New Strength Unity Program
The Power to Make a Difference

February 2001

The ascension of George W. Bush to the White House may pose one of the greatest threats to working people in decades. When he ran for office it was hard to take seriously his agenda of increasing corporate power, deregulation, and the privatizing of public services. Within less than a month of taking office he has issued executive orders attacking labor and proposed privatizing social services by contracting out work to “faith based” organizations. One look at his cabinet appointments makes it clear that he is intent on rolling back the rights of women and minorities and erasing environmental and consumer protections. It’s no wonder he is going after labor. As the nation’s largest and most effective mass-based organization, the labor movement is one of the last obstacles that stands in his way.

Will Bush succeed? Well, SEIU has plans of its own. The union has pledged to organize 600,000 new members and use this power to stop the corporate campaign. But stopping the corporate juggernaut is not enough. We are going to fight for a positive agenda of improving the quality of health care and social services. SEIU needs the power to win the fight for safe staffing levels and lower caseloads, so that workers can really make a difference in the lives of the people and community they serve. SEIU has launched the New Strength Unity Program, uniting workers across local union lines so that we can take on employers as a unified front.

Last year, delegates to the Service Employees International Union convention adopted the New Strength Unity Plan. Two years in the making, the new plan is a major overhaul of the union and its affiliates. Its goal–to provide the union with the resources to win better pay and benefits for members, improve working conditions, and effect a positive impact on the nation’s social, political, and economic policies.
Local 535’s statewide executive board established the Program/Resource Committee last year to maximize member participation in developing Local 535’s implementation of the plan. The following committee members participated in the January meetings: Janet Atkins, Helen Benson, Penny Donovan, David Gonzales, Rhonda Goode, Gwyn Harshaw, Thomas Heffington, Annette Jeffries, Irv Kestin, David Mulvey, Bruce Peaslee, Marilyn Shepherd-Leake, Hank Silver, Bob Solis, Geoff Stephen, Ben Toney, Joan Valdes, and Darlene White.
The plan calls for creating a unity fund, division structures, and increasing our communications ability. And unity means unity in its broadest sense, so the plan emphasizes diversity and calls for organizing retirees. To raise the money for this campaign SEIU is increasing member dues. In exchange for the dues increase the union promises more accountability and part of that will be publishing annual reports. Members will be able to evaluate what the union is doing and make informed decisions about what works, what doesn’t, and what we need to do to succeed in the future.

Local 535’s New Strength Unity Program
Building a Better Future For Ourselves and Our Families

Unity Fund
Corporations are growing bigger and more powerful, downsizing, and forcing the government to deregulate. Health care is being significantly restructured based on cost, not care. Many public employees’ full-time jobs and benefits are threatened by privatization. Too often in the past we have been forced to play defense, fighting just to maintain social services and jobs. The Unity Fund is a way for local unions to pool their resources to develop campaigns and approaches to aggressively challenge corporate special interests and their political allies. All SEIU unions will contribute to this national fund to support and coordinate regional and national strategies. In partnership with other SEIU locals around the country, the Unity Fund will enable us to fight and win the battles that we have not been able to win alone, like high caseloads, staffing ratios, workload, safety, and contracting out.

Division Structure

The union will be restructured so we can take on the key challenges we face and unite workers who do the same work. This structure will allow us to coordinate statewide activities and implement a united plan of action. We will be able to more effectively face and provide a united voice on such issues as contracting out, high caseloads, improved pension plans, and nurse/patient ratios.
Local 535 adopted a division structure to unify Local 535 members by industry.

• Public Sector—child protective services, adult protective services, eligibility and employment services, schools, and other public sector work.
• Non-Profit—mental health, regional centers, group homes, and faith-based agencies.
• Health Care/Allied–hospitals and clinics, Kaiser (all chapters), Yosemite, and Laidlaw.

Communication Program

Knowledge is power. Our ability to effectively communicate our program to our members and the public will help us fight for issues important to us and our families. The New Strength Unity Communication Program will enable us to improve communication at all levels, ensure members’ voices are heard both within the union and in the public and build lines of communication among chapters and divisions. The program will include division and chapter newsletters, leadership directories, community outreach and coalition building, a new member orientation video, expanded information on retired member programs, an expanded and enhanced Local 535 web site, and better use of information technology for research and internal communication.

Retiree Program

Our union’s retired members are an untapped resource. Local 535’s Retiree Program is intended to enhance, mobilize, and involve the union’s retired members to help build a better future for all of us. The union will establish a committee to develop a retiree member program that includes retiree activities, political action, and participation in retirement boards.

Diversity Program

Diversity is our strength. Over the years we have prided ourselves on our diversity. The local’s Diversity Program will build on this strength and develop a diversity plan that ensures leadership at all levels of the local reflect the diversity of the local’s membership. Plans include a mentorship program, cultural/ethnic training, speakers and events at work sites, and creation of caucuses and civil and human rights committees in chapters.

Coordinated Bargaining

There is strength in numbers. Too often we go it alone when we could be working with our allies at the bargaining table to deliver higher wages, benefits, improved working conditions, and build leverage with employers. Coordinated Bargaining means building our relationships with other SEIU locals, unions, and allies as well as bringing together potential new partners, including retirees, and build on the highly successful Kaiser Partnership model (seven 535 chapters won more bargaining together than they could have in separate negotiations).

Annual Report to the Members

The union will provide an annual report to the members on all aspects of the New Strength Unity Plan and a year-end summary of Local 535 activities. We will set quantifiable goals and benchmarks to measure our progress on the New Strength Unity Plan.

Dues Increase

The New Strength Unity Plan calls for a portion of union dues to go to a special Unity Fund established solely for the purpose of helping unions increase their strength. The Local 535 statewide executive board reviewed the union’s dues structure and the cost of implementing the New Strength Unity Plan and adopted a dues increase from 1.4% to 1.65% of salary effective January 1, 2002. The current Local 535 dues cap formula remains in place.

By working together, we can make these goals a reality. That’s what the New Strength Unity Plan is all about. Get involved.