
The 503 Voice is published by SEIU Local 503, OPEU.
Editor: J. Szliske szi@opeuseiu.org
Salem Headquarters
1730 Commercial St. SE
PO Box 12159
Salem, OR 97309-0159
503-581-1505 1 800-452-2146 (Fax) 503-581-1664
Portland Field Office: 503-408-4090 / 800-527-9374
Bend Field Office: 541-385-8471/ 800-832-0593
Corvallis Field Office: 541-766-4968
Eugene Field Office: 541 -342-1055 / 800-521 -3446
Medford Field Office: 541-779-4324/800-452-7965
Pendleton Field Office: 541-276-4983 / 800-452-8146
SE/U
i
At the convention we adopted a
four-year plaKT^ati^ we will
work to build SEIU in the South and
Southwest to increase the number of
union workers in America. We also
plan to organize more workers in our
core industries like hospitals, long
term care,' building services, and the
public sector. Politically we plan to
ensure accountability - the
International is setting up a $1 million
fund to support racés against
incumbents who betray us.
Here at home, healthcare and tax
reform are key issues in our pursuiO
of better wages, benefits and working
conditions. Our success on these
Oues will result in contracts we can
once again get excited about.
Please turn out when called upon to
do so, and support these issues and
our contract campaigns. And get
involved in the upcoming federal
election to win for working families.
Act locally, win globally.
Members Cynthia Harold, Mary Springer, and
Darlene Wright join 15,000 SEIU members in an
early morning march across the Golden Gate
Bridge, demanding that this country bridge the
gap between our health care system and the
health care needs of working Americans.
Local 503's delegation to the SEIU International's convention.
Getting our message out what we do
to win public support
Public opinion affects all unions, but
especially public sector unions. When
we are under attack, public opinion
influences whether politicians support
us or oppose us. That can make the
difference between winning and losing.
The public perspective
Lots of factors.determin.ew.hat average '
people think about public employees. It's
crucial that the public understands how
our struggles affect the community. Better
wages mean people stay in their jobs
longer. That means more experienced
wpfkers and better public, services.
We talk to the public in different ways -
through earned media (coverage we don't *
have to pay for like articles and editorials in
newspapers), paid advertising (television,
radio, billboards, newspapers), statements
by coalition groups, and talking to our
family, neighbors, and friends.
One way to influence public opin^^^M
through media coverage including néws
reports and editorials. To get this coverage
we send out press releases and we meet
with editorial boards. We develop
relationships with reporters and we have
members available to speak with reporters
when they call us looking for an opinion.
An example of successful media work was
an editorial in the Statesman Journal titled
PAGE 4
"University staffers deserve fair contract",
editorial didn't just happen.
Bargaining team members helped craft a
message and spent time on media training
to, learn how to best deliver it. Our
Executive Director, PR director and team
members visited editorial boards through
out the state to meet editors and let them
know what was happening. We talked
about the important services that bur OUS
members provide every day of the year.
It takes a lot of groundwork and many
calls to reporters and program directors
before a story makes 'it to the newspaper
or airwaves. Some stations and papers
flatly refuse to cover-union rallies.
Sometimes other events interfere with our
efforts to tell our story. At the PERS hear
ings in February, the court room corridors
were t[l|ed with reporters and camera
crews. Unfortunately, they had no interest
in the PERS hearing. They were there to
cover a murder trial!
PuW^Rblations department to help us
get more and better media coverage
throughout- Oregon.
We may not have the advertising budget
that Coca-Cola has, but we dohave tens
of thousands of members who provide
quality services that our communities
rely on. As always, our’members are
our best resource. ■
What we can do to help:
Tell your organizer about interesting
things that happen in your work
place or agency. We may be able
to get press coverage about them.
Talk to your neighbors, friends and
relatives so they understand that
our fight for affordable health care,
living wages, and funding for public
services benefits our communities.
Let them know about the quality
public services you provide.
Q
SEIU's commitment to building a
positive public image
As an organization, weare commited to
building a positive public image for public
employees. SEIU helps fund both
Oregonians for Health Security and
Citizens for Oregon's Future Today, two
coalition groups that educate about health
care and taxation. Our Board of Directors
has just created another position fa the
SEIU Local 503, OPEU - STRONGER TOGETHER
H
Whenever you talk to the media,
give them your name and say that
you are a member of SEIU before
you mention where you work. For
example, "I'm Jane Doe, a member
of SEIU Local 503. I drive a truck
forODOT."
■J uey 2004