They Wanted to be Moms;

SEIU, Gov. Blagojevich and

Gov. Quinn had Other Plans

A ll Pamela Harris and Susie

Watts were focused on was

their children with disabilities

when the state authorized SEIU

union forced its way into the

lives of these moms.

But, their worlds were changed by SEI-

Us collusion with two different Illinois gov-

ernors.

When SEIU organizers came knocking

on Pamela Harris door one beautiful Sun-

day morning, Pam had no idea who the Na-

tional Right To Work Legal Defense Foun-

dation was nor did she know that soon she

was going need their special skills to help

her, her family, and many other families in

Illinois.

Pam was about to find out

that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn

had reclassified her from a

mother to a state employee.

Pam Harris: Please allow

me to tell you what your support

of the National Right to Work

Foundation has meant to me.

And let me tell you upfront, when I

found out what SEIU and the Governor were

doing, I called 40 or 50 law firms to find

someone to help me fight this injustice.

No one else had the courage to stand up

and help parents and their sons and daugh-

ters with significant disabilities, except the

National Right to Work Legal Defense

Foundation.

My story begins with a knock on my

door one beautiful Sunday morning. There

on my porch stood two strangers who identi-

fied themselves as Service Employees Inter-

national Union (SEIU) organizers.

(And, I have subsequent visits from other

union organizers who were not so young and

peppy.)

One was from California and the other

from somewhere on the East Coast. But they

were here in Illinois to tell me some great

news.

They said Illinois Governor Pat Quinn

had recently signed

an Executive Order

allowing me and

other personal care

providers to join a

union.

BUT, I am not an employee. I am a stay

-at-home mom taking care of my disabled

son.

It turns out Governor Quinns Executive

Order reclassified personal care providers

like me as state employees just so we could

be subject to unionization.

You see, I care for my adult son Josh

who has Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, a rare

genetic condition that requires 24/7 atten-

tion, and the state provides a monthly sti-

pend to Josh so I can be his caregiver.

I didnt understand why Governor

Quinn would want me in a union. Im just a

mother caring for her son.

Then I saw Governor Quinn on the local

news standing at a podium with SEIU ban-

ners behind him thanking SEIU for their

staunch support and get-out-the

-vote efforts aiding his re-

election.

Then I understood. This was

about politics, not helping me

care for my son Josh.

Suddenly, I felt like David

against Goliath.

Pam contacted the Foundation and talked

with Staff Attorney Bill Messenger who

patiently and clearly [Pams] rights, in-

cluding [her] right to vote against unioniza-

tion. This was the first time Pam was told

that she had any option other than to join the

union.

Pam worked hard to inform other other

personal care providers of their right to vote

against unionization.

Pams efforts paid of and SEIU was over-

whelmingly rejected by Personal care pro-

viders 75% of whom take care of family

members.

Despite the resounding rejection, Governor

Quinn refused to rescind his Executive Or-

der which authorized SEIU organizers to

continue coming back to providers

homes to badger them into submission.

Pam works round-the-clock care for her

so, while its rewarding, its exhausting. She

didnt want to keep fighting this unrelenting

campaign with SEIU organizers.

Pam organized a meeting at local library

for interested persons who might want to try

to put a stop to this through a court action.

Pam reached out to another group of Illi-

nois in-home care providers who had been

corralled into unionization by former Gover-

nor Rod Blagojevich.

Pam Harris, I talked with Susie Watts,

one of those providers, and she explained

that the SEIU siphons off $30 every two

weeks from her daughter Libbys stipend.

The SEIU union takes $780 a year thats

supposed to be available for Susies daugh-

ter Libbys care.

I was outraged by

the injustice and want-

ed to know how to end

this and what we could

do for homecare providers like Susie.

National Right to Work Foundation at-

torneys filed a lawsuit for us. Four years

later, on January 21, 2014, our case was

heard at the United States Supreme Court.

And I will always be grateful to the Na-

tional Right to Work Foundation for taking

us there.

I now know who the National Right To

Work Legal Defense Foundation is.

Its a very talented legal team with a

terrific supporting staff, and it is the millions

of donors who have made this organization

available to me and thousands of over the

years.

Thank you, each and everyone who

made it possible for the Foundation to be

there to help Josh and Libby.

Ill be forever grateful.

Pam Harris and Susie Watts were fortu-

nate that they found help. But how many

other Pams and Susies are out there about to

have their lives totally changed by aggres-

sive unions like SEIU and politicians like

Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn?

The National Right to Work Le-

gal Defense Foundation is helping everyone

it can. It is currently assisting individual

across the country in more than 200

cases involving academic and politi-

cal freedom, freedom from union vio-

lence, and the right to work for govern-

ment without paying a private organization

for that privilege.

If you would like to financially support

our mission so that we can continue to help

others as we have Pam Harris, then please

click on this Donation link.

And, if you or someone you know thinks

that they may need our legal help, click here

on the Foundations Free Legal Aid link.

http://righttoworkfoundation.org/fwebdonate.aspxhttp://righttoworkfoundation.org/fwebdonate.aspxhttp://www.nrtw.org/legal.htmhttp://www.nrtw.org/legal.htm