Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The 503 voice. (Salem, OR) ????-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2005)
Change to Win focuses on building the strength of the labor movement by Leslie Frane, Executive Director On September 27, delegates from seven international unions met in St. Louis to found the Change to Win Federation. Most of the Change to Win unions split from the AFL-CI© in July, determined to build a stronger voice for working families? in America. f was part of the SEIU delegation, along with Bill Howard, an Oregon State Lottery employee who is helping to lead the efforts of Lottery employees toj^mpur unions ' Anna Burger, chair of the new federation, expressed the spirit of the group when she said "We are on the way to rekindle the American dream." The Change to Win federation will focus P —-"on-organtsmg-tmofganized-workersso that ?: we can rebuild the labor movement. SEIU President Andy Stern reminded us'that fifty years ago, one in three American workers were in unions. Now it's down to one in eight workers, and only one in twelve i^ the private sector. Fewer union members means less power for workers. It's that simple. The Change to Win Federation pledged to create "a lean, mean, organizing machine" and to spend 75% of its $16 milliop national budget on organizing unorganized Workers. SEIU's share of that money will tome from our-lnternational union, not from Local 503. In Local 503, we spend approximately'20% of our resources on organizing unorganized workers, with the rest of our revenue going convention, Km convinced that the seven to strengthen our existing membership, unSS thé Change to Win federation are through contract campaigns, representation, leadership development, communications, | committed to making that changé. Now that the speeches are over, we need to turn political work on behalf of our members'. that commitment into organizing. interests, etc. The Change to Win Federation also committed itself to organizing by industry? In an era Of corporate mergers, workers in one industry have more power if they organize into one union. For example’, United Airlines employees are divided ’ among six unic^- Imagine how much: | stronger, they'd be if they bargained together. At the Convention, we passed resolutions promoting diversity so that our leadership will reflect our membership. It felt great to elect the first woman ever to head labor federation (Anna Burger,,frq^SEIU)?\ and the first African American e^er to hold executive officeun ads. labor federation (Edgar Romney, from UNITE-HERE). Change to Win is about looking at how we can make America more liveable - to give a living wage and higher standard of living to American workers. We are a strong country and workers should have decent wages and benefits. The Change to Win founding convention was a step forward for the labor movement. 99 further decline in union power is inevitable. Based on. what I heard at the a Notice of Nominations: DCBS local 440 Interim Vice President (1 position) and Stewards (4 positions) Members advocate for changes to insurance code and win by Greg Ledbetter, Consumer Advocate, Department of Consumer and Business Services Members at Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) saw first hand the effects of insurance company procedures and took action that improved the situation for consumers in Oregon. This is an example of what we can do, as a union, to fight for fairness. Even though this issue was perhaps a non-traditional labor issue, it was important to members at DCBS. The State of Oregon regulates insurance companies doing business in Oregon. When the profitability^eclihed after September 11, 20Ô1, thej^implemented underwriting rules Company policies costly to consumers Companies would charge consumers with a claim even if they just, called to inquire about an.qëcurrence and were told it wasn't cov ered -under their^¿licy, with no money ever being paid. For me, thebest part of the. convention was listening to the stories'of workers from all ' acro'ss the country wh® are currently trying ' to organize unions^ often against long ■ odds, and to win,rights and benefitsthat those of us who have been in the union fqr a long time sometimes take for granted. The American labor movementdearly . came to a fork in the road this year. The key to choosing a hew path was recognizing that unless.we make growth aiprlOTil^^ Homeowners' Bill of Rights for Oregon consumers Under the law,’insurance companies were given great’discrëtfen in making theste'g decisions. The theory was thatthére was B mùthWqmpëtition, and so many i^sitrance companies, that when consumers were told to .shop around tor an insura^ce'co.mpany after being cancelled^r-when they were unhappy with Kf they were treated, they ; Workers recommend solutions to industry abuses Insurance Division employees at DCBS had observed problems and recommended changes'to the,Insurance Commissioner to better protect consumers from abuses by the industry they regulate. The problems had gotten to the point that even the Insurance Commissioner stated that it might be a good idea to require more $ "disclosure by insurance companies. Concerned