Latest news with #SEIU
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nursing strike at Madison's UnityPoint Health-Meriter ends in tentative agreement
A four-day strike at Madison's UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital where hundreds of nurses have been asking for safer working conditions is ending in a tentative agreement between the hospital and SEIU Wisconsin, which represents 934 Meriter nurses, according to a May 31 announcement from the labor union. While the tentative agreement does not outline broad safety measures for staff across the board, it does consist of protections for some staff, an 8% raise over the next two years for all and new framework for staff to voice concerns, bargaining team member Amber Anderson said at the May 31 news conference outside the hospital. In particular, the bargaining team won commitments specific to staff and patients working in Child Adolescent Psychiatry and the Emergency Room, as well as commitment to a tip sheet for violent incidents, Anderson said. The bargaining team was not able to win actionable commitments from management that would more tangibly prevent workplace violence across the board, she said, particularly on staffing ratios. However, Anderson did say they obtained language that will be easier for nurses to collectively voice concerns on staffing and safety and work with management to find solutions. Union members will vote to ratify the agreement during the evening on May 31 and then return to work at the hospital by 7 a.m. June 1, which is when the strike had been scheduled to end. The strike — the first for Meriter nurses — began on May 27 grounded in frustrations over hospital management's lack of response to multiple requests for a safer work environment. Contract negotiations started in January. Since then, nurses had been asking for their contract to guarantee greater security measures at the hospital, including adding a metal detector and smaller staff-to-patient ratios in the hospital's medical-surgical units. They also sought increased pay for working nights and other less desirable shifts. Pat Raes, a Meriter nurse and president of SEIU Wisconsin, previously told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that there had been instances where patients and visitors brought guns into the facility without the knowledge of staff. Violence against health care workers has been on the rise, Raes said, and nurses sought action before a serious incident occurs, not after. Anderson said on May 31, "This victory is not just for the bargaining team. It belongs to all of us. To every single one of you who showed up, spoke out and stood strong, we thank you." Behind her stood over a dozen other hospital staff and supporters decked out in the union's signature color: purple. In her speech, Anderson thanked SEIU staff, UW nurses, workers at the Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin and community members and other local unions who donated time and resources. In a Facebook post on the agreement, the hospital issued the following statement: "We respect the union's process and look forward to the outcome of their decision. We believe this is a strong, fair contract that demonstrates the value and respect we have for the nurses on our team." 'We are grateful for the dedication and hard work of everyone involved in the negotiations. This tentative agreement represents meaningful progress toward a contract that recognizes the important contributions of our nurses," Market Chief Nursing Officer Sherry Casali said. The hospital in downtown Madison is part of UnityPoint Health, an Iowa-based health system with locations across southern Wisconsin. In 2017, the hospital entered into a joint operating agreement with UW Health, allowing patients to get care from both providers. UW Health is also no stranger to labor negotiations. The health system's nurses union was dissolved in 2014 as a result of Act 10, and nurses began the fight to restore it in 2019, including threatening a three-day strike in 2022 that ultimately did not occur. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is currently deciding whether UW Health is required to negotiate a collective bargaining contract with the union. The court heard oral arguments in the case in February. Madeline Heim contributed to this report. Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@ Follow her on X at @levensc13. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nursing strike at UnityPoint Health-Meriter ends in tentative agreement
CBS News
4 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Hours after protests in Philadelphia and across US, Washington woman released from ICE custody
