home | current news stories

Convention Celebrates Victories, Looks to SEA's Future

SEA's 65th Annual Convention was a time for celebrating recent victories, anticipating the implementation of fair share, and looking forward to a future that includes a stronger labor movement.

Delegates crowded into the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hall in Concord on Oct. 15 for the one-day event. They celebrated a new contract and important membership gains for state units, honored the outstanding leadership demonstrated by active members and chapters, and elected three members to the Board of Directors.

Like many SEIU locals, SEA has bucked a national trend by dramatically increasing membership in recent years. The growth has strengthened us at the bargaining table and given us a new opportunity to reach out to non-members.

President Gary Smith announced that final details of the new collective bargaining agreement have been ironed out. The agreement calls for an appropriations bill that would advance the date of the last of a trio of 2-percent cost-of-living increases by two weeks, to June 16, 2006. This makes up for the two one-week delays in pay increases originally scheduled for July 1, 2005 and Jan. 1, 2006.

Eileen Kirlin, director of the Public Services Division of SEIU, used her keynote address to describe the future of organizing.

Linda Huard took home our union's highest honor, the John B. Parker Award as the year's outstanding member. SEA honored Chapter 22 President Murray Howlett of the Department of Transportation's Mechanical Services Division with the Charlie Stevens Award for Chapter President of the Year. Chapter 37, New Hampshire Employment Security  workers in Manchester, Nashua and Salem, was recognized as Chapter of the Year.  And Pauline Chabot's  dedication to building members' political power won her the Raymond Proulx Award.

Elected to the Board of Directors were newcomers Brian Pike of DOT and Diana Lacey of Health and Human Services. Incumbent Alyce Harper of the Office of Information Technology was re-elected to a new term.