BUDGET UPDATE - July 1, 2010
Local 668's 20th Annual Lobby Day was held on Tuesday, June 15, 2010. Hundreds of our members showed up to lobby their representatives and senators during the day.
In the afternoon, our members were joined by other labor leaders and representatives of nonprofits and community groups at a rally in the Capitol Rotunda. Click here to see a video prepared by staff of The CLEAR Coalition. You can read the press release here.
Local 668 President Kathy Jellison was a guest on The Rick Smith Show on Saturday, July 3rd, and on Sunday, June 6th. Click the "Radio Appearances" button on the left for the link to listen to podcasts of these shows.
We are proud of how our members all across the state have stepped up and participated in the SEIU Local 668 Human Services Campaign.
The Candidate Education Forums of 2010 were a great success!
Our Chapters held 15 events, all across Pennsylvania, over a period from March 25th through May 13th. These forums were attended by over 450 members, 81 legislators, 28 candidates, and 34 people representing other unions or groups. Click on the photo below for an article about the Chapter 8 Candidate Education Forum that was held in April.
We must continue educating the voters of Pennsylvania, the people we serve every day, about the need to restore some of the drastic cuts in human services funding that are part of the proposed budget.
We also need to make sure that the citizens of Pennsylvania understand the importance of the work we do.
SEIU Local 668 will lead the way by continuing our Human Services Campaign, because that is the only way we can be sure that our needs - and the needs of the citizens and taxpayers we serve - will be met.
This fight is just getting started!
To get our message out, we are airing a radio ad that talks about the huge sums of money that could be saved by closing the corporate tax loopholes. The ad is called "Six Hundred Million Dollars" - because that's how much money taxpayers in this state are losing to big corporations who don't pay their fair share of taxes. Click the “On Air” button in the left column to hear the ad, which is airing right now. You can also hear some of the ads we ran earlier this year.
SEIU Local 668 spearheaded efforts to establish a coalition of unions involved in budget issues in Pennsylvania, in order to increase our power in the halls of the State Capitol.
As a result of our efforts, Local 668 is one of the founding members and sponsors of The CLEAR Coalition, which includes the PA AFL-CIO, AFSCME, and other major unions in PA. We gave them permission to run our "Six Hundred Million Dollars" radio ad, which you will hear as soon as their website loads on your computer. Click on the "CLEAR COALITION" link on the right to visit their website.
What else can you do?
Make sure to join our Human Services Campaign Action Center by clicking on the top button on the right. If you have already joined, ask your co-workers, friends and family members to join, too!
In case you missed them, you can read copies of the Action Center emails we have sent out since March 2010 by clicking the envelope button on the left.
Take a look at our union’s Cost Savings suggestions by clicking the button on the right. If you have additional cost savings ideas, send us an email at seiu668@yahoo.com.
You can also visit the State Senate’s Government Management and Cost Study Commission page at http://senatorargall.com/commission.htm for more information about their activities.
Local 668 President Kathy Jellison, together with CAO Committee Chairs Gene Quaglia and Joel Levin, testified at one of the Commission’s hearings on Monday, May 3, 2010. Click here to read President Jellison's testimony.
Visit The CLEAR Coalition's website by clicking on the button on the right.
If you want more information about the budget from one of our coalition partners, click on the Pennsylvania Budget & Policy Center button on the right.
To visit the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s budget website, click on the button on the right.