Rally held in Philadelphia for Washington woman who was released by ICE Rally held in Philadelphia for Washington woman who was released by ICE Rally held in Philadelphia for Washington woman who was released by ICE Hours after protests in Philadelphia and around the country, a 64-year-old woman has been released from ICE custody. Holding signs and chanting "Free Auntie Lynn," members of the Service Employees International Union called for the release of one of their own on Thursday. "For 50 years she's had a green card, and all of a sudden she's not welcome," said Richard Genetti, who represents federal employees as part of the American Federation of Government Employees. Lewelyn Dixon is a lab technician at the University of Washington. She was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in late February at the Seattle airport after returning home to see family. Dixon has been a lawful permanent resident for the last 50 years after coming to the U.S. from the Philippines at 14. She's eligible to become a naturalized citizen, but she promised her grandfather she would keep her native citizenship. CBS News Philadelphia. Dixon was likely taken into custody for a 2001 felony, which she resolved, including with restitution and a 30-day stay in a halfway house. The crowd gathered outside the ICE office on 8th Street in Philadelphia. People there said this protest is not just for Dixon but for all those facing immigration injustices. "It's basically families living in fear," says Jennifer Edmonds, who helps support families navigating the immigration process. "It's an attack on our rights because once you do it to one person, it leaves the door open to do much more to others." Edmonds and others at the rally said while Dixon's release is a win, the fight is far from over. "You can't take any of the things we fought for over the last decades for granted because there is always someone that's behind the scenes trying to take what we've gained," Edmonds said.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Charlotte airport employees decry working conditions at city council meeting
Dominique Chambers, left, sorts through post cards outlining labor concerns with other members of the SEIU. (Photo courtesy of 32BJ SEIU.) Charlotte Douglas International Airport employees took to the floor of the Charlotte City Council on Tuesday to allege unsafe working conditions, high turnover, and inadequate wages at the state's largest airport. The employees delivered hundreds of postcards from members of the 32BJ Service Employees International Union outlining labor concerns at the airport before addressing the council during its public comment session at 5 p.m. Speakers from the union urged city lawmakers to raise wages and pass stricter safety standards for the airport at the local level. Dominique Chambers, a wheelchair agent at the airport, said working conditions directly interfere with his ability to assist elderly and disabled passengers. 'Every day, we are met with low wages, minimum benefits, and poor working conditions,' Chambers said. 'The turnover rate is so high and we are so understaffed that many passengers are left waiting. Sometimes, we're even pressured to push two passengers at the same time.' Chambers said the cost of living in Charlotte has outpaced their wages to the point that colleagues of his are forced to stay with their families, live in their cars, or even remain unhoused altogether. Because he makes $12.50 an hour, Chambers said he has no choice but to live with his grandmother. Donielle Prophete, the president of Communications Workers of America Local 3645, said that if councilors do not act on their concerns, then 'now is the time for us to act and vote you off of this dais.' She asked the council to open a committee meeting to allow the union members to propose a new ordinance on workplace safety and higher wages. 'Charlotte Douglas is one of the largest economic engines in the city. If the workers who power it can't count on their elected officials to protect them, then who can they count on?' Prophete said. 'No Charlottean should be working full-time and still unable to afford rent, food, or health care.' Later in the meeting, City Attorney Anthony Fox said the changes requested by the union are preempted by the state's Wage and Hour Act, which largely reserves the right to set labor laws to the state legislature. He added that nothing the union has communicated to him about its proposal has changed that analysis. 'I understand the merits of what they're asking for and it's altruistic, it's noble, but we are restricted by law on what we can do and how far we can go,' Fox said. Councilor Victoria Watlington said it was her understanding that the union's current proposal is not a direct modification to wage and labor standards, but rather, a change to the criteria the city uses to award contracts at the airport that would take into consideration those concerns — something she said is in the council's purview. Though three members of the council — Tiawana Brown, Reneé Johnson, and Watlington — requested a committee hearing on the issue, Mayor Vi Lyles declined to refer the issue, citing a need for further consultation with the city attorney. Brown also requested that Lyles authorize the city council's Budget, Government, and Intergovernment Relations Committee to investigate safety and efficiency at the airport. Lyles said she would discuss the matter with Fox's office and make a determination based on his legal advice. 'These are things that I think about in a way that, how do we create jobs for people that pay better?' Lyles said. 'How do we do that? That's by getting behind people in a way that we can provide these opportunities for them.' Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Lyles's office did not respond to requests for comment. In a press release, the union said the council has the power to pass their proposal, and that arguing preemption by state law is a 'well-known tactic used by corporations and politicians to shut down common-sense measures that benefit workers and the public.' 'Dozens of cities across the country have passed similar legislation to raise airport standards — despite claims by some states that such local laws are preempted by state law,' said SEIU Southern Regional Director Chris Baumann. 'It is disappointing that Mayor Lyles lacks the political will to do the same. Thousands of airport workers and their families won't forget this failure come election time.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cuomo fought efforts to raise the minimum wage before boosting it as governor
