Celebrating our 2015 Leadership Assembly in Lancaster, PA
This year’s Leadership Assembly – “Healthcare Workers Rising: Sparking Leadership, Building a Movement for a Changing World” – was bigger and bolder than ever before. 600 SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members from every corner of our state gathered in Lancaster to learn how to strengthen our union and lift our communities.
Our Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) world requires requires innovation and new leadership skills to effectively build power for working families and achieve our vision of a just society. At our Assembly, we drilled down on the challenges and opportunities we have before us and:
- Celebrated our victories, such as helping thousands of nurses, hospital, and long term care workers form their union, expanding Medicaid for 450,000 Pennsylvanians, and building the Fight for 15 and a union across Pennsylvania and the country;
- Discussed our role in leading the transformation of our healthcare system toward the Triple Aims of better patient outcomes, improved population health, and lower cost;
- Participated in workshops to help sharpen our skills and build chapter strength;
- Examined how structural racism continues to stand in the way of economic justice for all;
- Rallied to demand a fair state budget that closes corporate tax loopholes and fully funds our schools, not the Band Aid budget passed by the State legislature;
- Heard from SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry– who recognized all our hard work in advancing good jobs, quality care, and healthy communities.
Now that we’re back home, our task is to bring the skills and inspiration we’ve gained to build our strength like never before. Healthcare workers are rising and we are up to the challenge!