Welcome to the new web home of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. I hope you are as excited as I am about the new ways that this site will help keep us connected to each other. We have a new name and want to create a new and exciting future for our union. One element of that future is finding new ways to become connected and stay connected.
As part of staying connected, I will be writing periodic postings here on the Heartbeat of the Heartland blog. This blog will be a place for us to share our hopes, dreams, and aspirations, as well as to comment on the world around us. I know we are all engaged in the world around us and this will give us the opportunity to talk about how this affects each other within our Union.
I see the important work that lies in front of us all: paving the road back to the American Dream. We will not stay silent as good pay, retirement security, and quality affordable health care are being pushed out of reach for too many of us and our neighbors.
Our dreams have slipped through our fingers as we have become more isolated from one another. As we focus our attention only on ourselves, we lose the realization that our collective futures are tied together.
As union members, we have a tremendous opportunity to share with our communities about the power of collective action. For decades we have talked about collective action in our workplaces and have won better wages, benefits, and working conditions than we could have on our own. But now, it’s our obligation to stand up and speak out for our entire communities. One child without adequate health insurance threatens all of our kids. One neighbor without a job that can put food on the table threatens all of our jobs. One elderly neighbor who is forced to choose between their prescription and rent put all of our retirement security at risk.
It is an enormous responsibility we must take on to bring back the American Dream to our communities. But its one I know we will not take lightly.
We want this to be an interactive forum to open up conversations about the issues we face every day and how we should deal with them. As with any blog, we will monitor for inappropriate comments or language, personal attacks etc. Let’s carry on vigorous debate but remember to respect each other and our union in the process.