News and Events

As many of you are now aware, I will not be running for my position as President of SEIU, Local 722. After being with the Local for over thirty-five years, the majority of which has been as the president, it is now time for me to move on to the next stage of my life. What that stage is I don’t exactly know, but I am sure it will include a lot of time with…

The year 2021 is coming to an end. We can either look back on this year or look forward to 2022. I would like to do a little of both. In looking back, the most defining issue was again the Covid-19 virus. Many of us had to make an important decision on how we had to deal with this issue. Just when we thought we had it under control, things took a turn for the…

By now many of you are aware that our current President Dan Fields Jr. plans to retire. Mr. Fields came to Local 722 after serving at the SEIU International office for several years. He has been with Local 722 for 36 years. He has served as a Business Agent, Vice President, and President of our union. Some of you may remember Mr. Fields for his dedication to the case he filed for you; or the…

Please, Please, Please!! I don’t know how many times I have said this, but it continues to happen. Many of you are still going into meetings with your management without requesting Union Representation. When I say management, this includes supervisors, directors, Employee Relations, Human Resource officials, Business Partners, the Presidents of the Hospitals, Occupational Health, or any other officials of the Hospitals. When you are called into any meeting, you have the right to ask…

It appears that we are still not understanding our rights to Union Representation. Therefore, I am reprinting an article that I wrote on this subject last year. A suggestion is that you take this from the newsletter and put it somewhere that you can always refer to it. Union Representation Every once in a while I find the need to remind you of your right to Union Representation. Especially when it comes to a meeting…

By the time you get this newsletter we will be half way through the year. Time sure flies. As many of you already know we have completed the Contract at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center. We believe that we negotiated a pretty good contract as was validated by you the membership at the ratification meeting by a 72% acceptance vote. We have left the results and the new language up on our website (seiu722.org) and…

When you get this newsletter hopefully the pandemic will have subsided and the country will have reopened. The District of Columbia has already announced that it is planning to open up around June 12, 2021. Whether it is reopened or not, you should be congratulated on the dedication and work ethic that you showed during this time. You put your health and lives and the health and lives of your family on the line to…

Currently we are in contract negotiations with the MedStar Washington Hospital Center. As we have done in the past, you can follow negotiations on our website SEIU.ORG. We post the proposals that we have given to the Hospital and we also post the proposals that the Hospital presents to us. Many of you do not understand as we ask for changes in the contract, the Hospital also asks for additions or subtractions to the contract.…

By the time that you receive this newsletter it will be Spring. Spring symbolizes a new beginning, a rebirth, and a revitalization. Hopefully, this Spring will include the elimination of the COVID-19 virus or at the very least a reduction in the contamination of the virus. That being said, hopefully we can get back to our normal way of living and enjoying ourselves. We still need to be careful and safe in the way that…

What can you do? When I was a little boy around the age of seven (7) I recall a statement that was made by then President John F. Kennedy. I know that I am dating myself, but this statement to me was very profound. The statement went something like this, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” I think that this statement can also apply…