|
Meadow Park Nursing Home Workers Fight for a Fair
Deal
Meadow Park Health and Specialty Care Center, in St.
Helens , was the first unionized nursing home in Oregon. It may be the
first nursing home to strike. Sixty-five SEIU Local 503 members at Meadow Park
have been negotiating a new contract since July.
Workers are most concerned that understaffing and low wages
and benefits lead to high turnover. They say that increased wages and benefits
will help attract and retain the most qualified workers and that adequate
staffing levels will maintain quality care.
Two years ago, nursing home workers across the state
successfully lobbied for an increase in state funding for their employers. Now,
Meadow Park workers are demanding that Meadow Park’s parent company,
Extendicare, put some of the increased profits back into resident care.
Negotiations are scheduled for today, October 6. Workers
have already held a strike vote. They said if a settlement isn’t reached, a
strike will begin at 6 AM, Monday, October 10 at Meadow Park, 75 Shore Drive,
St. Helens, OR. We will post up-to-the-minute news on the web.
It’s time to get out your purple shirts. Please be
ready to join Meadow Park workers if we have to take to the streets. Remember,
“When you take one of us on, you take all of us on!”
Budget Cuts Attack LERC Labor Education in
Oregon
Every day SEIU Local 503, OPEU members draw on the incredible
wealth of education, research and policy analysis available from the University
of Oregon Labor Education & Research Center (LERC). LERC programs make it
possible for us to participate effectively in decisions that shape lives—in our
workplaces and communities.
We use skills from LERC classes to resolve workplace
conflict and create more positive work environments. Kay Cullen, Addus local
president, said, “I'm thrilled I got the chance to meet so many great women
labor activists through LERC. They shared incredible stories about how they
overcame huge obstacles. I feel so inspired!”
Lea Spencer from the Department of Revenue said, “The
training was top notch and the sessions were 100% relevant. I plan to take every
LERC course I can—it was fantastic!”
LERC raised more than $3 million in grants over the past ten
years to fund their highly respected and effective safety and health programs to
make work safer for Oregonians. Joye Willman, Homecare local president, says,
“Homecare workers do a much more professional job when we learn how to work
smarter and safer in our clients’ homes. LERC training helps us all.”
Working Oregonians benefit from LERC’s critical public policy
research about recruiting and retaining nurses, using prison labor and
contracting out public services. The Governor and State Senate said public
services like LERC should get adequate funding, but in August, some legislators
took aim at LERC. They cut 14% from the Campus Public Services line item in the
Oregon University System budget agreement.
University administrators can still choose to fund LERC’s
budget—they have the authority to restore the cuts imposed by the legislature.
We must stand together to help restore the budget for LERC.
Please send a personal letter or card to Dr. John
Mosely, Provost, University of Oregon, 202 Johnson Hall, Eugene, OR 97403. Ask
him to use his budget discretion to restore LERC funding. Be sure to mention how
LERC training helps you on the job or in your community.
Child Care Workers say YES! to SEIU Local 503
Many parents cannot go to work without child care. Nearly
6000 Oregon child care providers qualify for Employment Related Day Care (ERDC)
subsidy payments for the valuable and important work they do in their own homes.
Most of these child care workers say their pay and benefits are inadequate. High
turnover rates support their claims.
Quality in early childhood education directly affects how
ready children are to start school, and how well they succeed at school and
later in life. Oregon’s subsidy program is far behind most other states in what
we invest in early childhood care and that clearly puts our future at risk.
SEIU Local 503, OPEU members are committed to improving the
lives of workers in Oregon. Monday, September 19, SEIU members, organizers,
elected officials and community volunteers filled the hall at SEIU Local 49 in
Portland. We came together to celebrate a day spent knocking on doors and
talking to child care providers all over Oregon—and to get revved up for a
week-long blitz.
We rocked the house because on that one day, 266 child care
providers said, “Yes! I want SEIU Local 503 to represent me.” At this pace,
child care workers are very close to being able to join SEIU. Consider this:
- “License-exempt” ERDC workers in Oregon watch no more than five siblings or
up to three non-siblings in their homes.
- A family of four with income under $29,025 is eligible for this program.
- 19,887 children in Oregon live in 9,589 households that qualify for subsidy
payments.
- Department of Human Services (DHS) administers the ERDC program and
Employment oversees child care regulation and licensing.
License-exempt child care workers tell us they are impressed
with the success of SEIU Local 503 Homecare members during the last five years.
They know that forming a union is their best chance to have a voice. Child care
workers say they want to join us because, like all workers, they want better
pay, health care benefits and access to training.
Will you join with SEIU members who have already
signed up to help by becoming a volunteer organizer? You can get the message out
to child care workers that SEIU Local 503, OPEU values their work. Tell them
your story about being a Union member and how it makes a difference for you.
Call Danica Finley at 503-581-1505.
eNews Flash
Change to Win: September 28 was the
founding convention of the Change to Win Federation in St. Louis. Our goal is to
create “a lean, mean, organizing machine.” Read a » Change to Win report from
Leslie Frane and Andy Stern. PERS Board: Retirees filled the
hearing room September 23 and gave very compelling testimony. Nonetheless, the
PERS Board decided to implement their “Lipscomb” settlement with employers. They
will reduce account balances for active members and begin issuing bills next
year to retirees for “overpayments.” » PERS Update
Homecare: Members ratified the second Homecare
contract with a resounding 99.9% “YES” vote. Homecare workers won raises,
added vision and dental care to their health plan, and created a $3.7 million
training fund. Congratulations—great job everyone! |