Change to Win Minnesota Unions March for Healthcare!

On Tuesday, December 4th, hundreds of union members, faith and community activists and elected officials rallied at Minneapolis City Hall to call on business leaders to join the movement for quality, affordable healthcare for all. Spearheaded by SEIU and ISAIAH, the rally and march through the dowtown Minneapolis skyways called attention to the broad need for healthcare reform as well as specific ways the issue of healthcare has hurt workers in downtown Minneapolis.

Paul Slattery, of Teamsters Local 120, shared his experiences as a volunteer union organizer meeting local waste workers who worked in a very dangerous environment and struggled to afford healthcare for themselves and their families. One of those waste workers' stories was highlighted in flyers passed out along the march as well as was featured in one of the four stops along the march.

Alan Kearney, of the Laborers District Council of MN & ND and a leaders of the Building Trades Downtown Development Task Force, called on developers and contractors to show leadership on the issue of healthcare and to provide healthcare for constuction workers in the Twin Cities and across Minnesota.

SEIU, which represents workers in healthcare, public schools and property services, had three speakers highlight the impact of the healthcare crisis in their professions and at the bargaining table. Healthcare workers themselves have to fight to get quality affordable healthcare for themselves and their families, not mention the impact of the crisis on the patients they care for daily. Public school employees have their healthcare costs pitted against serving the children in the classrooms. And security workers in downtown Minneapolis office buildings often make too much money to qualify for state programs but cannot shoulder the costs of healthcare and pay for rent and food for their families.

The event culminated in a march throughout the Minneapolis skyway system. Marchers chanted "Our Health, our State, Our Time" and passed out flyers highlighting the above workers' stories to downtown workers in the skyways during the busy lunch hour.

Change to Win was founded in September 2005 by seven unions and six million workers devoted to building a movement of working people. We are uniting workers in industries such as hospitality, construction, retail, food processing, healthcare, and trucking and transportation, among others.

The seven affiliated unions are: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers' International Union of North America, Service Employees International Union, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, United Farm Workers of America, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, and UNITE HERE.

Change to Win Minnesota represents over 140,000 workers in the service and construction sectors. The members of the unions and worker organizations of Change to Win Minnesota unite to renew hope, opportunity, and prosperity for American people and their families. We believe that only by uniting millions more workers in a strong and innovative union movement can we ensure that work is valued and rewarded in America, hold global corporations and elected public officials accountable to working people, improve the services we provide to our communities, and create hope for a better future for our children and grandchildren. Change to Win Minnesota is led by:

OFFICERS

Chair: Brad Slawson, Jr., Teamsters

Vice Chair: Don Seaquist, UFCW

Secretary-Treasurer: Shane Allers, SEIU

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

Carpenters: Kyle Makarios

Laborers: Jim Brady, Jessica Looman

SEIU: Julie Schnell, Shane Allers

Teamsters: Brad Slawson, Jr., Jeff Eckman

UFCW: Rick Milbrath, Don Seaquist

UNITE HERE: David Blanchard, Wade Luneburg

At-Large: Mike Potter, Javier Morillo