Winning Reliable Public Services

Los AngelesHead Start Employees Work for Improvements

Hundreds of Head Start workers -- preschool teachers, teaching assistants, after school workers, and other childcare workers - united with SEIU Local 99 for a voice on the job and a role in improving early childhood education.

Within a month, Head Start workers at Options Inc and in centers affiliated with Charles Drew University united voted to join SEIU Local 99. And on May 17, Head Start, state preschool, and childcare workers at the Mexican American Opportunities Foundation (MAOF) also united in SEIU Local 99.

SEIU Local 99 members are working with employers to lobby for improved state funding for quality pre-kindergarten.

MissouriMental Health Workers Unite for New Strength

Facing staff shortages, shrinking budgets, and growing client care concerns, a unit of nearly 1,400 Missouri state health professionals voted 515 to 227 to join SEIU Local 2000. The vast majority of them are employed in the state's mental health system.

"This is our chance to gain a voice in decisions that affect us and our clients," St. Louis psychologist Darcy Pars said.  "We want to improve staffing and make public health care the priority it should be."

The unit includes state psychologists, social workers and other health professionals employed in the departments of Mental Health, Public Safety, Corrections, and Health and Senior Services.

New HavenBus Drivers Unite for Student Safety

Bus Drivers, employed by First Student in New Haven (CT), united in SEIU Local 760 on April 12.  The workers, who are committed to providing students with safe rides to school and home, received strong support from the city's clergy, community, and political leaders.

SEIU Members Knock Down Barriers for Paraprofessionals

After two years of lobbying, SEIU member, working in coalition with other groups, won federal legislative language that allows state and local governments to develop training programs and evaluation criteria that will improve the skills of classroom assistants (paraprofessionals).