NEW YORK — Mayoral front-runner Andrew Cuomo rallied with several unions Thursday to announce his plan to push for a $20 minimum wage by 2027 — citing his success as governor in raising the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2016. But the former political director of one of the city's largest unions remembers it differently — it was Cuomo who remained the biggest obstacle to boosting the minimum wage in the state, until the push for a $15 minimum went national in 2015 and pressured him to act. 'He only got to $15 after massive national campaign pressure and a commitment from SEIU to basically run a multimillion-dollar ad campaign' said Alison Hirsh, who was the political director and vice president for building service workers union 32BJ SEIU at the time. Hirsh recalled staunch opposition from Cuomo and his administration before they finally got on board with the increase, adding: 'It had nothing to do with actually giving a shit about workers, he just wanted to be able to say, as he had contemplated a national profile, that he was the first in the country to do it, because the winds changed.' Hirsh is no neutral observer — she now manages the mayoral campaign for Democratic rival Brad Lander. But her accounts were substantiated by two others familiar with the talks around the minimum wage at the time. Cuomo's plan, first reported today by The New York Times, will need approval from Gov. Kathy Hochul. She has already passed legislation to raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. She is up for reelection next year, and will have to weigh liberal pushes like this one against fiscal concerns that may be raised in response from business leaders. The state minimum wage now stands at $16.50 per hour in New York City, Westchester and Long Island, with the upstate minimum wage at $15.50 per hour. As governor in early 2014, Cuomo blocked then-Mayor Bill de Blasio's push to raise the minimum wage in New York City, opposing local control over an issue he felt should be dealt with statewide. With his latest proposal, he's attempting the same thing as the mayor he spent years feuding with. In initially rejecting de Blasio's 2014 proposal, Cuomo argued that allowing local governments to set their own wage and tax rules could create a 'chaotic situation' and that the issue should be left to the state. In early 2015, when de Blasio suggested a $13 minimum wage for the city, a Cuomo spokesperson called it a 'non-starter' with state lawmakers. Cuomo was pressured by the Working Families Party in 2014 to back a minimum wage hike as he faced a left-flank challenge from Zephyr Teachout, who was campaigning on the issue. The then-governor recorded a video for the WFP's state convention endorsing an increase along with linking it to inflation. But progressive skepticism that Cuomo truly wanted a hike continued, despite the WFP ultimately supporting his reelection. After sustained pressure from unions and other advocates, Cuomo finally came around. He announced his support for a $15 minimum wage later in 2015 and signed legislation to that effect the following year. He also faced substantial opposition from the Senate, which was then led by a coalition of Republicans and breakaway Democrats. Cuomo claimed Thursday his proposal to boost the minimum wage to $20 matches what the city's minimum wage would be today, if the $15 wage had been indexed to inflation in 2016. 'That is the fair way, and that's what we want, and that's what we're going to get passed,' Cuomo said at the rally. At the time, the Cuomo administration was decidedly against indexing the minimum wage to inflation. 'If he hadn't resisted the efforts at the time in 2016 to have the minimum wage indexed, it would be $20 an hour already,' said James Parrott, senior adviser and fellow at the New School's Center for New York City Affairs. 'In a way he's proposing a solution to a problem he created.' Hirsh remembered calls with Cuomo and his staff, including top Cuomo advisers Melissa DeRosa, Neal Kwatra and Bill Mulrow, where the team berated her as she pushed for Cuomo to raise the minimum wage. 'Andrew Cuomo would yell and scream, or he'd have Melissa or Neal scream, or Bill Mulrow would be very nice about it and block it, but he blocked every attempt at wage increases,' she said. Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi pushed back, saying in a written statement that "not a single person she mentions has any recollection of what she's talking about, but I get it — she's desperate." "Andrew Cuomo masterminded and executed a successful campaign that led to the first statewide $15 minimum wage law in the nation," he added. "New Yorkers know he has the experience and the record to make this city more affordable and make a $20 minimum wage a reality." A version of this story first appeared in New York Playbook PM. Subscribe here.
