CURRENT CAMPAIGNS
Political Action
Become a Member Political Organizer
Do you knock on doors for candidates? Do you make phone calls during election season? Do you travel to Olympia for Lobby Day? Do you invest in COPE?
If you answered yes to these questions you should sign up to me a Member Political Organizer!
Member Political Organizers (MPOs) carry the vision of a better society into our workplaces, into our communities and onto the campaign trail by helping to elect leaders who get results on health care, retirement security, education and other issues that matter to ordinary Americans.
In 2006, nearly 200 SEIU Local 925 members volunteered their time filling over 600 shifts of door knocking and phoning for candidates with proven records on issues that matter to working families. SEIU members made the winning difference in tight races!
We need to build upon this work to continue to elect candidates who will stand up for our families. You do the work and give to our COPE fund, now we need YOU to help make the decisions. SEIU Local 925 is forming regional MPO committees to review candidate records, interview candidates, and make the decisions about who our local should support in an election.
If you have knocked on doors or made calls for candidates with the union in past elections, contribute to COPE, and agree to volunteer 12 or more hours in 2008, sign up to be an MPO!
To become a MPO contact your local union Political Director Tricia Schroeder at tschroeder@seiu925.org or 206-322-3010.
Together, we can make politicians listen – and take action – on issues like health care, education, and retirement security.
Victory for Child Care in Olympia
Dear SEIU Local 925 Child Care Providers
I am so happy to say that we have passed three important child care bills this year. Taken together they eliminate unnecessary paperwork, lighten the administrative burden on providers and refocus the state’s limited resources on child safety and high quality care.
Choose schools over Wall Street banks
Which is more important for families across Washington — tax breaks for highly profitable Wall Street banks or high quality education for our children?
More people are asking that question as the Legislature moves forward with HB 2078, which would end a tax break for big banks and redirect the millions saved into smaller class sizes in grades K-3.
I am a former public school teacher and the president of SEIU Local 925. Our members work with children from their earliest years through college. We see first-hand the critical importance of education funding.
Our state leaders say that education is the priority, but is it really? Because of low tax revenues, the Legislature cut $5 billion from our kids and communities over the past two years and is proposing another $5 billion in cuts for the next two years. Meanwhile, the state gives away billions of dollars in special interest tax breaks, and is proposing zero dollars in cuts to tax breaks.
Big Wall Street banks get an unnecessary $115 million tax break on interest on first mortgages. These very same banks doled out executive bonuses totaling far more than $115 million. Why are we taking money away from our children’s education and giving it to executives for their bonuses?
Redirecting that money into class size reduction for grades K-3 means that more of our kids will have a better chance at mastering basic literacy and being prepared to thrive in middle school, high school and beyond. While out-of-state banks continue to profit, thousands of school employees right here in our own state are losing their jobs, which jeopardizes the quality of our public education system.
With our economy dependent on a well-educated workforce, how does undermining our public education system make sense?
Public education is meant to provide every child with an opportunity to succeed, but that opportunity is not free and it is not easy. Our promise to our children was that we would all pitch in to give our kids the tools they need to succeed, because everybody — our communities, our economy, our workforce — benefits when we prioritize quality public education.
We want to thank the legislators who are standing up to big banks and prioritizing our schools by supporting HB 2078. All session long, we have heard legislators bemoan that they have no choice other than drastic cuts to our communities. Now, with HB 2078 legislators have a clear choice: protect our schools and communities or protect the pockets of Wall Street fat cats. It’s no longer enough for legislators to speak hypothetically about ending out-of-state bank tax breaks.
It’s time for our elected leaders in Olympia to bring this to a floor vote so that we can see who stands up for funding education and who stands with the big banks.
Karen Hart is president of SEIU Local 925 an education and public services local with more than 23,000 child care provider, public school and higher education employee members.
http://heraldnet.com/article/20110521/OPINION03/705219992/-1/OPINION
Warren Buffet Gets It
Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in America and a world famous investor, calls for Washington politicians to stop coddling the super-rich.
Working families couldn’t agree more.
Here’s a clip from his op-ed:
OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.
While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.
These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.
SEIU Local 925
1914 N 34th Street, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98103 | Tel: (206) 322-3010
1914 N 34th Street, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98103 | Tel: (206) 322-3010