Today the SEIU State Council, of which SEIU Local 509 is a part, voted to endorse Elizabeth Warren in the race for US Senate. Read the press release here
As state workers and private sector workers for publicly funded agencies, it’s important for SEIU Local 509 members to be involved in the political process to ensure that our agencies maintain an adequate level of funding and that the individuals that we serve and care for are looked after.
With the upcoming Senate and Presidential elections coming up, 2012 is going to be a busy year for our members and being involved in political campaigns is one of the best ways that we can protect our contracts and fight to make sure that all working people in Massachusetts are treated fairly.
Members of the Local 509 Solidarity Committee joined with labor and community activists on January 14th for a rally to save the Post Office at Grove Hall in Roxbury.
As talks of cutbacks in the US Postal Service continue, the importance of neighborhood post offices often goes overlooked.
Photos from the rally:
Save the Date for the US Senate Candidates Forum!
This is your chance to meet and evaluate the candidates to represent Massachusetts in the US Senate. Your input is critical to our union’s endorsement decision!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
9:30 am – 12 noon
1199SEIU
150 Mt. Vernon Street (BaySide Expo Office Center)
Dorchester, MA
Light breakfast and lunch will be provided
Sponsored by the SEIU State Council, SEIU Local 509, Local 615, Local 888, 1199SEIU United Healthcare East, and The SEIU Committee of Interns and Residents.
The Forum is open to members only.
Since October 2010’s Annual Meeting, the Local 509 Organizing Department, working in conjunction with the Organizing Committee, has been on a roll. On December 14, 2010, workers from Sullivan & Associates (now renamed Guidewire) had their ballots counted. They won their union election in a landslide victory and are getting close to completing their first contract. When bargaining is done and their contract is ratified, we will be welcoming over 450 sisters and brothers who work in Mental Health and Developmentally Disabled programs in the Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield areas. Local 509 NOC-trained members were key in talking to workers throughout the organizing campaign as bosses tried to dissuade them from forming a union and 509 members were invaluable in the “Get Out The Vote” or “GOTV” efforts. Thanks to all of you who worked on this campaign.
In addition to Guidewire, Local 509 also had a huge success in winning the Bridgewell campaign, with nearly 700 workers voting Union YES! See the separate article in the Private Sector Human Chapter report on page 15.
In addition to the ten NOC (National Organizing Corps) trainings held in 2010, we also had two in 2011 that were tied to specific campaigns. Newly trained NOC members, as well as 2010 “NOC veterans,” have helped immeasurably with campaigns that, at press time, are not yet complete: the NLRB (National Labor Relation Board) found 34 violations in last year’s MHA (Mental Health Association) election so we are currently in the midst of trying to win a new election, by using a fairer system of voting, the mail ballot. A campaign at Alternatives Unlimited, an agency that cuts a wide swath through Central Massachusetts, from the Rhode Island to New Hampshire, is in full swing; their GOTV is supposed to be timed with the Annual Meeting.
We invite anyone who is interested in helping the union grow to attend a meeting, and see what we do. We meet every month, and the time/location of the meeting is on an alternating schedule. Contact Dennis MacDonald for more information. This is an opportunity to help others achieve what we may take for granted, e.g. “Just Cause” and rights to the grievance and arbitration procedures. Officers of Local 509 take a pledge, “to organize the unorganized workers.”
Jen Rosenlund (Walnut Street) and Elaine Matthews (Eliot CHS) at the Verizon Store on Route 16
The company’s campaign of intimidation has continued relentlessly since the strike ended. Recently, the company retaliated against workplace leaders by firing 10 Massachusetts workers for “strike related activity.”
This greed and intimidation cannot stand.
On Saturday, December 10, International Human Rights Day, community delegations delivered letters (Letter of Support) to Verizon stores asking them to bargain fairly and respect their workers. Local 509 members Jen Rosenlund (Walnut Street Center) and Elaine Mathews (Eliot CHS), along with Field Rep Jon Grossman, went to the Verizon store on Route 16 in Everett to voice their concern to the company.
To keep up with the fight for a fair contract at Verizon and find out what you can do to support our union sisters and brothers there, visit Jobs With Justice’s page for the campaign.