Politico
5 days ago
- Business
- Politico
Cuomo fought efforts to raise the minimum wage before boosting it as governor
NEW YORK — Mayoral front-runner Andrew Cuomo rallied with several unions Thursday to announce his plan to push for a $20 minimum wage by 2027 — citing his success as governor in raising the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2016. But the former political director of one of the city's largest unions remembers it differently — it was Cuomo who remained the biggest obstacle to boosting the minimum wage in the state, until the push for a $15 minimum went national in 2015 and pressured him to act. 'He only got to $15 after massive national campaign pressure and a commitment from SEIU to basically run a multimillion-dollar ad campaign' said Alison Hirsh, who was the political director and vice president for building service workers union 32BJ SEIU at the time. Hirsh recalled staunch opposition from Cuomo and his administration before they finally got on board with the increase, adding: 'It had nothing to do with actually giving a shit about workers, he just wanted to be able to say, as he had contemplated a national profile, that he was the first in the country to do it, because the winds changed.' Hirsh is no neutral observer — she now manages the mayoral campaign for Democratic rival Brad Lander. But her accounts were substantiated by two others familiar with the talks around the minimum wage at the time. Cuomo's plan, first reported today by The New York Times, will need approval from Gov. Kathy Hochul. She has already passed legislation to raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. She is up for reelection next year, and will have to weigh liberal pushes like this one against fiscal concerns that may be raised in response from business leaders. The state minimum wage now stands at $16.50 per hour in New York City, Westchester and Long Island, with the upstate minimum wage at $15.50 per hour. As governor in early 2014, Cuomo blocked then-Mayor Bill de Blasio's push to raise the minimum wage in New York City, opposing local control over an issue he felt should be dealt with statewide. With his latest proposal, he's attempting the same thing as the mayor he spent years feuding with. In initially rejecting de Blasio's 2014 proposal, Cuomo argued that allowing local governments to set their own wage and tax rules could create a 'chaotic situation' and that the issue should be left to the state. In early 2015, when de Blasio suggested a $13 minimum wage for the city, a Cuomo spokesperson called it a 'non-starter' with state lawmakers. Cuomo was pressured by the Working Families Party in 2014 to back a minimum wage hike as he faced a left-flank challenge from Zephyr Teachout, who was campaigning on the issue. The then-governor recorded a video for the WFP's state convention endorsing an increase along with linking it to inflation. But lefty skepticism that Cuomo truly wanted a hike continued, despite the WFP ultimately supporting his reelection. After sustained pressure from unions and other advocates, Cuomo finally came around. He announced his support for a $15 minimum wage later in 2015 and signed legislation to that effect the following year. He also faced substantial opposition from the Senate, which was then led by a coalition of Republicans and breakaway Democrats. Cuomo claimed Thursday his proposal to boost the minimum wage to $20 matches what the city's minimum wage would be today, if the $15 wage had been indexed to inflation in 2016. 'That is the fair way, and that's what we want, and that's what we're going to get passed,' Cuomo said at the rally. At the time, the Cuomo administration was decidedly against indexing the minimum wage to inflation. 'If he hadn't resisted the efforts at the time in 2016 to have the minimum wage indexed, it would be $20 an hour already,' said James Parrott, senior adviser and fellow at the New School's Center for New York City Affairs. 'In a way he's proposing a solution to a problem he created.' Hirsh remembered calls with Cuomo and his staff, including top Cuomo advisers Melissa DeRosa, Neal Kwatra and Bill Mulrow, where the team berated her as she pushed for Cuomo to raise the minimum wage. 'Andrew Cuomo would yell and scream, or he'd have Melissa or Neal scream, or Bill Mulrow would be very nice about it and block it, but he blocked every attempt at wage increases,' she said. Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi pushed back, saying in a written statement that 'not a single person she mentions has any recollection of what she's talking about, but I get it — she's desperate.' 'Andrew Cuomo masterminded and executed a successful campaign that led to the first statewide $15 minimum wage law in the nation,' he added. 'New Yorkers know he has the experience and the record to make this city more affordable and make a $20 minimum wage a reality.' A version of this story first appeared in New York Playbook PM. Subscribe here.
