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Service Employees International Union

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Quick Hit
by Aricka Flowers
7:15pm
Thu Jun 23

Illinois Immigration Reform Advocates Vow To Press On After Supreme Court's Split Vote On Executive Orders (VIDEO)

The U.S. Supreme Court announced a 4-4 split on the case challenging President Barack Obama's executive orders on immigration reform and Illinois advocates are expressing their dismay as they plan to press their efforts forward.

The deadlock vote means the president's November 2014 orders to expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and install the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) have been blocked for the time being.

The programs would have deferred deportation for three years for undocumented immigrants who are parents of U.S. citizens and green card holders, while also expanding protections for people who were brought to the U.S. as minors and were not covered by the original DACA program. More than 4 million immigrants would have benefited from the orders, 280,000 people living in Illinois.

"This ruling is deeply frustrating and disappointing for all immigrant communities," said Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights CEO Lawrence Benito.  "Instead of being able to move forward with our lives and contributing further to our entire community, immigrants remain vulnerable to the knock on the door that could separate them from their families and from the lives they have made in this country."

PI Original
by Ellyn Fortino
4:18pm
Fri Jun 3

Workers, Advocacy Groups Decry Overtime Restrictions For Illinois Home Care Providers (UPDATED)

Illinois

A coalition of worker and advocacy groups is urging the Rauner administration to reconsider new overtime restrictions impacting in-home care providers for Illinoisans with disabilities. The organizations released a white paper this week, warning that the overtime policy is "disrupting the care system and harming workers, consumers and families."

Quick Hit
by Progress Illinois
3:20pm
Wed May 18

Guest Article: 35 Years Of Workers Leading The Effort To Improve Fast-Food Jobs

The following is written by Keith Kelleher, president of SEIU* Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas.

This month people like Adriana Alvarez will come to Oak Brook, Ill. for the annual McDonald's shareholders' meeting. As McDonald's pats itself on the back for its highest-ever stock price, Adriana and hundreds of other McDonald's workers will protest and call for $15 and union rights.

Adriana is someone to watch. Earlier this year she met with other fast food workers in Denmark. There she said: "I really fear for Christmas because I can't afford the toys my son wants and I know he will be disappointed."

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
6:22pm
Fri Apr 29

Chicagoland Nursing Home Workers Rally For A $15 Minimum Wage (VIDEO)

Nursing home workers in Illinois staged a series of protests this week as part of their push for an hourly minimum wage of $15.

The workers are represented by SEIU* Healthcare Illinois and employed by Infinity Healthcare Management.

Workers and their union allies picketed Wednesday through Friday outside nine Infinity Healthcare Management facilities in Chicago and the suburbs, including Bloomingdale, Cicero, Itasca, Niles and Oak Lawn. Nursing home employees rallied at their respective facilities to speak out about their "poverty" wages and working conditions.

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
4:02pm
Wed Mar 30

Health Care Union, Illinois Politicians Call Rauner A 'Deadbeat' Governor

State lawmakers and the union representing Illinois home care workers say Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's "deadbeat approach to governing" has resulted in a "crisis in care" for the state's most vulnerable residents.

According to the union, Illinois has a more than $235 million backlog in payments to home health care service providers, and 2,400 seniors have allegedly "fallen through the cracks as a result."

"There are real human consequences of the governor being a deadbeat. These agencies are essentially being asked to bankroll the lack of a state budget," Terri Harkin, vice president of the Home Care Division at SEIU* Healthcare Illinois, said during a news conference at the Thompson Center.

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
2:44pm
Tue Feb 2

With State Owing Agency $1 Million, Chicago Home Care Service Struggles To Keep Doors Open (UPDATED)

A Chicago-based home care service agency is on the verge of having to cut payroll costs in half for its 250-member workforce as a direct result of the ongoing state budget impasse.

Family Home Service, Inc. provides in-home services to more than 500 seniors and people with disabilities in Chicago.

The state owes the agency, which has been operating on bank credit during the more than seven-monthlong budget impasse, approximately $1 million for services that have been performed since July 1, the start of the current fiscal year.

Family Home Service's Director Marsha Holmes told reporters Tuesday morning that the agency has exhausted its line of credit and cannot obtain another loan. If the current budget situation continues much longer, Family Home Service could be forced to shut down, Holmes said.

"Our elderly and disabled population rely on our workers. They don't want to face uncertainty," Holmes said at Family Home Service's offices, 1040 W. Huron St. "What happens if they have to face uncertainty if our doors happen to close? They have built relationships with their home care workers. That is why a stable workforce is so important in this home care industry."

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