SEIU President Is In Puerto Rico

From:  Primera Hora (PR newspaper), rough translation

SEIU President visits the island to get to know firsthand social and political situation in Puerto Rico 

Monday, August 23, 2010
Inter News Service

The president-elect of the Service Employees International Union, Mary Kay Henry, started today a two-day visit to Puerto Rico with the purpose of learning about the social and political situation on the island, and of more of their 30,000 affiliates to its two Puerto Rican unions:  The Puerto Rican Workers’ Syndicate (SPT in Spanish), and the General Workers’ Union (UGT in Spanish).

Henry will hold informative meetings with both unions’ leaders, as well as with leaders of other syndical organizations, religious, professional and from some communities.  She will also meet with both Secretaries:  One is the head of the Department of Work and Human Resources, and the other is from the Department Of Health.  Both agencies’ employees are represented by the local General Workers’ Union 1199.

Last June, the SEIU chose Henry as their new President of this organization, in substitution of Andy Stern, who retired after being a leader of SEIU for more than a decade.

The new President comes from California; she held the position of Executive International Vice President of this organization, which counts with 2.2 million members (one million in the healthcare industry alone), in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.INS