Our union, United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW), has developed a stronger, more innovative union that truly improves the lives of healthcare workers, our families, and those we care for. We've achieved these goals by building an organization of, by, and for workers. Our UHW succeeds by developing leadership at our facilities and worksites, encouraging members to get involved, and maintaining a truly democratic union.

For the past ten years, our UHW and our national union, SEIU, shared this vision and approach - and it was succeeding. Together we organized more workers, raised standards and wages, and built a more powerful voice for healthcare workers.

Unfortunately, in recent years, some SEIU leaders have gone in a different direction - jeopardizing our vision. Some in SEIU have repeatedly excluded UHW members and elected officers during negotiations with our employers, and considered implementing agreements without giving UHW members the right to vote on them.

This June, local unions from around the country will come together to set the direction of our national union, SEIU, for the next four years. This convention provides us with the opportunity to make our Platform for Change a reality, as we propose changes to SEIU's constitution and bylaws that would ensure that it is members who run our union.

Help send a message that OurUHW will collect and forward to SEIU's decision-makers in Washington, D.C.: Support our UHW's Platform for Change and make our union the best it can be!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Our International Union is moving in a direction that differs from our vision and guiding principles of union democracy and building power for workers and our families. This troubling path jeopardizes our ability to organize workers and bargain better conditions for our members and the patients, residents, and consumers we care for.

On January 4, 2008, the elected Executive Board of my union, United Healthcare Workers-West, ratified our Platform for Change to express our principles for building a national union that is able to organize more workers with the power to win at the worksite, to raise standards in the healthcare industry and to achieve social justice in our society. This platform is expressed in a series of proposed amendments to SEIU's constitution and bylaws submitted by our union on March 24th.

I'm writing to urge you to support our Platform for Change by helping to adopt these amendments at SEIU's convention this June.

As a rank-and-file SEIU member, I want to ensure that my voice is heard. Only by democratizing SEIU and creating a member-driven union can we meet the great challenges we face as we work to build a progressive majority in our country.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
April 25, 2008