At our union’s Joint Executive Board meeting in August, we began the process of forming a Solidarity Committee for our union so that we can be more effective in supporting our union sisters and brothers at other locals.
We will be holding the first Solidarity Committee meeting on Thursday, December 8, 2011, in the conference room of Local 509′s offices at 100 Talcott Ave. in Watertown. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and teleconference is available. Please dial in around 6:55 so that you are on the line when the meeting commences.
Following is the motion passed by the Joint Executive Board, 8/9/11: “(motion) that SEIU Local 509 form a Solidarity Committee, to work collaboratively with other Labor Unions, Jobs With Justice, Labor Councils and other labor-friendly groups, with the purpose of defending the principles of trade unionism, working towards social justice, and uniting our own members to help our Sisters and Brothers in times of action, such as walking picket lines and attending pro-worker rallies.”
If you have any questions or want anything placed on the agenda, please e-mail me or call me on my cell, (781) 883-7519.
On behalf of the Solidarity Committee,
Dennis MacDonald, Member, Local 509
Other Solidarity Committee members:
Jon Grossman, Staff, Local 509
Pricilla Lynch, Member, Local 509
Brian Morrison, Member, Local 509
Jennifer Rosenlund, Member, Local 509
In light of tragedies that befell three human service workers in 2011, we had two meetings with OSHA, to discuss a growing epidemic, i.e. violence in the workplace. We have decided to work closely with OSHA on this, both to create safer working environments and to monitor and report incidents of violence in the workplace. To this end, we have formed a Private Sector Safety Committee. Those who met with OSHA are Jon Grossman, the Local 509 Private Sector Team Leader, who was on the 2011 Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Task Force on Staff and Client Safety, and has great insight regarding our increased need for safety on the job. Mike Capasso from Eliot Community Human Services attended the OSHA initial meeting and will chair the committee. I attended both OSHA meetings and brought Mary Hoye from OSHA to do a “violence in the workplace” training of over 20 members on October 28. We will have more workplace safety trainings, statewide, in 2012.
We will have our first Safety Committee meeting on Tuesday, December 6, 7 p.m., at the Local 509 offices in Watertown, 100 Talcott Ave. We will have teleconference available; please dial in around 6:55 so that you are on the line when the meeting commences. If you have ever been physically assaulted at work or fear physical attacks, you should join this meeting.
The Health and Safety Committee is alive and well. Unfortunately, so is sick building syndrome. This is the biggest issue we face. We have a carbon dioxide machine that can measure how much carbon dioxide is present. The higher the carbon dioxide, the less oxygen you are getting.
Besides a lack of oxygen, a building, or HVAC system can be contaminated with mold, or other harmful chemicals; diesel fumes from idling trucks; carbon monoxide from cars near the intake openings; roofing tar, etc.
Please notify SEIU 509 if you feel like you are having medical side effects from the air quality in your building.
For more information about the Health and Safety Committee, please contact the union office.
On Monday, December 5th, Local 509 members hit the road to Washington DC to Take Back the Capitol!
We’ll be updating live with reports from the team on the ground in Washington as things happen:
9/5 11:00 PM – Julie Pietruszka-Cardoza (DCF) reports
“Today 220 hearty souls from Massachusetts traveled to Washington DC to occupy Washington. Others traveled in their personal vehicles to do the same. Upon arrival in DC we learned that the evening before the police had torn down the tents we were to sleep in for the next few days. Thankfully we were graciously given accommodations by the national Four H club in Maryland. We look forward to tomorrow’s events so we can raise our voices to gain the attention and action of Congress.”
Marching to Scott Brown's Office
9/6 10:15 AM – Chris Landry (DOR) sends photos from the day before
Tent City at Take Back the Capitol
The Massachusetts Delegation at Take Back the Capitol
9/5 12:04 PM – Julie Pietruszka-Cardoza (DCF) reports
“Today a couple hundred people marched to K street in Washington DC to gain the attention of the 99% and draw it to the corporate lobbyists whose offices line the street. The march was energizing and boisterous. Numerous bystanders waved, applauded, and beeped their horns as we passed. Many office workers waved from the windows of their high rise office buildings.”
The 99% march down K Street
Police horses block the march down K Street
