Thirty-year veteran organizer vows to unite union around organizing and political efforts to address crisis for workers.
Toronto --The 73-member International Executive Board of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) met in Washington on the weekend to elect Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry the 10th president of North America's fastest-growing union.
"This moment marks a renewed commitment to our union's core mission: to improve the lives of all workers who are struggling to make ends meet," Henry said. "In these tough economic times, we believe SEIU can be an even more effective vehicle for change to help them improve their lives and the lives of the people they serve.
"We will get this done by renewing our commitment to organizing, connecting our members at the grassroots level to our political strength and restoring our relationships throughout the labour movement - because just like I learned as a little girl in a family of twelve, we can't go it alone. Everything is better when you can organize a group and make a decision to stand and act on behalf of all workers."
Henry is noted for working side-by-side with SEIU members - meeting with them at 3 a.m. on night shifts in hospitals, walking picket lines, leading members in contract bargaining, and helping them discover the strength they have when they stand together.
"Mary Kay doesn't just come by to give a speech. She doesn't just come by to shake hands. She's one of us. She is always in the trenches with us and she's helped us form unions to improve our lives and the care we give to our patients," said Lorretta Reddy Blauvel, an SEIU Healthcare member who has worked with Henry on multiple campaigns.
Union steps up investments in organizing, politics
In a demonstration of the union's commitment to enhance its investment in its organizing and political action, the union made two special allocations of resources:
* SEIU will invest $4 million in an innovation fund set up to reinvigorate private sector organizing; and
* SEIU will invest an additional $4 million in campaign work related to election of state and provincial leaders in 2010.
"We will invest in grassroots political action in a sustained way so that we can build a progressive majority from the ground up and link it to the incredible international work of our union. One of the best demonstration of this approach was passage of US healthcare reform granting 33 million more Americans access to healthcare," said Henry. "We want to link our political strength and our organizing program to stand up on behalf of all workers who are being threatened in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico."
Widespread support for election of Mary Kay Henry
Andy Stern, the outgoing president of SEIU, praised Henry's election: "For 30 years, I have worked side-by-side with Mary Kay Henry and witnessed her extraordinary passion for justice and the natural gift that can only be called her way with people. From her earliest days organizing workers to her partnership in growing the strength of SEIU, Mary Kay's leadership has always been marked by her singular ability to connect with each and every person she meets to bring out their best."
Stern, who served as SEIU President from 1996 until the weekend, was named President Emeritus at the meeting.
Sharleen Stewart, head of SEIU in Canada, said: "Andy is an amazing leader and clearly has taken SEIU to a place no one could have imagined 14 years ago. With Andy as our President, SEIU Canadian Locals united and worked together to achieve Canadian autonomy, forming the Canadian Council and gaining a real voice for our members nationally and internationally."
Stewart said: "Andy has been an enormously important mentor and support to me as a union activist, a woman leader and both a Local President and International Vice President leading Canada. I will miss him and wish him the very best.
"But it is with excitement, that I announce to my members the election of the 10th International President of our great union Mary Kay Henry - the first woman elected president of SEIU International."
"Mary Kay cares about every member. She is constantly concerned not just with existing members, but men and women who are not yet union members and who long for a voice in their workplace and better life for themselves and their families."
"She will be an incredible president of our union, as well as an important and impassioned voice for working people."
Background on Mary Kay Henry
Henry, the eldest sister of 10 siblings, grew up in and around Detroit, Michigan. She credits her innate organizing skill to her years herding her brothers and sisters to school and her commitment to social justice to her Catholic education, particularly two nuns who helped her see first hand through charity work in hard hit communities the importance and dignity of work for all people.
After graduating from Michigan State with a degree in Urban Policy Planning and Industrial Labor Relations in 1979, Henry joined SEIU as a research specialist. During a year's training in California, she worked on campaigns for child care and public sector workers. Assigned next to Minneapolis, Henry learned and participated in all aspects of bargaining, organizing and legislative advocacy. She has served as Organizing Director for the union and head of the healthcare division. She has been a strong advocate for immigrant rights, and Henry is a founding member of SEIU's gay and lesbian Lavender Caucus. In 2004, she was elected as Executive Vice President.
Known best for her organizing skills, Henry's vision and leadership has helped pave the way to groundbreaking agreements between SEIU and hospital chains such as Beverly Enterprises, Catholic Healthcare West, Tenet and HCA that united tens of thousands of members in SEIU. She played a significant role in creating the national Labor-Management Partnership at Kaiser Permanente, the largest Health Management Organization in the US. She was formerly a labor adviser to and member of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops' Subcommittee on Catholic Health Care, and she has played a critical role in the union's fight to extend state health insurance coverage to children.
Mary Kay Henry is the first woman to hold the position international president in SEIU.
The Service Employees International Union is an organization of 2.2 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of all workers and the services they provide. Our union is dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.