Dignity, June 01, 2019, Image 6

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State and Homecare
Workers UNITE in
Historic Rally to Fund
Public Services
Fifteen hundred state, personal support, homecare, and public
services workers came together on Monday, May 20th at a
historic rally to push for fair contracts and investments in public
services.
Members of SEIU Local 503 from across Oregon marched through
Salem and up to the steps of the Capitol Building, demanding that
legislators hear the powerful voice of the workers at the heart of
Oregon’s public services infrastructure.
“Oregon can work together. Labor and business, community
organizations and legislators, union families and the rest of our
communities, towards a common purpose. We are united for a
better Oregon,” said Executive Director Melissa Unger to a crowd
of SEIU members.
The rally is a part of a statewide campaign, United For A Better
Oregon, targeting the underfunded and underinvested areas of
Oregon’s public services, including dire situations in the Child
Welfare department, underfunded schools, and the need for
increased services in the homecare and personal support sector.
The rally came just days after a huge victory in the passage of the
Student Success Act, which raises $2 billion in revenue to fund
education by taxing large corporations, and relieves pressure on
the budget so we can invest in the public services our members
provide.
"What does new revenue mean? It means better schools for our
children and grandchildren. It means less pressure on the budget
and opportunities to invest in services, from DHS to ODOT to DOJ
to homecare and personal support workers to public universities
and every other service provided by SEIU 503 members across the
state,” says Unger.
The majority of 72,000 people who make up SEIU 503 are
bargaining new contracts this year, which is why it's so important
to put pressure on legislators and management.
“I'm here today to support my brothers and sisters in the right
to unite and have a better, stronger Oregon, including fighting
for PERS and homecare,” says SEIU 503 homecare leader Maleta
Christian. “The stronger we are, the louder we are, we can then
fight for all of Oregon.”
In addition to celebrating our win on revenue, we are pushing back
on a proposal to cut the retirement of public employees, forcing
down their total compensation to pay for a financial liability that
they had no part in creating. For many public employees, who
often make less than their private sector counterparts, the state
pension system is one of the main benefits that draws them into
public employment. Without that, it will be difficult to attract
talented new workers and become increasingly hard to keep
seasoned staff who are struggling to make ends meet on non­
competitive compensation packages.