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By Bo Tefu, Lila Brown and Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the nation’s largest labor unions, elected its first Black president, April Verrett.
The union represents nearly two million members in the public sector, healthcare, and property services.
“By joining together, organizing, and — in many cases — striking, working people are taking power back from corporate interests and using that power to lift up their families and communities.”
Verrett is recognized for spearheading the union’s strategic planning process as the SEIU’s Secretary-Treasurer and she served as president of the SEIU California local chapter in 2015.
Verrett was sworn into her new role on May 20, at a ceremony held during the SEIU convention in Philadelphia. Vice President Kamala Harris gave the keynote address.
Harris and Verrett have known each other for years and worked together during their time as public servants in California.
“April is a leader who is always guided by an uncompromising focus on worker empowerment and their rights,” Harris said.
“What some people need to understand is that care work is physical work,” Harris continues. “It is emotional work. It is a job, and it is a calling, and care workers deserve to be paid fairly and fully for that work.”
The healthcare industry is one of several industries that has been impacted by national strikes following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Make no mistake: working people are under attack and the stakes have never been higher; but the real challenge and opportunity of leading our union in this moment is meeting the momentum of workers across the country — especially the young people of color who are showing us what’s possible,” Verrett said.
