This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

SEIU LOCAL 199 UNION NEWS

FALL 2011 2000 James St. Suite 111 Coralville, IA 52241 319.341.0112

www.seiu199.org

New Executive Board Elected!

Cathy Glasson of UIHC and Corey Council of Clinton Schools will continue as President and Vice President of our union through 2014, following their election by

acclamation in September. They, along with Daryl Lewis of Iowa City Schools and Ann Byrne of UIHC, will round out the union officers who will serve their three-year terms beginning on November 10, 2011. Our union’s Election Committee approved a vote by acclamation because only one person was nominated (and accepted that nomination) for each Executive Board position. Because SEIU Local 199’s Constitution and Bylaws prohibits write-in voting, the Committee determined that a vote by acclamation would save us thousands of dollars because we would not have to mail out ballots to all members when the winners were a foregone conclusion. So we congratulate Cathy, Corey, and the rest of the newly elected board:

Vicki Siefers (UIHC), Sandy Doerring (Broadlawns Medical Center), Cathy Warner (Broadlawns Medical Center), Mary Burke (UIHC), Stephanie Lewis (Cedar Rapids Schools), Jim West (Clinton Schools), Joe Mullin (Cedar Rapids Schools), Rod Abbott (Bettendorf Schools), Sara Collmann (HACAP/Headstart), Tim Martens (Dubuque Schools), Ray Barnard (Linn-Mar Schools), William Scott Vick (UIHC), and Lori Wenman Petersen(Iowa City Schools). And a special thank you goes out to the Election Committee members for all their hard work on our behalf: Bev Clearman, Gail Hirtz, Pauline Taylor, Cindy Gonterman, and Lisa Bream.

REMINDER: READ YOUR PAY STUBS! Union staff reps have heard from members recently

about potential grievances related to wages. You can only really do something about payroll problems if you notice a problem in a timely manner. The only way to do that is read your pay stub regularly. If you wait too long, it gets that much harder to fix the problem. Our union’s staff can help you interpret your pay stub if you have questions.

This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

The People’s March on Terrace Hill! July 16, 2011 – We joined about 500 other people to protest Gov. Terry Branstad’s pro-corporate, anti-worker agenda. The event was covered by the Des Moines Register and Des Moines television stations and was a huge success. _____________________________________________ Below: SEIU Member and Head Start Teacher Sara Collmann addresses the crowd to tell them how state budget cuts have hurt her students and their families; Clinton School District member Jim West asks the Governor the question that’s on everyone’s mind; Broadlawns RN member Connie Linnane and Local President Cathy Glasson join the crowd in sending a message to Governor Branstad.

We Gotta Have J-O-B-S! On Saturday, August 27, we marched through downtown Des Moines to the Farmers’ Market to call on Iowa’s Congressional delegation to focus on jobs and put people back to work. We held a rally that included a “concert” by some of us dressed as the 1970s disco band the Village People. We put new words to the song Y-M-C-A. Check it out on our web site: www.seiu199.org ---------------------------------------------------- Below: Rallyers marching to the Polk County Courthouse; Local 199 President Cathy Glasson, Waverly teacher JimVowels, Broadlawns RN Cathy Waner, and Clinton School District Employee Jim West wowing the crowd with their rendition of J-O-B-S!; Becky Leaven, a member at UIHC, telling Congress what it needed to do.

This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

Local 199 Member Sets World Record SEIU Local 199 member Lyn Dee Kealey (pictured below), a social worker in the Burn Unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, is garnering a lot of kudos these days for her role setting a world record to promote fire safety.

For a year and a half she worked with the State Fire Marshall to organize the largest simultaneous “Stop Drop and Roll” event ever. On August 21, 1,519 people did, in fact, stop, drop and roll (a method for putting yourself out if you’re on fire) at the Iowa State Fair Grounds to help promote fire prevention. “It was a lot of fun,” Lyn Dee said. And though she gave a good deal of the credit for the success of the event to the Fire Marshall, Lyn Dee definitely helped pull it off. Now she and the others are just waiting for confirmation from the folks at the Guinness Book of World Records. Lyn Dee added that our union might be able to learn a thing or two from the way that event went. She said that we ought to consider doing more things that let us

This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

have fun at the same time moving our cause forward. “It definitely can be done.”

Welcome Back, Dan!! UIHC social worker and Iowa National Guardsman Dan Grinstead (pictured above) is happy to be back at work at UIHC after his tour in Afghanistan. “It’s an interesting transition,” he said about returning to work at the end of August. “There are so many things that I’ve forgotten about.”