SEIU 503 members organized a committee to adyoratejor con passing legislation in the ZOOS' s^s^n, to improve protectio.n for.consumers. When the Commissioner formed a task force of • industry representatives, our members * requested to be included on that committee as^a.Vofeefor cbhsumers. We participated in drafting what became Senate Bill 118, known as the?H©meov^ners' Insurance Bill of Rights. We also testified to the Senate - Committee on behalf of the bill and it C ultimately passed both houses and was signed by the Governor. | Members at DCBS took^on a fight for fairness - and won! Bill Howard a Service Technician with The Lottery Bill and dthei employees at Oregon Lottery are working to form a union with SEIU Local 503 Pressure from seniors and PERS Coalition lessens blow for retired members PERS Board goes forward with plan to collect from retirees Despite pressure we have brought to bear on the PERS Board through calj^.emails. and .a big tur^ Board hSethig, the Board decided to proceed with a plan to collect To nominate a candidate or for duties of the officers, contact a member <2 of the Nominations Committee: Von Ledbetter at (503) 947-7268 or5 ’ Barbara Hopkins at (503)947-7598. so-called overpayments from current retirees. But they have adopted an approach which could be called the least pain strategy. The ideaMB stmtch^t the collection over a period-dttime based on an actuarial estimate Ballots will be mailed to each member mid-November. You may request an absentee ballot by contacting Barbara at Salem HQ: 503-581-1505, x! 50 or 1-800-452-2146, x! 50., of an individual's lifespan, rather tRaTi tb attempt to collect any lump sum amounts. In. addition, the least pain approach would not charge interest for the Wgnce 1999^fo|i the future^e span;of the individual. Th^%fhtich better position than the'onejannounced previously. Although the PERS Board agreed that they liked the approach in concept, they will -not likely take formalomit until their Number or December 2005 meeting. Benefits would be The 503 Voice is published by SEIU Local 503, OPEU. Editor:]. Szliske szl@opeuseiu.org Salem Headquarters w «s* 1730 Commercial St. SE ¡¡lii PO BOX12159 Salem, OR 97309-0159 503-581-1505 / 800-452-2146 (Fax) 503-581 -1664 OPEU 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 www.seiu503.org recalculated as of April 1, 2006. However, it'is stiff the position^Bour PERS Coalition that the Supreme Court's Strunk decision SEIU LOCAL 503 Retirees stopped in the Governor's office on their way to the PERS Board meeting on September 23. They presented the Governor's aide with petitions filled out by retirees from all over the state. From left: Governor's Aide receiving letters from retiree Len Cleary; Robert Gourley (behind Cleary); Dean Hulbert; John Hawkins; Natalia Letson; Dave Cleveland. forbids such collections from Current retirees. Our PERS Coalition attorney, Greg Hartman, li/ery firm in his conviction that the proposed PERS action is a violation of Strunk, and it is very likely thattpu^>aliti.Qq^ill-.launch further courtactipn to prevent the implementation of the least-pain strategy. For some members of SEIU's Retirees local, it was their first-ever SEIU Retiree action, and several were brand new members who joined because of our PERS campaign. Along with us were retirees from AFSCME, the Oregon Education Association (OEA), the Laborers Union-, and others. This is.a battle that will clearly go on for some time, both on the legal front and on the political front. Stay tuned... Department of Consumer and Business Services, tells how'members 'took action for legislative change that -.ivili benefit Oregon consumers. The Homeowners’Consumer Bill of Rights will protect consumers from insurance industry practices. Members advocate legislation to fight back would not have any difficulty finaingfreason ably priced replacement’coverage Nominations Close at T:OO PM onThtirsday October 20, 2005 Greg Ledbetter at OPEN ENROLLMENT Make a choice -dont default This year, as in some previous S I Open Enrollment period with a If you live in Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Yamhill, Columbia, Clark (WA), Marion, Polk, Linn, Benton or Lincoln county - and you are enrolled in the Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield Plan - you must re-enroll during the open enrollment period, or PEBB will put you in its "default" plan: Samaritan, for Linn, Benton, and Lincoln counties, and Kaiser Added Choice Plan for the other counties listed above. There are many advantages to the default plans-induding lower prescription co-pays for many drugs in the Kaiser plan, and lower co-pays on certain services for both Samaritan and Kaiser-compared to the Regence plan. There is also a $250 incentive payment (into a flexible spending account) for any one who enrolls in the Kaiser HMO plan for the first time. However, we want to make sure that all PEBB participants have an opportunity to make their own decisions about what's right for them Don't get "defaulted"! Re-enroll in the plan that works best for you and your family! SEIU Local 503, OPEU - STRONGER TOGETHER PAGE 2 SEIU Local 503, OPEU - STRONGER TOGETHER PAGE 3
