Dear fellow SEIU member, 

In the United States, most of us believe voters should pick our leaders, but just ahead of May Day, in the “Louisiana vs. Callais” decision, the Supreme Court decided it’s okay for politicians to rig the rules and pick their voters instead. This decision gives more power to those trying to silence voters.

When our votes are weakened, so is our power to lower costs, fund our schools and afford health care. These attacks often hit Black, Latino, Asian and Native communities first, but they hurt all working people by taking away our say.   

When our voting power is stripped down, we lose the ability to elect leaders who stand up for the things working people need to thrive: affordable housing, lower grocery prices, better schools, affordable health care, and dignity in retirement.  

They see workers taking action. They see us winning. And they see a cross-racial, worker movement that threatens their power. As we move forward from the amazing May Day actions many of us participated in, we will continue to stand together for our communities, and fight for our rights.  Speaking of May Day, I hope you were in the streets with us during one of the many powerful events that we were a part of.  

• In Illinois, members gathered across Illinois and Chicago to stand in solidarity during May Day actions. 
• In Missouri, we rallied in St. Louis and Kansas City for worker power and visited facilities to talk to healthcare workers about the importance of May Day. 
• In Indiana, we joined fellow workers and community members to stand in solidarity with locked out NIPSCO workers! 

Action Items:

• Community Strike Readiness Training on May 19, June 25, or July 16. Strikes are incredibly powerful tools when up against those with organized wealth, and movements with strong support from and for Labor are most successful in turning around democratic backsliding. Following the success of May Day 2026, this Community Strike Readiness training centers the question: what does it mean to continue to build and strengthen our Strike Readiness? What would we need in order to not work, not go to school, not shop for a long enough time to win real power and change? Register now by clicking the date above that you want to attend.  

Division Updates:

Missouri: We showed up strong in Missouri on May Day! To kick off the day, leaders gathered for a training that reflected on the history of May Day and how the billionaires profit off our labor and refuse to pay their fair share in taxes. Afterward, we spread out to our nursing homes and hospitals to share the meaning of May Day and invited members to the evening May Day protests. At rallies in St. Louis and Kansas City, our leaders spoke passionately about the challenges working people are facing, including the rising cost of living, cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, and more. Together, we demanded that workers be put before billionaire profits! 

Home Care: On May Day, members from Home Care and Nursing Homes came together with disability advocates and other community organizations to take direct action at an Amazon Distribution Center. Billionaires like Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, profit directly from the tax breaks in the Big Ugly Bill, while Medicaid and SNAP funding have been severely cut, impacting services for children, seniors, and people with disabilities. Members and community activists marched to the distribution center and blocked an Amazon delivery truck from leaving the warehouse while calling on IL legislators to pass progressive revenue in the IL budget. The action was featured on WGN news. 

Health Systems: Two weeks ago hospital workers went down to Springfield to fight to fully fund and safely staff our hospitals! We also lobbied our lawmakers to make sure billionaires pay their fair share to fund our community hospitals. We also brought this message to May Day by dropping banners outside of each of our union-represented Safety Net hospitals, and rallying outside of JBVA to demand that our government fund our communities, not war.

Child Care: Child care workers, parents and kids turned out for a story time action in the self-checkout aisle at Whole Foods in Chicago to educate the public on how Amazon — the corporation that owns Whole Foods — is raking in billions in profits without paying what they owe in taxes. Together, we demanded that Illinois tax the rich so we can fund Child Care for All because that’s how we will ensure every early childhood educator has a good job and every family has access to affordable child care. 

Read More:

• Given the recent Supreme Court decision in “Louisiana vs. Callais”, we wanted to revisit the history and fight that delivered the Voting Rights Act. Check it out as we commit to protecting our voices in the democratic process. Read More Here!

In solidarity,  

Mirma Viera 

Child Care Provider 

Franklin Park, IL