This year, working families have seen an unprecedented level of attacks on everything from voting rights to civil rights to women’s rights and attacks on basic healthcare. That’s why Healthcare Minnesota’s outgoing elected President, Julie Schnell and soon-to-be new President Jamie Gulley are working hard to ensure members are not only informed about the issues but also fully engaged in this year’s election process.
“We are working hard to support our members’ choices in electing leaders who support the best interests of the 99%,” says Gulley. “After all, investing in healthcare and other services for those in need is one of the main four tenets of SEIU’s election mandate this year,” Schnell adds. The other three are to elected leaders who will:
- Create good jobs here at home;
- Rebuild an economy where everyone pays their fair share;
- Create a fair pathway to citizenship for every immigrant worker.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said at a speech to the Medical Committee for Human Rights in 1966: “Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
With the Affordable Care Act recently being held up by the Supreme Court, and one of the latest provisions–access to no-cost contraception–rolled out on August 1, the members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota have great steps ahead of them this election year, and beyond, towards achieving health justice. SEIU is committed to moving this state and our country forward, while opponents in Congress and statehouses across the country will continue in their efforts to repeal laws, waste time, and deny common-sense healthcare and fairness.
“We are well-positioned to educate and empower our members this year,” says Gulley. “Julie and I are working to enable our members to take advantage of the opportunities to get involved, via support from the union.”
This election year, we have to be united in our fight to move the nation forward. “This means a robust defense of the Affordable Care Act so that we can move toward full implementation,” says Schnell. “And to re-elect and elect champions of health care, “ adds Gulley.
