This week, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will announce the formation of SEIU Healthcare, a new national healthcare union with more than one million members. “The creation of a national healthcare union will enable us to pool our resources, coordinate our strategies, and unite our strength like never before,” said Dennis Rivera, chair of SEIU Healthcare. SEIU Healthcare’s goals include increasing membership in the union, raising standards for workers, and creating a healthcare system that “puts patients and quality care first” and “provides affordable care to every man, woman, and child in America.” An early step in this effort will be a joint campaign of the United American Nurses and the Nurse Alliance of SEIU for safe staffing to improve the quality of care in hospitals.
