VOTE YES!

Hello SEIU-UHW Members,

I am writing to advocate that you READ AND GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING of what this Tentative Agreement really means to us. Once you understand the facts, GO AND VOTE TO RATIFY THIS AGREEMENT!

A vote for this agreement is a vote for your future and the future of your family!

A vote for this agreement is a vote for:
• Keeping all our benefits. That’s a fact--we have not LOST ANYTHING.
• No increase in our healthcare co-pays.
• Job security--the language protecting our jobs has not been altered.
• No change in retirement benefits.
• No reduction in sick day.
• No reduction in vacation days.
• Enhancement to sick day cash-out.
• No ETO-ESL plan.
• No paying for health benefits.

GET OUT AND VOTE!
We get all of this and we are not locked in for 5 years. What that means to me is that in two years we have the opportunity to go back, ask for more, and fight until we get it.

You all said in your surveys that the most important thing was no takeaways, keeping our job security, raises, and not paying for healthcare benefits. WE GOT ALL THAT!

Yes, there were other small things we wanted but there were other things that Kaiser wanted and we staved them off of those issues. We also made sure that we are in a position to either get more things in the future and to be strong enough as a union to fight off anything Kaiser brings to the table that looks like a takeaway.

Just look at the news or ask your neighbors if they’d like to get the following:
• No reduction in salary,
• No salary freeze,
• Not being told if you stay here we will have to take away your pension,
• Not being told you’ll have to pay for you pension through a 401K,
• No worries about when it will be your turn to stand in the unemployment line.

My God, my friends call and ask me how they can come to work for Kaiser Permanente. They are willing to do any job just so long as they can get the great medical benefits, which we still have. I have to tell them Kaiser Permanente is not hiring entry level positions right now. Because of the great agreement we negotiated, I thank God for being employed by Kaiser!

No, we did not get shift differential or salaries brought up to Northern California’s. There are other things all other coalition union members thought extremely important and you know what? I would be willing to strike over them, but the question I ask myself is this: Will the person working beside me be willing, or could he or she do it even if they wanted to? How many of us have unemployed spouses or under-employed spouses who are just doing whatever they can to help keep food on the table for their children? Some grown educated adults can’t even find jobs at Mc Donald’s or the local service station.

Appreciate what we have and that we are able to live (with a 3% raise) to fight another day.

Finally, when other folks say what they can do for you, ask for the proof:
• Show us what you have done for the members you have now.
• Give me written guarantees.
• Show me your financials proving you have the resources needed to sustain an all-out fight with the employer.
• Show me financials proving you can afford the appropriate staff to handle the needs of the members.
• Show me the grievances you’ve won for the members you now represent.
• Show me the contracts you have secured for your non-Kaiser members.
• Show me your 5-year plan for dues payments.

We (the entire coalitions of unions) need to see the blessings and be ever thankful. That is the way we ensure in two years we can receive more and better blessings.

Sorry this is such a lengthy missive, but I feel strongly that we need to VOTE YES or we need to start today saving our pennies to sustain us for the long dark days ahead on the picket line. REMEMBER GENERAL MOTORS and THE UNITED AUTOWORKERS?

I am a proud member of the 2010 National Bargaining Team and I am urging you to VOTE YES for this tentative agreement! Voting runs from June 15-23. Find out where to vote at your location here: http://www.seiu-uhw.org/kaiser/schedule


In Solidarity,

Shirlee Anne Shirley, C.R.T.