Last week I spent most of Thursday and all of Friday at the Bi-annual Convention of SEIU Healthcare PA in Lancaster, PA. What is remarkable is that I’m not even a union member, yet. The Union was incredibly generous in inviting me and around 17 other members of the UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) to attend - paying for a bus and most all of our food and lodging. It was quite an experience, to say the least, and I’m not sure I can fully expound the impact it has had on me after only a days rest. But I have to do something, and will be happy to amend this post as needed.
So, you want to see a progressive grassroots organization that can put boots on the ground to support the causes we find important, and protest those who fight against those causes? We are that group! You want to see more and better Democrats in office, supporting progressive causes in State and local government? In Western PA, we have them, too! How about an organization that will put boots on the ground, going door to door, to explain the benefits of the ACA to those that are most affected by the changes the law brings? SEIU Healthcare PA is that organization, we will be the warriors for quality healthcare for all. Follow below the orange cheese doodle of Kos for a more detailed explanation of those two days.
The bus was scheduled to leave at 4:45 AM Thursday morning. At pretty much the last minute Wednesday night, when I should have been trying to sleep a bit, my organizers began texting me at a frantic pace to see if I could pick up another member going on the trip. Since I had offered, in case of a problem with prior arrangements, I agreed. He wasn’t getting off his late shift until midnight, and since I was still waiting for the wash with my union shirts to dry, I went the extra couple of miles and picked him up at the hospital and drove him home, so he might have more time to pack and rest. This also allowed me to see first hand exactly where he lived and figure out the best way to get in and out of his neighborhood. Good thing too, since I had to pick up one other person in yet another neighborhood in the city. Murphy’s Law almost caused us to be late for the bus, but it was thankfully still loading when we drove up and parked. So far, so good.
When we arrived at the Lancaster Convention Center, we learned that we had been booked at the overflow hotel, the DoubleTree Hilton, so our bags were stowed away until we could catch the shuttle over and check in there. I believe the attendance at the Convention was something over 600 people. Included in this number were nurses, nursing home attendants, home health care workers, and our group of UPMC workers on the organizing committee plus a couple of the recently fired medical transcriptionists, also from UPMC. And of course, the entire leadership staff of SEIU Healthcare PA and all the organizers, too.
The only thing I remember about that first session before lunch and the breakout sessions are from the notes I bothered to take on the important points. I was running on caffeine and protein bars and very little sleep. If I learned anything in college, the ability to take copious notes is a skill I’m glad to still possess. Now I will see if I can remake the slide showing our sick healthcare system and its’ vicious cycle and the corresponding cycle the ACA will bring about. These quick GIF’s I made (using Pages and SnapZPro) capture the essence of the topic more quickly and easily than I could, using only words...
These cycles clearly illustrate why the Republicans are trying their damnedest to cut the ACA off before it can take effect. When the ACA creates a virtuous cycle, all of their lies will be clearly exposed. The fact that a government program can interfere in “their” free markets, making the lives of most of the American people better, will hopefully drive a stake into the heart of their Chicago School of economics philosophy that any government interference in the free market is bad. This reverse “Shock Doctrine” (apologies to Naomi Klein) will hopefully lead to political reverberations that bring more and better Democrats into Congress, and maybe even more moderate Republicans as well! (One can always hope :)
The SEIU has partnered with advocacy groups to get the positive message out about the ACA in 30 cities in 14 states in the coming weeks. These front-line healthcare workers will be calling and going door to door to make sure those who need to hear the message, get the message - that affordable healthcare will be available for all. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius made the announcement in Pittsburgh on September 11, 2013. The location of Allegheny General Hospital, where the nurses won the right to form a union after a protracted campaign a few years back, was very symbolic to me. The executives at UPMC had to be furious that the rival health system in the city was getting good press for a change!
So, with the idea of more and better Democrats on the table, I can make a smooth transition to the Saturday morning session, where we were privileged to be addressed by Kathleen Kane, the new PA Attorney General. Before she took the stage, we got to hear the personal stories of some of our fellow workers who have suffered from the great violence that currently exists in our society. One man, who lost his son to a senseless act of gun violence one July 4th, practically had the room in tears. To hear the women tell of how they were trapped in abusive relationships, but managed to survive and escape to tell their stories of how their lives had changed for the better, was inspiring. All those who spoke before the 600 people gathered in that hall showed tremendous courage. On the issue of domestic violence, the SEIU Healthcare PA has started the “Into the Light” Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative. The pamphlet on the tables has a message that the abused are not alone, that they can take action to take back their lives, and phone numbers where they can find the domestic violence prevention program in their area. Taking action seems to be something this union has gotten pretty good at.