One thing he said he wouldn’t forget was the care package his union brothers and sisters

sent him and his fellow soldiers earlier this year. “I can’t tell you how much that meant. UIHC and the union were a remarkable part of my social support system. It’s really amazing how many people noticed I was gone.”

Later this fall we will be conducting an on online survey to give you a chance to weigh in on a

number of issues important to our union.

Keep your eyes open for a formal

announcement coming to an email box near you very soon.

We Will Not Become Wisconsin!!! Help Elect Liz Mathis! Through our hard work we have been able to maintain a worker-friendly majority in the Iowa Senate. As many of you may already know, that majority is in danger due to the resignation of Democratic State Senator Swati Dandekar.

In the coming weeks, we'll need your help knocking on doors, making phone calls, and chasing absentee ballots to ensure Liz

Mathis wins so that we don’t lose our union because we lose the right to collectively bargain. We must keep Senate District 18 in labor-friendly hands. Mathis was a reporter and anchor at radio and television stations in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids for nearly 30 years. She is currently the Chief Information Officer at a Cedar Rapids-based child welfare agency. Make no mistake about it: if Governor Branstad and his candidate win, we'll be facing the same attacks we witnessed earlier this year in Wisconsin and Ohio. We need you to volunteer to knock on doors of other union members and make phone calls between now and the November 8th election. If you'd like to volunteer for these or any other shifts, please let us know by contacting Cathy Glasson @ 319-341-0112.

This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

Rod Abbott Runs for Davenport City Council

Rod Abbot, president of the Bettendorf Schools mixed chapter and Statewide

Local Executive Board member had hoped to add City Councilor to his resume. Unfortunately, he recently lost his primary

bid against four other contenders for two open spots on the November ballot. “I ran as a labor candidate,” Rod said on the eve of the primary. “I still think we need to focus on the needs of the city, not the wants.” To him that means foregoing sky bridges to casinos, and taking care of the basics first. That includes fair wages for the city’s workers who provide the essential services. During the campaign, he told voters he supported what he calls “reverse TIFs” (Tax Increment Financing). Instead of giving property tax breaks to companies that simply move to Davenport, he told voters those breaks should go to those companies that stay and offer jobs with livable wages and health benefits. Although he didn’t make it onto the November ballot, Rod’s effort serves as an important example. Our union and others need members to step up and run so that we know that the people we elect will be with us on the important issues. SEIU has programs designed to help members get elected. If you want more information, call President Cathy Glasson at 319-341-0112.

Redeem your Purple Points NOW!

The Purple Points Program is your union’s way of saying thanks for all the work you do to make us stronger every single day. Whether it’s participating in a chapter meeting or rallying for jobs, we recognize that work. So make sure you spend your 2011 Purple Points and show your SEIU pride! There is lots of cool purple stuff for you. Purple Points cannot be carried over to next year and all orders must be in no later than noon on Thursday, December 22nd.

If you spend 15 PPs, you can purchase an item worth between $0 and $5

If you spend 25 PPs, you can purchase an item worth between $5 and $10

If you spend 35 PPs, you can purchase an item worth between $10 and $15

If you spend 50 PPs, you can purchase an item worth between $15 and $25

If you spend 75 PPs, you can purchase an item worth between $25 and $35

If you spend 100 PPs, you can purchase an item worth between $35 and $50

You can look at the full list online. Go to seiu199.org and click on the SEIU Store link. Contact Office Manager Marsha Rech at 319-341-0112 with your order today or email her at marsha.rech@seiuiowa.org.

This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

What Were We Thinking? Results of Local 199’s

Survey on the Economy.

What word or

phrase best

describes the

economy?

Is our economy

getting better,

worse, or

neither

Strong 2.0% Better 18.4%

Weak 67.2% Worse 39.5%

In

Recovery 16.2% Neither 42.1%

Don't

Know 14.5%

What Is Most

Important to our

economic

recovery?

What is most

important to

getting

americans back

to work?

Business Tax

Cuts 5.1% Tax Breaks 11.8%

More Jobs 81.8%

Federal Jobs

Program 35.5%

Strong Stock

Market 4.7%

Punishing

Employers Who

Move Jobs Off

Shore 42.1%

Nothing 8.4% Nothing 10.5%

A Little Levity…

Do you think the

wealthiest

americans and big

corporations pay

their fair share of

taxes?

