Long Term Care Workers Mourn the Loss of Union Matriarch, Verdia Daniels
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Saturday, October 1st, 2011, SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) lost its founding matriarch, Mrs. Verdia Daniels. She passed at the age of 80.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111007/DC82769)
Mrs. Daniels was a trailblazer in homecare as she dedicated her life to the noble fight of unionizing some of California's hardest working people who, every day, provide lifeline care for the well-being and health of our most vulnerable citizens. Her efforts led to the organizing of 80,000 homecare providers in Los Angeles in 1999, the largest union organizing victory in the United States since the heyday of auto worker organizing in the 1930's and the first of homecare providers. Today, nearly 700,000 homecare providers have union representation.
"My heart is heavy but I take solace in the fact that her last days were filled with love, warm wishes, phone calls and visits from homecare members who always valued her sacrifice and courage to demand that homecare providers be recognized for the care they provide and be treated with the dignity they deserve. I know we will honor her legacy by exhibiting the same courage and sacrifice it will take to win justice for the 180,000 homecare providers and their families who she spent the better part of 25 years fighting for selflessly," said Laphonza Butler, President of SEIU ULTCW.
Mrs. Daniel's commitment to working people and social justice is detailed in the book, "Women's Work: Los Angeles Homecare Workers Revitalize the Labor Movement," which tells the extraordinary stories of women of color standing together to demand fair wages, benefits, and the right to be "invisible no more."
Mrs. Daniels' is survived by her daughter, Deidrea and her grandchildrenand the movement she started well over two decades ago has grown to be one of the most powerful in the state and in the nation.
All details pertaining to funeral services and other tributes are available at www.ultcw.org/verdia-daniels.
SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) is California's leading long term care organization dedicated to providing and protecting quality care for some of our most vulnerable residents. SEIU ULTCW represents 180,000 in-home care providers and nursing home workers throughout California, making it the largest union of long term care givers in California and the second largest SEIU local in the nation.
Media Contact:
Wendy Carrillo | wendyc@seiu-ultcw.org| 213.321.7085 cell
SOURCE SEIU United Long Term Care Workers