After this introduction to the issue of violence in our society, AG Kathleen Kane was introduced by SEIU Healthcare PA president Neil Bisno. I was extremely impressed with her presentation skills. This was the first time I had heard her speak in person, and I was stunned to see her come out without any notes and walk around the lecturn, saying she hated podiums, and stand near the edge of the stage and tell us what she’s done about the violence problems, and what she hopes to do in the future. Since being sworn in on January 15, 2013 she has closed the Florida loophole that allowed PA residents to get concealed carry permits from Florida to carry guns in PA. That only took one day and some phone calls to Florida. She has also created a Philadelphia Joint Violence Task Force that has been focused on the problem of gun violence in that city. It seems that straw purchases of guns account for around 40% of the gun violence in the city. By prosecuting those doing the straw purchases, the violence is being reduced. But more needs to be done to make significant progress on this front, the State Legislature needs to pass laws that make the failure to report the sale, loss or theft of a gun a crime. These joint task forces also focus on gangs and drug cartels, but she was more circumspect about talking about where these tasks forces are operating, since that is strictly “need to know” information.
Kathleen Kane has also taken an active role in protecting our children from sexual predators that use social networking on the internet to find victims and distribute child pornography. More sexual predators, (77 in the last seven months!) have been arrested since she’s been in office than former AG (and now Governor) Corbett’s last term. It’s nice seeing a Democrat out “law and ordering” a Republican in ways that help the people live safer lives. And while this only touches on violence tangentially - (insofar as this is institutional violence and discrimination by the state on LGBT individuals) it is also worth mentioning that AG Kathleen Kane has refused to defend PA’s law banning gay marriage, believing it is unconstitutional! In the question and answer session she also came out in favor of consistent uniform background checks for all gun, not just hand gun, purchases. And for ways we can take action to change the culture of violence in our communities, she suggests taking away the negative term ‘snitch’ from the neighborhoods, and putting it back to it’s proper place, the jailhouse. The argument that the only real snitches are those already in jail, carries some weight with me. The person who gives information to the authorities outside prisons is a concerned citizen performing a civic duty. Once a term has picked up a widespread vernacular use, it is extremely hard to stop. (You may have noticed that I have avoided using the term “Obamacare” up to this point - that was a decision I made based in part on another diary here...) Just another example of more and better democrats getting elected in PA!
I almost forgot to mention how the SEIU can take direct action! It just so happened that U.S. Congressman Joe Pitts has a district office in Lancaster. So right after lunch, we exited the hall and got our props and signs and assembled on the street outside the convention center. The props were huge inflatable hammers, the signs were really well made, very colorful and sprinkled with glitter. The direct action team did themselves proud. When the traffic cleared, we poured out into the street and walked and chanted our way for the two blocks up to the office buildings brick plaza. The sight of 600 purple t-shirt clad protestors in downtown Lancaster was something the locals had never seen before. The hammers were for symbolically tearing down the wall of Congressional obstruction to the ACA, and the holding of the government hostage by refusing to negotiate on the debt ceiling. There was a PA system set up under the patio roof in the plaza. Personal stories of how the lack of affordable health care has cost lives in his district, stories of how the already active provisions of the ACA have had positive outcomes in peoples lives in the district. Also mentioned was the fiscal irresponsibility incurred by each vote to repeal the ACA. Each vote to repeal the ACA costs an estimated $40 million. Unbelievable that those who preach austerity for the people could waste taxpayers money on frivolous political grandstanding that has no chance of ever becoming law. But I've already shown why the Republicans are so desperate to abort the ACA...
SEIU Healthcare PA Rally by U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts office, 9/20/13
And on that note, I think I shall have to bring this installment of my organizing experiences to a close. I left out, on purpose, the break-out sessions I attended. That will probably be the topic for another post when I get the time. And on the topic of more and better Democrats getting elected, well, the post about my wifes’ Pittsburgh School Board race will have to wait until after the general election. It is safe to say that she won the primary with nearly 80% of the Democratic votes, and cross filed and won the Republican primary as well.