Do you agree

with Warren

Buffett that

wealthy

americans are

not paying their

fair share of

taxes?

Yes 8.4% Yes 72.4%

No 85.8% No 11.8%

Not Sure 5.8% Not Sure 15.8%

Have you or someone

you know personally

been affected by the

recession?

Do you think

politicians generally

listen to working

people?

Yes 71.9% Yes 19.3%

No 28.1% No 69.5%

Don't Know 11.2%

Nurses for Harkin

Our RN members, past and present, helped make sure the hundreds of participants at Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual Steak Fry fundraiser stayed safe and healthy during the recent event. Pictured here are: Back Row – Veckee Foss, former Broadlawns RN, Broadlawns RN Jennifer McIlhon, and Broadlawns RN Sandy Doerring. Front Row - Former Broadlawns RN Marcia Beck, Staff Rep/Organizer Audie Schmidt, and Broadlawns chapter President Cathy Warner.

This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

Here’s An Easy Way to Help Put Americans Back To Work… Look around. In virtually every community you’ll see work that needs doing. Rundown schools. Crumbling bridges. Neglected parks, recreation centers,

and playgrounds. Buildings that need to be more energy

efficient. Energy sources that need to be more

environment-friendly. We are gathering photos of work that needs doing and making sure our nation’s policymakers and elected officials see them and realize that they must pass the American Jobs Act! We have to put America back to work repairing our infrastructure and meeting our education, healthcare, and clean energy needs. So if you see something in your town that needs repair. Snap a photo and upload it to: www.workthatneedsdoing.org.

Mark Your Calendars

Organizing Training: Be Stronger!

Grow Your Chapter! (November 19 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Union Hall)

Bargaining Basics (December 3 from

9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Union Hall) SEIU Local 199 Holiday Party and

General Membership Meeting on December 10 (Details TBA)

Executive Board Meeting (November

3 at 6 pm in the Union Hall) Call 319-341-0112 for more information about these events.

Join the SEIU Local 199 Group

on Facebook Want to keep up with what’s happening in our union? Want to

communicate with your sisters and brothers about the issues facing working

This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

Iowans or simply post photos of your kid’s latest sports victory? Well, you can do all that if you join the SEIU Local 199 group on Facebook. It is a closed group, which means the contents of our conversations are private and only people invited or added by a member can read what’s posted.

LOCAL 199 ORGANIZING DIRECTOR ROGER DANIEL’S TIP FOR RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS:

Don’t Forget the Perks! Often nonmembers want to know what our union does. Of course we speak

of contract wins or protecting our rights. But we often forget the little stuff that can be very important for members in these tough economic times. Don’t forget the perks! Here are few examples: Our dues are tax deductible, or We get discounts on cell phones, computers, tires, insurance, and many, many more products You never know what might help someone make the decision to join our union and stand up for themselves.

Invest in COPE Today During the late summer and early fall, given the mounting problems facing working people in American, nearly 60 of our brothers and sisters decided it was time to start investing in our future by investing in COPE. What is COPE? Well, by law, our union cannot use our union dues for political contributions or activities. COPE is an acronym for the Committee on Political Education. It is our union’s voluntary, non-partisan Political Action Committee. It provides the funding to help us hold politicians accountable at every level of government, and help our union build the political power to win strong contracts, better benefits, and pass laws to protect our jobs. It helps us elect worker-friendly candidates and fight for issues important to our members and all working Iowans. It is the best way for us to level the playing field with corporate America. They still have more money than we do, but it gives us a fighting chance.

This newsletter is paid for in part by SEIU COPE with voluntary contributions from SEIU members and their families.

FOR SEIU MEMBERS… Aflac products with premiums below

those you could get on your own!

Short Term Disability Income Protection Advantage Plan.

It provides benefits for on-the-job and off-the job accidents.

Special Union pricing for Aflac’s Lump Sum Critical Care and Lump Sum Cancer plans.

They offer payouts of up to $30,000 per event.

Payroll pricing for Aflac Personal Sickness Indemnity and Hospital Protection plans.

They give participants supplemental hospitalization benefits.

Previously only available through an employer, but now available to SEIU Local 199 members.

Insure your income if you are out of work due to an illness or injury. Get premiums customized to fit your budget.

Special Union pricing now available for Aflac’s Accident Indemnity Advantage plan.

Call 319-341-0112

To Find Out How